The principal goals of our work in Alajuelita include the following:

1. 1. most crucially, to establish an effective system for the delivery of acute and preventative healthcare to members of this underserved Costa Rican community;
2. transition from a system of triage healthcare to one of continuous care by implementing biannual well-child visits for the entire community, all the while monitoring key indicators of overall health;
3. achieve a marked decrease in pediatric malnutrition and in the number of underweight children in the community;
4. curb the devastating spread of common endemic disease caused by preventable microbial infections; and
5. promote and sustain programs in health education, with particular focus on pediatric and maternal health initiatives

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 "I thought that the work FIMRC was doing in Costa Rica was great. Not only were the sick being treated, but the children were being taught how to take care of themselves which is equally as important."—Anonymous

Project Alajuelita currently welcomes volunteers traveling individually or in groups of up to 10. Availability is year-round, so please contact us with the dates you would like to travel and we will do our best to accommodate you!

The nature of the volunteer mission to Alajuelita will vary depending on the number of volunteers in each group, the length of the volunteer trip, respective proficiencies in Spanish, medical expertise, and the current needs of the community and the clinic upon arrival.  What FIMRC can guarantee, however, is that every volunteer mission will be culturally and socially enlightening to its volunteers.  Each volunteer will have opportunities to examine Costa Rica’s systems of medical provision in numerous ways and learn about health care disparities as outlined below. 

Standards of medical care are extremely divergent within Costa Rica – you may witness modern hospitals comparable to those in the US, but in the same day witness communities receiving a very low standard of care, with no medical insurance coverage.

Outside FIMRC’s clinic, volunteers may spend time developing health educational initiatives in Tejarcillos, a soup kitchen located in the underserved areas of Alajuelita where children play in safety and receive hot meals daily.  Also in central Alajuelita is a small orphanage in need of regular visits from volunteers for educational aid for its children. 

Progress in the clinic itself accelerates daily.  Recent needs from the clinic included repainting and furnishing with medical supplies.  Volunteers have been instrumental in our early construction projects.  Volunteers will also maintain important roles in the clinic’s future—establishing medical record systems, building health education curricula on HIV, parasites, dental health etc, charting patients’ vital signs and observing clinical interactions with medical staff.  There are lots of opportunities for shaping an itinerary to your interests, as FIMRC’s goal is to provide every volunteer a memorable, worthwhile experience that will instill lasting impressions about healthcare in developing communities.

We have found that volunteers’ favorite aspect of their volunteer missions is the clinical experience – we give each volunteer the opportunity to shadow the doctor in the examination rooms, administer medications, and take vital statistics of patients. It is important to note, however, that a visit to a FIMRC clinic may not revolve around clinical or medically focused experiences for the volunteers.  While giving an injection, for example, may be an inspiring experience for a volunteer interested in a career in medicine, FIMRC maintains the policy that medical care must be delivered by qualified, trained professionals for the benefit of our patients.  Those volunteers with medical background or expertise will likely have the opportunity to work in a medical capacity alongside our clinic staff.  Student volunteers are asked to enhance our projects by participating in and conducting health education seminars, construction related projects, and other activities that promote the FIMRC mission, in addition to their time in the clinic. FIMRC asks that all volunteers be flexible and willing to help FIMRC staff out where needed.

The following is a sample itinerary of a one-week volunteer mission with Project Alajuelita. This itinerary has been made to provide a clear, general impression of the way volunteer time is spent. Please note, however, that in order to ensure that a volunteer’s work has the greatest, most relevant impact on clinic and on the communities we serve, actual itineraries are established upon a volunteer’s arrival at the clinic.

