ELHS Students Plan Costa Rica Service Trip

Photo courtesy of Global Doing Good.

This summer, a group of East Lansing High School Spanish students will be travelling to the Central American country of Costa Rica on a service trip.

The eight-day excursion will be taken by 30 students in various grades at ELHS, and will have a main goal of constructing a house for a local family in the Sarapiqui region of Costa Rica. Students plan to fundraise together, as well as individually, for both the travel and the construction, over $2,200 per student in total.

Over the course of the trip, students will have several experiences. First, they will visit a family farm and learn about subsistence farming and local life. After the construction of the house (which will take three of the six full in-country days) they will also get a chance to explore Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, and a wildlife-rich National Park.

One of the trip’s leaders, Spanish teacher Jeffrey Lampi, discussed why he was eager to lead and participate in the trip, explaining, “I have done mission work and service work my whole life. Nothing brings me more joy than working alongside youth ‘getting our hands dirty’ on behalf of someone else.” He added that “[t]here is something powerful about handing over the keys to a fully sustainable home to a family in need.”

The students involved intend to raise the rather sizeable amount of money through several venues. Lampi explains that “[students] will be writing their family members, friends, and neighbors support letters encouraging them to invest in the project. Also we will be doing group events like a Costa Rican Dinner and Salsa Dancing night, Dodgeball tourney, GoFundMe website, and much more.” He adds that his eventual goal is for the entire East Lansing community to “join us in our journey” and support the students’ humanitarian efforts.

I also had a chance to speak with ELHS Sophomore Zachary Sneathen about the project, and he brought up several interesting reasons for his participation, explaining, “I decided to sign up for the project for many reasons. It is a great opportunity to use Spanish in real world context and situations and transition into AP Spanish next year. I also want to take the opportunity to help people in need in Costa Rica and travel farther than I ever have before.” Further, he said that he most looks forward to the opportunity to attend a Costa Rican school for part of a day, saying “I think it will be fascinating to get a student from another country's perspective on school.”

ELi will keep you updated for the rest of the school year as fundraising events for this trip take place.