La Escuela y la Paz
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2008
1
20
42
Trip End
Oct 12, 2008
Puriscal,
Costa Rica
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
I brought in my laptop to show some pictures, since my family, boyfriend, and favorite things had been such hot topics of conversation yesterday. The kids scrambled to the front of the room, elbowing each other out of the way to get a closer look, and gasped and exclaimed with apparent surprise and delight at my photos of the four seasons in Boston, my family (especially my 8-year-old cousin Carlo, who outnumbers my own parents 3:1 in my photo gallery), my friends dancing at parties (several kids have asked about the American equivalent of Costa Rican folkloric dancing-the problem is, while we have traditional folkloric dances in the U.S., neither I nor any other young person I know has any idea how to do them. And these kids are a little young to learn how to bump and grind) and, of course, the topic of seemingly greatest interest, my novio. I showed the pictures of the two of us hang gliding, a concept I'd tried to relate yesterday when asked what my parents did for a living, and the combination just about brought the house down.
This afternoon, the original group of volunteers had a field trip to the University for Peace. (The Canadians went to a cigar factory.) I'm embarrassed to admit that, before this trip, I had never even heard of this institution, and I'm going to assume for the sake of my bleeding-heart-liberal street cred that at least a few of you who are reading this are similarly unenlightened.
Entrance
So: UPeace was established by the United Nations in 1980, and is the only educational institution authorized by the U.N. to grant Master's and Doctorate degrees in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies. The 300 hectares comprised by the campus were donated to the Costa Rican government by a local family; the government then approached the U.N. and offered the land to be used for an educational institution to promote the cause of world peace. A resolution passed approving the establishment, but the Costa Rican government was responsible for building and maintaining the facilities, which they did with the help of private donors. The rural landscape, 30 km west of San Jose, includes a primary (never cleared for pasture) and secondary (reclaimed) forest, and has about 160 students from more than 60 different countries. Classes are taught in English. Students come in with bachelors' (and sometimes master's or doctorate) degrees in a wide variety of subjects, most commonly law or humanities, and usually go on to work for the U.N. or for non-governmental organizations in their home countries. The university has offices and partner organizations all over the world, including one in Washington, D.C., where students can begin their education before coming to Costa Rica, or non-students can participate in workshops. Their website is www.upeace.org.
I've always thought it rather silly to refer to third-world countries as "developing nations." Most of those places are not "developing," if anything, they're sliding ever deeper into poverty and strife.
the grounds
Today much of the "developed" world is in a downward spiral as well; the U.S. in particular is demonstrating a remarkable willingness to elect leaders who destabilize foreign governments, killing scores of civilians in the process, strip our land bare, and strip our own citizens of our most sacred rights, all in the name of protecting us from those unstable foreign governments.Costa Rica lacks some things I enjoy in my home country. Many of the roads are unpaved or in poor repair. Drinking tap water is a crapshoot. Toilet paper (and soap) is usually B.Y.O, even in the schools. The darker side of the otherwise egalitarian society is a distinct contempt for the (mostly black) Caribenos and (generally impoverished) campesinos, and a persistent macho culture that doesn't receive the challenges it should.
Yet in so many significant ways, it is a distinctly progressive country. The abolition of its army in 1948 was a bold move that set the bar for the rest of the world. The school system, for all its barely contained chaos, is free and compulsory for all, and produces an adult population with a 95% literacy rate. Life expectancy and infant mortality are on par with "developed" nations. The ethic of conservation, meanwhile, puts developed nations to shame; nearly 30 percent of the country is protected in national parks and reserves, the highest percentage for any country on earth.
As a euphemism for "godforsaken hell hole," the term "developing nation" is laughable. Applied to Costa Rica, however, it not only makes perfect sense; it becomes a lofty goal to which we should all aspire. There is always room for a nation to grow and develop. Unlike most places I've visited, Costa Rica is actually moving in that direction.
