SURFing in Costa Rica

I am currently living in Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica, for the summer. Bahia Ballena is a small town (about 800-1000 people) on the Pacific coast just north of the Osa Peninsula. I actually first came to Bahia Ballena two years ago for the Thinking Beyond Borders program orientation. During the ten days we were here, we began to discuss the issues we would confront during our travels, and we explored the unique natural habitats the area has to offer. We learned local greetings such as “¡Pura Vida!” and walked around the town to start learning how to approach a new community.

This past winter, I contacted Chris Stakich, Thinking Beyond Borders Co-Founder, to help me figure out a summer plan in a Spanish-speaking country. Chris put me in touch with Travis Bays, a previous Peace Corps volunteer, who gave the TBB group a tour around Bahia Ballena and still lives there now.

My work with Travis focuses specifically on SURF, a youth group he founded a few years ago. SURF stands for Siempre Unidos para Reforzar nuestro Futuro or Always United to Strengthen our Future. SURF’s primary goal is to involve local youth in the sustainable development of their communities. Over the six months they participate with SURF, students progress though “The Four Waves,” which are Belonging, Mastery, Independence and Generosity. The group learns about the marine national park that borders their town and important aspects of community development as they prepare to design their own community projects.

My role this summer has been multi-faceted, keeping me on my feet and involved in the organization from all sides. I have compiled an information packet and brochure (both in English and Spanish) to distribute to donors, business partners and anyone else interested in the organization. I am also putting together a slideshow for presentations, writing an article for the local newspaper and helping Travis plan a SURF documentary. The rest of my time with SURF involves actually planning and leading workshops with the kids. I have lead the group on a community diagnostic tour, helping them discover relevant information about Bahia Ballena such as the population and the functions of the marine national park. I have also given the kids photography lessons and led them in photography and poetry exercises in which they reflect on the community and themselves.

Living in Bahia Ballena brings back many memories of my travels around the world with Thinking Beyond Borders. It is incredibly interesting to be traveling on my own now, with no facilitation or prompting of pertinent questions. Many of the issues I encounter, though, are the same. I see children dropping out of school when they are twelve to help their parents work. I see dangerous consequences of tourism threatening the rare natural resources that exist here. But I also see knowledge among local kids about farming, animals and the nature that surrounds them that is difficult to find in most children in the developed world. I see a community surviving because of the economy created by tourists.

What I learned studying with Thinking Beyond Borders, and find to be true everywhere I go, whether it’s in my home town or half-way around the world, is that nothing is as simple or straightforward as it may seem. You can always dig deeper, ask more questions and find that there are two, or four, or ten thousand sides to a story. The important thing I have found is to always ask more, always learn more, always meet more people. And even if you don’t find the answers you were looking for, you will at least have a richer life for doing so.

Emily Ausubel
Thinking Beyond Borders Alum, 2009

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