 

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
8:15 AM	depart from homestay	depart from homestay	depart from homestay	depart from homestay	depart from homestay
9 AM-12 PM	Planning health education lessons	shadowing physician in examination room	Managing patient intake in clinic waiting room in Jasmín	Organizing and administering medicines	health education in Alajuelita orphanage
12 PM-1:30 PM	lunch in Alajuelita	lunch in Alajuelita	lunch in Alajuelita	lunch in Alajuelita	lunch in Alajuelita
1:30 PM-4 PM	dental hygiene project with children	discussion with young mothers on prenatal care	discussion of parasite prophylaxis in kindergarten	aid with food distribution and play in Tejarcillos	Visit to local community healer

 

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Volunteers stay with a Costa Rican family in the comfortable suburb of Santa Ana. Santa Ana is located about 20 minutes outside of San Jose, and is about 30 minutes from the clinic site. Santa Ana has a number of internet cafes where it will be possible to send emails or otherwise communicate with friends and family in the U.S. FIMRC’s homestay coordinator, Rita Zuniga, screens all families and ensures that everyone is satisfied with their placement. We ask that you indicate all housing preferences, including food preferences and pet and food allergies in the enrollment forms. All of the houses are clean, with western style toilets and showers. FIMRC arranges, but does not pay for the daily transport to and from the clinic. All transportation will be provided by a reputable hired driver with whom FIMRC has been working since the inception of Project Alajuelita’s volunteer program.

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Country-specific vaccination requirements change from year to year, based on the health situation of a particular country.  Please refer to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for updates on outbreaks and vaccination suggestions via www.cdc.gov.

For the safety of our volunteers, FIMRC requires all participants in the Global Health Volunteer Program to possess health insurance for the duration of their volunteer mission. If your current health policy does not cover you for a minimum of $50,000 emergency medical evacuation, there are numerous travel insurance companies from whom trip insurance can be purchased.

Please remember to bring sufficient personal medications, if needed, for the entirety of your time away from home.

US citizens can enter the country with their U.S. Passport. Volunteers who do not hold a US passport must check with the embassy for current regulations. Please see the embassy website and look up visa requirements.

 

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 The costs of a volunteer mission with Project Alajuelita are as follows:

• Program donation: $699 per week, $100 per each additional day (payable to the FIMRC office)
• Housing/Food: $25 per day (to be paid locally to the homestay family; includes three meals per day)
• Daily transportation: $7-10 per day (to be paid locally to the driver)

The following are additional estimated costs:

• Airfare approx: $500 to $700 (variable, depending upon travel dates & season. Volunteers are responsible for booking their own flights)
• Spending money: $150 (approximate recommended amount to bring) 

Long-term placements are negotiable.

 

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The Project Alajuelita Team

The following staff members have been essential in establishing the first successes of our clinic in Alajuelita.  Feel free to contact them directly with further questions you may have:

Stacy Wallick
Director of Operations, Central & South America
Member, Board of Directors
stacy.wallick@fimrc.org

Stacy was among the first FIMRC members to visit the San Felipe Clinic at its inception in early January 2006.  She is responsible for implementing all aspects of the volunteer program and managing the San Felipe clinic.

Cristian Elizondo, M.D.
Medical Director, San Felipe Clinic

Dr. Elizondo is the full-time Costa Rican physician responsible for all the care provided to residents of Alajuelita as well as managing the operations of our clinic.  His efforts have been essential in founding the clinic, securing its location, developing protocols for continuous care therein, and nurturing positive relationships between FIMRC and Hospital Nacional de Niños and local communities.

Dayan Alvarado
Health Education Coordinator
dayan.alvarado@fimrc.org

Dayan concentrates on developing educational programming for the volunteers and works directly with the volunteers outside the clinic in Tejarcillos and the Alajuelita orphanage.  He is also responsible for managing day-to-day activities of the San Felipe clinic.  He also works closely with Dr. Elizondo to organize outreach initiatives throughout the community.

Rita Zuniga
Home-Stay Coordinator

Rita successfully places all volunteers traveling to Alajuelita with Costa Rican families.  She manages all transportation of volunteers between Santa Ana, Alajuelita, and San Jose.  Rita also provides qualified information about independent weekend excursions around Costa Rica.

Sara Schoenleber
VP for Volunteer Programs, Global Health Volunteer Program
missions@fimrc.org

Sara is presently the main coordinator for the Global Health Volunteer Program, handling all stateside logistical issues.  Sara has worked with volunteer groups on-site in Costa Rica in the summer of 2008. Please contact her directly with any questions you may have about volunteering with Project Alajuelita!

 

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