Livingston spends summer in Costa Rica

By Gassia Ashikian
Staff Writer

While some students travel for pleasure, senior Morgan Livingston spent six weeks in Costa Rica to build a new classroom and perform community service for those in need.

Livingston had the opportunity to help underprivileged communities in Costa Rica with Global Routes, a non-profit organization founded in1986.

“I chose Global Routes because it looked like the perfect trip for me because it combined Spanish immersion with community service,” Livingston said.

Livingston began her volunteer work at the Multivelda Rain Forest and later volunteered in the cities of La Fortuna, Milijones and San Jose.

“During our first week in Costa Rica, we stayed in a national park where we went hiking,” Livingston said.

When the group reached Milijones in their third week, Livingston lived with a Spanish-speaking family for 18 days and began to build classrooms at Escuela Milijones Elementary School.

“It was a cement classroom, so we lifted the cement blocks, and hand-mixed cement and carried the posts for the classroom,” Livingston said.

According to Livingston, her different experiences in Costa Rica were life changing. She recommends the Global Routes program to anyone who is interested in global volunteer work.

“I would love to do a trip like this again and will probably study abroad in Central or South America in college” Livingston said. “I did not realize how much my trip would open my eyes and impact me.”