Student Service Trip in Costa Rica and Overcoming Obstacles
True Nature Education had the privilege of partnering with The National Society of Leadership and Success this past month. 25 lovely students with hearts full of compassion and eagerness adventured to Costa Rica to provide service to the local communities, and in the process had a blast! A student service trip is a fantastic opportunity to broaden horizons and participate in global community service.
True Nature Education works with some amazing individuals in the local villages. One of these leaders is Lindsay Padilla. A Costa Rican native, her mindfulness and guidance always touches our hearts.
Check out some of her insight on shining bright through the storms and spreading this light through service!
“It was a rainy night and I was at home with my two little boys.
No more people there and lots of thunders dancing and singing in my backyard… I love to listen to Mother’s Nature sounds, however sometimes it seems like a different rhythm… Mother’s Nature wasn’t as peaceful as I wanted her to be specifically that night.
So I decided to sit on my favorite rocking chair, with my kids. We played a game, it consisted of imagine us to be sailing, enjoying of the blue ocean and the bright sun… Everything was fantastic until the moment when Andres, my 8 years old asked me if I was scary…
Game over! They discovered my feelings and guess what? I was really scary…
We were expecting to welcome a TNE group next day and the volunteer action already planned was to work on a sustainable farm, a new project that is going to benefit a group of people from my community.
I am not always so dramatic, but Imagine your plans, imagine your dreams surrounded by lots of rain and maybe lightening… I was scary for the moment, for my present and I was not sure about next day, about my future, about our tomorrow…
I was expecting to share my “tomorrow” with people from different places, coming from far away to make a difference and the weather was not the perfect from my perspective.
As soon as I listened my husband opening the door, I felt better, I felt my family completed. My kids went to sleep and we sat on the floor, with a candle.
All the house was dark, but there was a little light… Poor darkness, I bet darkness was not feeling completed because of our little light…
And I suddenly thought of our actions… Sometimes we feel it is not too much what we can do, sometimes we think of the storms, we think of the scary moments, we think of the darkness around the world, but we were born to be a light, to bring light, to make the darkness a little clear. Do we have to limit our good intention because of our doubts about the future? About tomorrow? No!!!
We were talking until our candle decided not to light… And it was a good night, the light is still inside us and you know what? Next day we enjoyed of the sun. No more rain until the moment when we finished our volunteer service… Mothers are known because of their DEEP love and Mother Nature showed us what love means, even during the rain…
It feels incredible to be part of the ones that are doing something, anything.
We have been welcoming too many “lights” from TNE. People that decided to be the difference, to be grateful even for the stormy days.
The stormy days are not totally bad, during the stormy days, maybe you can find out inspiration to be the light that others are needing.
Let’s your light be!”
Shine on True Nature family!
Interested in joining a service student trip? Check out our calendar here! http://truenatureeducation.com/events/
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Jessica Durivage-Kerridge – follow her on Instagram @whereismyguru
We’ve had an incredible year of service in Costa Rica through our 
From our March trip, Kathryn Hima of Stratford, Connecticut:
Following the June program, Candice Wroblewski of Michigan shared that she had:
Before you pack and take a plane to Costa Rica, consider reading this.
The green grass looks like a rug. There are some insects climbing up the colorful plants, the day is sunny, and I am sitting under a palm. I think of the day when Keilor and I planted the palm trees in our property; now they are big enough, almost 4 meters. The soil here is rich… Poor farmers: I guess it is hard to them to have lots of kilograms of yucca, tiquisque, ñampi or malangas per every single plant. Yet maybe it is not all too bad because they are getting stronger from their hard work. It makes them to save money and time, because it is the equivalent of going to the gym!
There is a sound in the house. It is Gabri waking up, and he is hungry… I have been writing, and there is not lunch prepared for him, so I will give him a cup of sugar cane juice, the one we prepared yesterday at home. There are some pieces of guanábana, papaya and watermelon in my freezer, and some anonas and caimitos that my friend from school gave me yesterday. She has lots of fruits, which she shares with her friends, otherwise she wouldn’t know what to do with her harvest. Anonas and caimitos are not so popular here, so I appreciate her gifts, and I like to give her back some cacao or chocolate fruit. There are some cacao trees on my in-laws property. It was a big problem to me. It was a heavy bag full of fruits and love. It was also a big problema for my co-workers, who had to experience the same experience… Costa Ricans are so friendly, it is hard to stop every time you see someone you know along your way. They want to ask about you, about your family, your pets, your plans for the future and finally, they all give you lots of blessings and hugs, it makes your arms so strong, after giving and receiving too many hugs.
Lindsay Padilla is a nature lover and mom of two boys. She has been teaching Spanish since 2006 and working for the development of rural communities in Costa Rica. She enjoys writing, reading and swimming.
I just went to share a cup of tea with my mother and we found something interesting in her porch. There was a nest and three little birds on it. The baby birds are called yiguirros. They are not as beautiful as the colorful toucans or the scarlet macaws we usually see flying in our rural town, but yiguirro is our national bird and these birds decided to make their nest in my mother’s home!
Sometimes I get presents and I love to open presents, that is why I want to share this with you guys, because the way I am opening this present is sharing this amazing moment with you.
Lindsay Padilla is a nature lover and mom of two boys. She has been teaching Spanish since 2006 and working for the development of rural communities in Costa Rica. She enjoys writing, reading and swimming.
