In our special December newsletter
we spoke about the floods that happened in Costa Rica and Panama in
November.  Thousands of people lost their crops and livestock in the
floods and others had to leave their homes and go into temporary
shelters.  Indigenous people in the Talamanca area where we have
several projects were some of the worst hit.  Many lost crops that they
will not be able to replant or harvest any produce from for a further
18 months, meaning they have been left without an income source for
food, clothes and living expenses.  This is a particularly critical
time in ensuring the people affected receive on-going help as many of
the immediate relief efforts have subsided.

In addition to the
support we are giving in the way of donations of food and clothes to
some of the affected families, we are going to be partnering with Children Incorporated
– a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the maintenance,
support, education and welfare of needy children all around the world. 
We will be working together with them to help support the people on the
indigenous reservation
post-flood and to create a more sustainable income in the form of a
co-operative
that will allow community members to come together and support one
another in economic activities aside from banana or plantain
production.  We are currently researching, together with Children Inc.,
the possibility of creating a chicken farm co-operative.

After getting the project going, we'd also be helping them with
setting up distribution and marketing of their products, including
the creation of an area farmer's market. Our plan
covers sustainable income, disaster relief, assistance to children and
elderly and will help many people who can't harvest any more crops for
18 more months.  In addition to this, we are hoping to be able to
employ an intern in the area to help us research and develop this and
future projects that will help people in the Talamanca indigenous area.

In
addition to this, Children Inc. will also be helping us to set up a
Sponsor-a-Child program.   We are very much looking forward
to working together with Children Inc. to further extend our support of
Costa Rica's under-resouced indigenous people.  Keep posted for further info!

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