Hola amigos!
Ground has been broken in Lorena Village and we could not be more excited to update you in how our project has unfolded thus far!
First to address the elephant in the room, our UT 2020-21 cohort was not able to travel yet again. While we were discouraged, we ultimately knew this was a large possibility when we decided to take on this project during the pandemic. Our team decided that because of the lack of vaccination availability at the time, we would rather stay behind, and take the most precaution to keep Lorena Village safe. Due to the village's size, and the caution and care from community, Lorena Village has not had a large COVID-19 outbreak. Though we were so excited at the possibility of travel and meet our new friends in person, we knew we could not risk bringing a new variant or the same strain of COVID-19.
However!
(drumroll please)
The project is still happening! The soccer field and swales are still being constructed, and we have moved to our remote implementation plan that we created back in January.
You might be wondering: how are you going to build a new soccer field and swales if you aren’t going in person?
The answer? With a lot of help and zoom meetings.
We are so fortunate to have the support and effort of an amazing community and our colleagues. OUr team on the ground consists of: Jonle Sedar our NGO contact, Carlos Garcia, the contractor, Carlos Narrajo, the owner's representative, and our translator Jason Gonzales.
Shree re-examined the budget extensively to figure out where we could make room in the budget to have the work be contracted out. Jonle bravely stepped up to oversee the project despite being told at the beginning of this endeavor she'd have our team to help in-person. We decided to hire a translator to translate all the plans for the local contractors, considering none of us are proficient enough in engineering-Spanish. We are so proud and impressed with how everyone on this team has remained determined, patient, and helpful in these less than ideal last two years managing this project. We are also so grateful to all of our supporters for donating and flooding this team with support and encouragement.
As the project progresses we will keep you updated here in this blog and also have daily updates on our Instagram page (@puc.costarica).
¡Gracias por todo su apoyo!