Tropical Storm Nate

Tropical Storm Nate created a state of emergency in Costa Rica and here in Monteverde. Cut off from the main town of Santa Elena by a washed out bridge, no electricity/internet/telephone, limited water and food supplies, and uncertainty about future landslides and safety of our persons and houses, our community has come together to support each other and safely navigate the challenges. This webpage is to keep you up to date on our situation and response, divided into sections about donations, links to facebook/blog posts, and photo gallery. Thank you for caring!

Donations

For the many friends who have asked how they can help, the most tangible support is financial donations to the school. We will have many families needing more financial support, as their livelihoods in the tourism industry are affected by the immediate close-down of visitors and possible longer-term reduction in tourism. We may also need to introduce new programs such as lunch, transport or daycare to continue supporting families in their recovery. Our commitment to provide access to bilingual Quaker education to ALL local families regardless of their financial situation remains strong; we will need more assistance to make this a reality. Visit mfschool.org/donate to see donation options, and please consider a monthly pledge to provide ongoing support for families in need.

Updates

Sun 15th – New York Times article about the storm and the community in general
Thurs 12th – Day-by-day photo-journal blog post of the whole week of crisis and recovery
Wed, 11th – Final community emergency meeting
Tuesday, 10th – Children’s “vacation camp” to give parents some respite
Mon 9th pm – Video clip of emergency supplies being brought by helicopter to the pig farm behind the school, which we all went out to bring to to the emergency distribution center.

Mon 9th am – Facebook update that we now have electricity and internet, and information about how to donate.
Sun 8th, am – Call out to our families in other neighborhoods to assure them we’re okay, and to invite all local children to our “vacation camp” each morning to give parents a respite.
Sun 8th am – The initial description of our state of emergency – no road access, houses washed out by landslides, no electricity or internet or phone, limited food and water.
Fri-Sat – No access to internet to post anything, just dealing with the emergency on the ground
Thurs, 5th – Announcement that parent-teacher conferences were cancelled due to rain, not really understanding what was to come…