True Nature Travels Blog

"BE THE LIGHT" WEATHERING THE STORM AND SPREADING LIGHTNESS THROUGH SERVICE

 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!
student service travel
student service travel
 
 
 
“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.
service
 
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/
student service trip
 

True Nature Travels Blog

Healing Power of Service

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Earlier this month we had the privilege of hosting a group from Asheville, North Carolina, which is our U.S. hometown. 🙂
This group, led by Jeff Firewalker and Cat Matlock, took part in a half-day service project in San Rafael, a village many know that True Nature has been working in for many years. The mission of the project was to paint the home of a woman named Doña Ana. While seemingly a straight forward task, by the end of its duration, the power of service had really shined through. 

Lindsay Padilla, True Nature Village Representative, shared that “the group arrived, and after welcoming them we started painting, and at the end, it was like another house! The colors are beautiful. We have been painting many houses, but this group did an especially wonderful job. They were so dedicated to service. In the end, Doña Ana was so grateful she was moved to tears. She had a great reason for it.”

In addition to the service project, the children from the community then invited the group to play soccer. They also enjoyed a cooking lesson, describing that they truly “felt the love from the Padilla Kitchen.”
 
Jeff and Cat also offered their healing services to Lindsay’s mother, who is in the process of healing from cancer. Lindsay shared that “not only did the group come to our village to help work, paint, and connect, they also came to help my mother heal which was so gracious and unexpected.”
 
Each time a group joins us in Costa Rica, it is a unique experience. Every time we have the opportunity to serve together, a sense of growth and healing happens within ourselves and within those that we serve. This reciprocal process continues to inspire us at True Nature Education and keeps us going each day and each trip. The power of service is true and eminent. 
 
Pura Vida.
 
When was the last time you took time out of your life to be of service? Have you ever felt the power of service?

True Nature Travels Blog

Happy New Year! One Cycle Ends and Another Begins…

We want to start by wishing everyone a wonderful Happy New Year from all of us at True Nature Education. New Years always brings the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. We just completed our best year yet at TNE and look forward to an incredible 2013!

Just in time to wrap up 2012 we completed our Costa Rica Tikkun Olam and Adventure Program. With the auspicious timing of this program ending on NYE, it was fitting that it turned out to be one of our most special programs to date. Throughout the week the group had a very unique, caring, and collaborative energy which continued to grow to the end.

In addition, this group being from Asheville, where TNE is based, had an added element of meaningful connection, knowing that not only will the group get to continue to grow together when they return, but we at TNE can also grow with them back at home in the US.

The final day of the trip had us waking up to a warm and sunny morning at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge. Following yoga we gathered together with Ishmael, our naturalist guide, and headed to our reforestation project.

The Rabbi shared some poignant words about the relevance and importance of planting trees in the Jewish tradition, and with that said we headed out with our trees and began our planting.

Once again one of TNE’s groups took part in the expansion of the explanding corridor of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. The group planted the trees with such mindfulness and care, a reflection of the group itself, with some making special dedications to friends and family with the plantings.

Following the project we headed back to Luna Nueva one more time to prepare for our departure. Leaving the farm for the final time, we made one final stop at the San Rafael School. The children met our shuttle with smiles, taking our hands and following them into their classroom. Together we took part in a very special time of connection, sharing, and celebration for our time in Costa Rica and in the village. The activity culminated in our offering of the school supplies (altogether they weighed 60 pounds!) which the group brought from the US and which we carried all week with us. 🙂 We shared in waives, smiles, and a big “a dios” as we drove down the road for the final stage of our journey.

Our final night back at the Orchideas Inn, we sat around the same table, as we did the first night, sharing appreciation for one another, stories, and setting intentions for how we plan to bring this energy back home. The group flew into the sunset yesterday arriving home just in time to bring in the New Year with family.

We want to thank everyone from our group from North Carolina, New York, and California. We have coined the group the first cohort of The Costa Rica Toucan Alum’s.

Wishing everyone the best from TNE!

True Nature Travels Blog

Day 5 and 6: True Service and Adventure

Day 5
We awoke at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge, a biodynamic farm and ecolodge – quite a different environment than the coastal zone where we had spent our previous days. This is clearly the rainforest. 🙂

After our first morning yoga session of the trip and a great breakfast we were ready to head to the village of Chachagua where we took part in a morning of service. Our project for the day was to give the Chachagua Church a facelift with a new coat of paint.

We were met by Lindsay Padilla and her family. Lindsay is one of True Nature’s Village Representatives, and a wonderful community leader and organizer. We were also met by the pastor of the church. In a very meaningful moment following the project the Pastor and Rabbi Meiri each offered a prayer, one in Spanish and one in English.

Rabbi Meiri shared, “It is with great joy that we offer our service in your house of worship to lift up your services.”
Following our work we headed back to the farm where we had some much-needed downtime, which included time in the hot-tub, a farm tour, and a night hike for some.

Day 6
Today we took part in our Arenal Adventure Day. It was a full day of adventure and excursions including zipliniing, horseback-riding, a volcano hike, and a trip to the hot springs.

We were honored to have Christian Padilla (Lindsay’s brother) as our naturalist guide. “We have had such a great assortment of wildlife on this trip,” shared Peter Oppenheimer, which has included over 45 different birds (counted by Noa Meiri).

Christian’s passion and knowledge illuminated our day as we truly had an opportunity to explore and embrace the beauty and brilliance of the rainforest.

The day ended with pizza in the Luna Nueva cob oven, followed by a beautiful a circle bringing Shabbat to a close. We are beginning to feel the transition that is upon us as our journey is slowly beginning to come to a close. Tomorrow is our last full day together, and we are going to soak up and enjoy every moment. See you tomorrow…