By Yuka Noda
Calendar Editor
The classic proverb goes, “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes.” This summer, junior Annika Jarvis did exactly that.
Jarvis and her family flew to Costa Rica in July as part of a service trip organized by a non-profit organization called Soles4Souls. The nationwide organization
collects new and lightly used shoes, which Jarvis and other volunteers distributed to children living in impoverished Costa Rican communities.
“My family and I have traveled to numerous third-world countries and have seen immeasurable amounts of poverty,” Jarvis said. “We’ve never been able to truly make a difference, since we were normally on vacation and didn’t prepare any donations.”
Jarvis used the Spanish she has learned throughout her schooling to communicate with the locals in the area and help other volunteers overcome the language barrier as well.
“It has never really been imperative for me to use Spanish on trips becasue we usually stay at hotels with employees who speak a decent amount of English,” Jarvis said. “However, in Costa Rica, I would spend entire days speaking more Spanish rather than English. I experienced how incredible it is to talk to and understand people from a completely different culture in their native language.”
Jarvis volunteered in small settlements near San Jose, where about 400 to 800 families live in extremely impoverished conditions. According to Jarvis, it was clear that the local Costa Ricans had given up hope of receiving any sort of financial aid from their government.
“It was extremely important for my family and me to aid these Costa Rican children because a lot of countries are unable or choose not to assist their poverty stricken citizens,” Jarvis said.
Every morning, Jarvis and the other volunteers went from the clinic, where they spent the nights, to the small settlements where hundreds of local children awaited them in the town square. Then, the volunteers would wash and measure the children’s feet and distribute the appropriate-sized shoes.
“At home, a pair of shoes doesn’t feel like much and is nothing compared to a shiny new laptop or iPad,” Jarvis said. “But to these children, even something as simple as a pair of shoes is enough to light up their faces.”
According to Jarvis, the children that she worked with had a profound affect on her vision of the world. Most of the children lived in poor housing conditions and often had to raise one another while their parents were out trying to provide for them.
“All of the children I met were absolutely amazing,” Jarvis said. “Despite the difficult and burdensome aspects of their lives, everyone of them always had a smile on their face and a certain liveliness about them.”
Jarvis went beyond handing out shoes, toiletries and candy to the Costa Rican children and connected with them on a more personal level by helping them make jewelry and other arts and crafts as well.
“In the future, I would like to travel to different locations throughout world and try to reach as many countries and people as I possibly can,” Jarvis said. “I may not be able to make a huge difference as a single individual, but in the grand scheme of things, volunteering can have a positive impact on society.”
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