Through partnerships with numerous organizations around the world, Appleseed Expeditions has been a resource for educators and students to connect their curriculum to helping others.  It doesn’t matter if your group is interested in a few hours or a few days of service they can make an impact that will last a life time.  The programs listed below are just a few of the many that we have been actively involved with.  The needs are great in these areas, and the opportunities for students to develop a fascination and passion for using their education to meet these needs are great as well.  Please feel free to contact Appleseed Expeditions for additional information on these programs as well as others.

Costa Rica Service Information

The Abraham Project-Using sustainable methods to aid impoverished families

In the area of San Jose, known as Tres Rios, there is a growing community called el Faro, or the Lighthouse.  This community has helped the needy children from local Nicaraguan squatter’s villages and has also set up three homes for orphaned children in Costa Rica.  They also have a day care facility that aids the very needy children from the squatter’s village.

The Lighthouse has used all recycled materials to build their facilities.  They construct most of their buildings from wood which they receive from a local glass plant who donates their used crates to the Lighthouse center.  That’s where you come in!  We can help them clean, sand, and treat the wood.  All you need is a willing hand and a pair of work gloves.

In the afternoon you can also choose to help out with the children in the day care center by putting on an arts and crafts project, set up a game, or even sit and color.

La Carpio-Aiding a Nicaraguan refugee center

La Carpio is one of a handful of marginal communities on the outskirts of San Jose.  It consists mostly of Nicaraguans who have left their homes to escape to the peace and tranquility of Costa Rica.  In the late 80s and early 90s, thousands of Nicaraguans fled the country due to political unrest and various natural disasters.  Many came by foot through the mountains to Costa Rica leaving behind businesses, homes, and family.  Because they had virtually nothing, they could not pay for housing and constructed temporary homes on land that did not belong to them.  Appleseed groups have a long standing relationship of aiding this community.  A typical day for a group would be helping with a construction project in the morning and then an activity with the children in the afternoon.  Construction projects aid with dilapidated homes, painting the community center, and fixing fences along the community landfill to prevent accidents.  Other construction programs continue to arise, so there is always work to be done helping this community.  A group can expect anywhere from 75 – 150 children a day!  As you can see the children really enjoy the activities.  The kids in the community love to come participate in the programs put on by the community recreation center and Appleseed Expeditions groups.  This center is the largest open space in all of La Carpio and provides a great place for the kids to participate in fun activities with our groups.  For many of them, it is the only time they can be kids, as they are often responsible for caring for younger siblings and cousins and maintaining the household while their parents work.

La Fortuna-Lending a hand in a local orphanage

About three hours from San Jose and right next to Arenal Volcano is the small town of La Fortuna.  We are currently working with a local orphanage there.  Our groups are helping with light cleaning, construction, painting, and mentoring kids through games and reading programs.  Some of our groups are also bringing technology and educational equipment that is used to help educate these children. 

Hawaii’s H5 Homeless Partnership

Appleseed Expeditions has partnered with Hawaii’s largest homeless service project to provide tutorial services for the children of the H5 Shelter.  The H5 homeless program is an organization that was established to provide shelter and food for approximately 300 people in the regional Honolulu area.  Honolulu has the largest homeless population per capita in the United States.  Many of these homeless are families from different islands in the South Pacific.  They come to Honolulu looking for employment, educational opportunities, and a better situation for their families.  Due to the lack of transitional housing in Hawaii many of these families become the working homeless.  The H5 Shelter provides housing for approximately 300 people which includes approximately 50 children under the age of 13.  It is this targeted group that we at Appleseed are attempting aid. 
Student involvement includes;

• Providing a structured after-school reading program for children between the ages of 5 and 12 years old.  This allows the children a chance to strengthen their English.
• Educating and tutoring children in the field of computer science and helping them develop a variety of computer skills.  Also helping them to develop stronger science and mathematics skills.
• Provide services to homeless individuals and families including childcare or educational and life skills classes.
• Preparing and facilitating in the distribution of meals throughout the Honolulu regional area.
  
  

South Florida’s RCMA Partnership
Migrant farm workers are generally defined as persons who cross a prescribed geographic boundary and stay away from their normal residences overnight to perform farm work for wages.  In addition to the many burdens imposed on all children of poverty, migrant children face mobility, language, and cultural barriers.  Additionally, they face increased challenges in obtaining educational, health, and social services.
 
South Florida Hispanic migrant worker children are considered by many as the ghost children of our society.  These children follow their parents in a transitional lifestyle where the parents move every three to five months as work in agricultural crops becomes available.  They are called ghost children because they go to school for short periods of time and then disappear due to the movement of their parents.  These children typically have a much higher drop out rate than the national average.  These higher dropout rates could be due to a variety of reasons, such as the transient lifestyle of their family or the lack of multicultural sensitive education programs within our schools. 

RCMAprovides quality child care and early education for children of migrant farm workers and rural, low-income families throughout Florida.  RCMA which stands for Redlands Christian Migrant Association was founded Oct. 1, 1965, by Mennonite Church volunteers in the Redlands farming area of southern Miami-Dade County to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children while their parents worked in the fields.  Although it was started as a faith based organization, it no longer is a religious organization, but still goes by the name RCMA.  A non-sectarian association, RCMA is built on principles of incorporating the family into child development, healthcare and educational activities, and hiring and training staff from the communities served.  This provides security for the parents, knowing their cultures are respected, while their children are being prepared to enter school.  For the children, this provides both the strength of their ethnic origins and the Anglo society that they are being prepared to enter.

Appleseed Expeditions’ staff has been involved with RCMA and the migrant children over the last 10 years.  We have coordinated efforts between schools and service projects with RCMA.  We work hand in hand with the volunteer director to implement structured mentoring, and community aid programs that benefit migrant children in need.  Your groups can read, mentor, tutor, play games, organize activities and sports events, help the children with homework, and much more.  Due to the variety of needs, there are many ways your group can connect and become involved in this community.