Community Service

Getting Involved, Giving Back

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” So said Albert Einstein, and we think you’ll agree that these opportunities provide rewarding ways to spend some of your time, reaching out to the less-advantaged residents of Costa Rica and Panama. ACA’s carefully crafted program exposes you to multiple aspects of service, ensuring fulfilling projects that leave a positive mark. Earn 35 hours of community service for three weeks and 50 hours for four weeks. Upon completion, every participant receives an official certificate highlighting the total number of hours volunteered and projects completed.

Some examples of ACA’s service-learning program include:

Volunteering at a Day Care Center

Play educational games and teach arts and crafts at a day care center serving low-income families. You’ll provide children with access to creative educational activities while you interact directly with another culture in their local language.

Improving the Lives of Children

Bring happiness to the lives of disadvantaged children. You’ll help organize sports and group
games for these deserving kids, and provide tremendous assistance for the generous people
who run this under-staffed facility. You can also help develop arts and crafts projects or read
books with the children, building your language skills while you help them improve their own
learning ability.

Assisting at an Animal Rescue Center

This center houses animals that have been rescued from neglectful households and inhumane captivity or injured in hunting incidents. You’ll participate in the rehabilitation process of monkeys, raccoons, caimans, native wild pigs, all types of birds and other animals. The goal of the shelter is to reintroduce all of the animals back into their natural habitats. You’ll help feed, clean and care for these animals, and even help plant trees to restore their habitats.

Renewing a River

Here’s a fun, rewarding way to restore a precious natural resource. Groups of students raft down the river as they clean it. The journey is completely relaxing, and you’re doing the river a world of good! Keep an eye out for monkeys, tropical birds, exotic frogs, and more.

Sustaining Agriculture on an Organic Farm

Help cultivate medicinal plants and improve your understanding of the role organic farming plays in today’s increasingly health conscious world. You’ll work with local farmers to prepare their ginger and curcuma plants for export while supporting and protecting the environment by organic sustainable farming in the rainforest.

Building a Playground for a School

Help a school that doesn’t have a place for its students to play by building a playground! Take pride in some honest manual labor that has a lasting, positive impact on a less advantaged school community. You can also help paint the school, giving it a new look to match its new playground!