Wednesday 22 July 2015

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

So you think volunteering is for the young and strong?
Well,  you may have a point there. As most of the blogger on this page have pointed out the work at Corcovado Fondacion is tiring and exhausting, particularly if you are well past your fifties as in my case or past your sixties as in my partner´s case and more than one person have asked me why are you doing this to yourself when you could be spending  a relaxing fortnight at one of the Eco lodges along Bahia Drake.
Even though we feel worn out by the end of the day after having worked at the hatchery or fall into bed at 10 in the morning after having patrolled the beach early in the morning we are both happy to have signed up for this programme.
First of all we feel priviledged to be staying with a Tico family. Our hosts Tonio and Emerita are going out of their way to make us feel at home. We can´t really communicate much but you feel the warmth and good will they are extending.
More importantly, I am extremely happy to support a project, which I feel really aims at sustainability.
I knew I might not see any turtles let alone hatchlings during my time here but still I feel that everything I contribute goes towards the conservation of the sea turtles. The people behind Corcovado Fondacion are not a bunch of well- meaning animal loving idealist that want to save the world, no they are realists. They know that without bringing in the local people, without giving the local people a source of income other than poaching turtle eggs, the turtles cannot be saved.
And so I quite happily walk up and down the beach in the morning, sit on the hostel's pathway pulling out weeds or help my partner making shelves because I know that all the money it makes goes towards the fondacion.

Fred, sweet sixty-two, helping with carpentry work.



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