Last week we celebrated the graduation party for the English community class. The class started in February and finished the last week of November.

The classes were held at night at the Universidad de Costa Rica, about half a mile away from the uVolunteer dorm.    These classes are a part of the teaching English program and they are a great way to get involved in the local life and to make Costa Rican friends.

In 2012 we would like to start the English class program in January, before the Costa Rican school year which starts in mid-February and work both in the university at night and with children in the community education center.  English is a fundamental part of formal education in Costa Rica due to the great amount of tourists, who are one of the main sources of income to the country´s economy.

This project tends to be one of the most rewarding, especially when is done for a long period of time. The sharing of experiences with the locals and the capability of see the actual development of the learning process awesome.

This last Thursday, December 1st, we had the graduation event and party to close up the year. The students brought food and drinks to share with their classmates.  Every class prepared and rehearsed a presentation in English so they could show off their abilities to the rest of the students and other guests. One group performed about the holiday spirit of giving, another recreated a scene from the movie Toy Story 3, and another told the story of “ La Llorona”; a Costa Rican legend about a woman who   lets the river current to take her son  to avoid dishonoring her family. The last group played a scene in a hotel where a celebrity´s lack of glamour is uncovered. We all had a blast with the performances, especially the funny ones and got a chance to see the talent and improvement of the student’s English.

After the performances we danced to some Latin rhythms until the graduation ceremony began. The last teachers the students had, Marshall Owen and me, were in charge of handing each student their diplomas. Though uVolunteer is not an academic organization we provide the adults that come to class with a certification of their accomplishments and effort throughout the year. This moment was very special and brought some laughs and almost tears; reminding us it was the end of a great time. During the year the students hung out with all the volunteers after class as well and learned step by step the mysteries of a new language by the hand of their native speakers.

We expect that on the upcoming year we will have many volunteers signing up to teach English so they can contribute to the educational development of the community of San Ramón.

         

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