What an amazing journey this has been!  I came to Costa Rica with a drama curriculum for kids and not much more knowledge of what exactly I would be doing.  But sometimes these are the most exciting adventures.  The ones where you don't exactly know what you're getting yourself into.

Just getting my program off its feet took several weeks.  I was so completely unprepared for this.  I was under the impression that if you go to a school, offering up free drama services, that administration would be happy to oblige and that was that!  Oh, no.  This is not the way the public schools work in Costa Rica.  First of all, not being a Tica and not speaking much Spanish made the process quite difficult.  Finding generous bilingual friends to accompany me to all the meetings, to talk with the directors, was a challenge, and also frustrating because I really wanted to be able to communicate with directors by myself.

The first school director I attempted to speak with was at the Cerro Plano Elementary School.  The director wouldn't even let me through the security gate.  I spoke to him through the gate and even handed him a typed up letter stating the specifics of my program.  But he was very skeptical of me and my program.  He told me that he had gringos come in before, offering free programs for his students, and then not followed through.  I assured him I was committed and that this was an awesome opportunity for his students, but after all was said and done, he said, I'll think about it and get back to you.  He never did.  So, I moved on to the next public elementary school...La Escuela Santa Elena.

Initially, I had a really positive conversation with the director of La Escuela Santa Elena.  He was very friendly, welcoming and excited about my program.  He said he would arrange for about 20 students to be in my theatre program, send home permission slips with them, and have them ready and waiting for me the following week.  That never happened.  He never followed through and was never at the school when I was looking for him.  It's interesting how in the public schools here, directors just don't show up to school...often.  Also, if teachers want to call off classes for the day, they do.  Very interesting. 

After much persistence and realizing that the director of La Escuela Santa Elena was not going to follow through with his promise, I realized I would have to do the organizing myself.  I spoke directly to the teachers and the children in each classroom, and to parents after school.  And after many more weeks, despite the skeptical stares from teachers who don't understand theatre...I had a handful of motivated girls show up for my program!

Teaching in Spanish was tough for me.  However, I had a dedicated teenager, Ileana Garcia, willing to help me.  She was able to explain things to the students in Spanish when I was at a loss for words.  Through theatre games, children's books, and much conversation about scriptwriting, the girls wrote a powerful play about poverty.   About three weeks later (we were only able to rehearse about 3 times a week, as the public schools here don't have class at least once every week...I have no idea why) we were ready for our show!

These amazing girls revealed some impressive leadership skills.  They organized the final performance, made sure the backdrops, props, and costumes were in order, made invitations inviting everyone from their parents to the school cooks, and finally...were brave enough to perform their original script in front of many people.  I helped guide them, but they really made it happen.

My next program was in a private school, the CEC.  Because everyone there speaks English, you can imagine how much easier it was for me to communicate with the administration.  I began a 9 week program with students in the high school and elementary school.

The first 3 weeks I worked with a small group of talented teenagers.  They chose themes important in their lives, like alcohol abuse, friendships, and negligent parents.  With these themes, they developed characters, wrote the dialogue and performed an impressive play.  Actually, Tricia Wagner, the drama teacher at the Friends School, invited us to perform the play for her students.  We did this more than a month after working together with few rehearsals to refresh, but the kids did an amazing job.  And more importantly, we had very meaningful conversation about the issues presented.  As a teacher, I think it's so necessary to encourage young people to speak up about problems they may be experiencing.  This has been one of my goals.  Using theatre as a tool to explore and discuss issues and opinions important in the lives of youth.  If I encounter a young person who has been told how to think, rather than be allowed to think for him/herself or a child that has been encouraged to be silent, rather than express him/herself, then I love to encourage the opposite!  Theatre is the perfect tool for this kind of exploration.  It's a safe place for young people to take risks.

The next 6 weeks at the CEC, I began two separate theatre classes.  One with the 1st -3rd graders and one with the 4th - 6th graders.  I met with each class twice a week.  The younger kids explored the idea of empathy through the book Oye, Hormiguita.  I converted this book into a bilingual play, which they later performed.  They had an amazing discussion with the audience about always considering how someone else is feeling.  They used the guiding questions, “Is it okay to step on an ant?”  “What if the ant has feelings or a family of his own?”  “How would YOU feel if you were the ant and someone big wanted to step on you?”  These were all questions the little ones explored and their critical thinking about this issue of empathy was truly inspiring.  What amazing little thinkers!

The older group wrote a play about bullying.  This was a large group of kids and a lot more challenging to manage.  However, despite the obstacles, these kids also had great ideas and reflections about bullying and all the different forms it takes in their lives.

I only wish I could return to Costa Rica to continue teaching drama to all of the amazing kids and teens I've worked with.  All kids deserve the opportunity for creative expression through the arts.  Monteverde is a lucky community to have many locals care enough about the arts to make sure they continue.  People like Luis Dario Villalobos Castro, Tricia Wagner, Alvaro Garcia, Ileana Garcia and all the amazing teachers and parents who support their kids doing theatre and are always staying involved, helping whenever they can.  I feel so lucky to have been a part of it and to have made a contribution.

~Raquelita (Outreach Educator)