Costa Rica: Honors College Service Learning

2024 Spring Break: Sustainable Development Goals

Mollejones Community

We had the privilege of staying with a family in the community of Mollejones for three nights. This experience allowed us to immerse ourselves in the culture. Throughout our stay in the community, we learned about their sustainable practices. We first visiting a family that made sugar to sell in the local grocery store. They showed us the entire process from cutting down the sugarcane to getting it packaged for the shelf. We also visited a family that owns a business selling butterfly cocoons. The family still raises and grows must of their own food, and the business provides an income for them. Butterflies cannot be bred in an area that they are not indigenous to. This family is able to make an income by breeding butterflies indigenous to Costa Rica and sharing them with the rest of the world. We also visited a dairy farm to learn how they feed their livestock and how they milk them. We ate breakfast and dinner with our families. They did not speak any English, so we spoke in Spanish while with them.

BriBri Family:

We visited the Bri Bri family, an indigenous group that has welcomed tourism. The Bri Bri are the largest indigenous group that is still around. They kindly opened up their home to tourists to teach them about their culture and way of living. By doing this, they have a stream of income without having to leave their home. With the changing times, this awareness and income stream are imperative for them to preserve their way of life. The visit included a walk through the garden where our guides explained the uses for the various plants. Every piece of every building was made from resources grown on their land. They also used plants as both medicine and food.