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Costa Rica Summer Program
Connects Orphans and Psych
Students
By Roger Sideman, Santa Cruz
Sentinel
Costa Rica was not the typical
surf-trip stopover for two dozen
UC Santa Cruz psychology
students who spent their summer
living and working in the
barrios.
Working in orphanages and foster
homes, the UCSC students became
teachers leading instruction in
literacy, arts and sports for
the less fortunate children in
the Puntarenas province of this
Central American nation.
"I learned about their lives,
their needs and what they loved
— for the first time I learned
what true humanitarian work is,"
student Ida Vandaei said, vowing
to return next year.
The summer field program
"Children and Youth at Risk in
Central America," is the
brainchild of Tony Hoffman, a
lecturer in psychology. The
program, he says, aims to show
students how childhood
development varies by culture.
Hoffman launched the program
last summer after working for
years as a consultant to
international aid groups such as
UNICEF.
"They would consistently tell me
they had trouble recruiting
people trained in international
work, largely because
universities don't make such
training available," Hoffman
said.
The program should help students
get their foot in the door with
groups like Peace Corps or Save
the Children, he said.
Vandaei, 21, says she's now
compelled to go that route.
She and Hoffman were back in
Santa Cruz last week, preparing
a slide show for donors. But
much of the money was raised in
true grassroots fashion: from
rummage sales, car washes — even
a well-attended dodgeball
tournament that helped defray
the $3,000 cost of the five-week
trip.
Hoffman described one night in
Puntarenas when the class held a
party that brought together two
orphanages, one for boys and the
other for girls. The students
watched brothers and sisters
reunite after long separations;
though the orphanages were just
two miles apart, some siblings
had never met.
"That was a sparkling moment to
have some of these children meet
each other," Hoffman recalled.
Since students each chose their
own area of emphasis, Victor
Hernandez, who returned to
college after a stint with Sun
Microsystems, spent most of the
program rebuilding old
computers. Vandaei taught the
kids dance, using Shakira as a
soundtrack. Jennifer Uhlig, a
senior, taught swimming because
"it's tough for there to be so
many non-swimmers in a country
with lots of beaches and hot
summers," she said.
The people there are so
welcoming," Uhlig said, "it made
our work and the whole
experience very rewarding."
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