Progress & Purpose
We are a group of over 800 + people and growing each day on Facebook.
We have come together in support of the poor community of Biolley.
Our group has produced results such as:
*A logo created by a graphic designer for the coffee beans grown on the farm.
*A link to our website from a major online news source! A link to our website from a major travel website
* An Educational Documentary-The area of Biolley is an absolutely spectacular setting and is most certainly a cinematographer’s delight! A documentary film will include some information about coffee farming, the community in Biolley, the Guaymi Indians and the La Amistad International Park. This documentary will be filmed in two or three segments throughout the coffee growing season. The video will be used for both educational and philanthropic purposes.
* 5 out of the 10 laptops needed for the Biolley School in Costa Rica (Please see below * In the works)
More about the documentary
The educational documentary is to provide incentives to future students to volunteer and gain first-hand experience in Biolley, Costa Rica – a very remote part of the world. The philanthropic aspect of the documentary aims to promote assistance to two important aspects of the region: 1) to give the local people access to the tools and facilities needed to improve their quality of life, and 2) to help preserve and protect the magnificent natural setting of this area. The incredibly hardworking people of the Talamanca Rainforest have a strong sense of community, but they lack the resources to develop communal facilities many of us take for granted, such as nearby access to medical assistance. La Amistad International Park is a world heritage site containing a significant fraction of the World’s biodiversity, yet it is endangered because it lacks the resources to protect its natural wealth. We will use the video to educate and inform viewers about coffee farming, organic farming, needed medical and dental assistance, and tourism for the Park. Students and researchers are needed to explore the as-yet undocumented ecology and species in the La Amistad International Park.
There is enough room for lodging for foreign volunteers at ASOPROLA (near the entrance of Alta Mira to the La Amistad International Park) ASAPROLA promotes fair trade and rain-forest alliance coffee production as well as tourism for the park. Our finca/farm has some room on the farm for a few volunteers as well.
Up and Coming Projects
*In the works: Finding the support to either purchase or donate 10 used computers (preferably laptops) with educational software for the kids in Biolley. The Biolley school is a two-room school house and a one room pre-school area. The school is ran by a very successful and talented coordinator who is serious about her work and dedicated to the kids. The coordinator does her best to round up all the kids in Biolley whether they are dirt poor or have somewhat of an income. She makes sure they are in school. The parents, most of whom are very poor farmers, chip in and support the school when they can. The school now has a newer smaller room built with the donations from the parents (donations of their own money, of which they earn precious little!) where the coordinator shares the room for music classes and for her office. This is an incredible display of generosity and community by the parents who are industrious people who want nothing more than a better future for their children! The parents also contribute by making sure their kids have uniforms, pencils, rulers, notebooks and writing utensils for school supplies. But most schools as is true with the Biolley school, there is a severe lack of educational materials such as books, libraries, gymnasiums, audio visual equipment and so-forth.
UPDATE: 5 laptop computers have been delivered to the little Biolley School!
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
Shel Silverstein
The plan is to deliver 5 more laptops in Nov. of this year of 2010. In addition, we plan to continue to seek support for the little Biolley school, they need text books, materials and more! The 10 laptops in total will be to connect a laboratory for the kids and to get the tele-communications company to furnish sufficient internet for the laboratory. We have suggested that the school give night classes of computation to some of the parents in the area.
More about the education in Costa Rica’s rural areas
Preschool and general basic education are compulsory, free and funded by the government. Primary school has a 96% attendance rate in the well known central valley of Costa Rica, but here in the southern zone as many Costa Rican’ s label it the forgotten zone, 50% attendance in rural areas on any given day is very common. Many children are needed at home to work or help out on certain days. The educational system in Costa Rica is better than some countries in the world, but if Costa Rica’s future as a developing country is to happen, then education must be key to this development. As it stands, students are enrolled each year for a 180 day school year. One of the shortest annual school terms in the world. And in most rural areas only two of every three enrolled students in first grade make it to the sixth grade level and only one in every three complete secondary education.
Biolley Elementary School and Biolley Elementary School Continued…..
Down the line-Future Projects
* We ultimately want to see and are seeking support to develop a small two-room clinic and pharmacy in Biolley to facilitate volunteer efforts by medical and dental students from North America and Europe. We will provide modest lodging for those students during their stay as they assist the farmers, their families, and the Native Americans of the Talamanca Mountains who travel by foot each year through the rainforest to hand-pick and harvest the coffee. Ultimately, we would like the government of Costa Rica to furnish a staff nurse at the facility and will need to build a small unit for the nurse to stay at the clinic. Once built, we will also encourage the government to provide a Costa Rican doctor to visit the facility twice a month. As it stands, the people around the district of Biolley must travel approximately an hour and a half, or more, to get to a clinic. Many people do not have transportation, or the public transportation is not always available.
* We are in the process of applying for an export license for our coffee to be sold in the United States market: Our farm will be the model of this endeavor as we grow only organic, shade grown, bird habitat coffee. We hope to encourage those farmers who are not growing organically to consider growing organic in the future. We will build our market in the United States and slowly include other farmers as a part of a co-op. Community, conservation & kindness will be added to each cup!
* A yearly donation drive for clothing, old school supplies and shoes for the very poor farmers and Indians who harvest the coffee each year.
* Implement an environmentally sound waste management system around the area. We would like to educate the farmers to move away from their present practice of burning or burying trash. We will locate recycling centers and start a recycling day each month in the community.
* Costa Rica is the major grower of pineapple for the entire world. Interestingly enough, many of the pineapple fields are near our farm and near the La Amistad International Park. We would like to involve the Dole Corporation in assisting with promotion for tourism to the park by improving the roads into Biolley and to the ranger station at Alta Mira. Biolley is fortunate to have the principal entrance to the southern end of the Park, “Alta Mira”. To learn more about the park, please visit our La Amistad page on this site. The park is special and is in peril.
Our Purpose
Our purpose is to live peaceably on our farm and use the land to provide opportunity to our community. The people of Biolley are very industrious and kind. They are sincere in improving their lives. We want to bring awareness and help promote the right kind of tourism for the La Amistad International Park and provide more opportunity for the Biolley district to earn an income and not be forced to give up their way of life in the country, in order to find work in the city.
We have provided two very poor workers full time work at more than the minimum wage, health benefits, retirement benefits as well as a newly built house for our main worker and his family. The farm was not developed before we purchased it. It now has electricity lines going to the farm and municipal water. The electricity lines help the two poor farmers who have farms adjacent to ours. Several pages inside this site talk about making a difference. In particular, a good read is: http://bcrcoffee.com/community/making-a-difference/
This page will continue to grow as will our progress and purpose!
PURA VIDA!
The Buzz
To Join us on Facebook or volunteer your time and efforts to Biolley Farms and La Amistad International Park, please see:
Name of the group on Facebook: Biolley Farms and La Amistad International Park-on Facebook
Contact us
Email: biolleybuzz@gmail.com (Jennifer Long)
We will keep you updated as news progresses!
