On Monday morning we headed to Bri Bri near Puerto Viejo along the Caribbean coast. Working with Carolina from Fundecooperacion, the crew was comprised of Melissa and I, two business and marketing students from the National University, a well-established Costa Rican artisan named Lil, the Founder of IE’PA, an NGO working with indigenous artisans to promote and market their work, and a special...

Based in the rural community of Santa Ana, Costa Rica, the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation (CRHF) works to improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable populations in Costa Rica. The CRHF now manages more than fifty projects throughout the country, focusing on education, community development, primary and preventive health care, and extensive support services for women, at-risk y...

A humanitarian mission to Costa Rica has changed Theresa Kologe's life forever, the Indian River State College nursing student said. Kologe, 37, was one of seven students to make the trip to La Carpio, a neighborhood of 36,000 refugees from Nicaragua and other Central American countries who have been allowed to homestead in the area. Kologe, a Port St. Lucie resident, said families live ...

Both consumption and supply of these types of cheese has increased in recent years. Adrian Alonso, director of operations for the Auto Mercado supermarket chain shares the vision of gourmet cheese producers, like Maritza Solano of Santa Cruz de Turrialba and Miguel Coronado Guard on the increased consumption of specialty cheese by Costa Ricans. "Adrian Alonso, attributes it to new tren...

A two-month delay in the arrival of doses that are part of basic vaccination has about 12 000 not immunized children in Costa Rica, reported nacion.com website The website cited as source the director of health surveillance, Maria Ethel Trejos, who confirmed that the problem is attributed to a delay in the administrative process and the purchase by the Ministry of Health. The shortfall w...

The pretty white Marango tree flower. Source: INBIO Costa Rica There is a tree that grows in certain areas of Guanacaste and other regions of Costa Rica that -depending on who you choose to believe- could wipe out hunger on a global level, cure most diseases tied to vitamin deficiencies, boost sustainable farming practices, serve as a renewable energy source, and even make people rich in just a ...

The Human Impacts Institute (HII) is proud to be partnering with the University of Connecticut (UConn) and the University for Peace (UPEACE) for their Women’s Empowerment Through Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program. The program addresses topics such as economic development, environmental, and health issues facing indigenous and Afro-descendent regions in Costa Rica. It aims to provide 1...

France, Italy, Costa Rica and Argentina are the main providers of fruit imported by Spain, with 43% of the total imported in 2011, according to data from the Department of Customs and Special Taxes from the AEAT (Tax Agency), from the Ministry of Economy, and processed by FEPEX (Spanish Federation of Associations of Producers and Exporters of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers and Live plants). Sp...

El Rosario, a municipality with a population of 6,500 that’s 32 miles south of the capital of Managua, has a waste system that has become a national model. The Mayor’s Office of El Rosario teamed with the Center for Social Studies and Promotion (CEPS) in 1998 to form a plan to create an ecological landfill to aid an area that lacks a trash collection system. The goal was to turn trash in...

Archaeologists say they have found traces of 2,500-year-old chocolate on a plate in the Yucatan peninsula, the first time they have found ancient chocolate residue on a plate rather than a cup, suggesting it may have been used as a condiment or sauce with solid food. Experts have long thought cacao beans and pods were mainly used in pre-Hispanic cultures as a beverage, made either by crushi...

One hundred and fifty hours: Divided out, that is about 6.25 days. This is the required number of CAS, or Creative, Action and Service, hours that an International Baccalaureate diploma candidate must volunteer for in Junior and Senior year. This year, to help make this feat less overwhelming, the IB Class of 2013 has adopted a charity: Proyecto Daniel, a charity based in Costa Rica that help...

In 1988, the Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Research (FHIA) finalized the development of a Gros Michel hybrid banana that was resistant to Panama disease, but by that time the Cavendish had long been the key export variety. The hybrid, known as FHIA 17, has proven its worth in the Central American country and elsewhere in Latin America, but the foundation is yet to receive a single lempi...

Amatierra is the proud winner of the 2012 TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Award for Excellence. You can view HD pictures of Amatierra on The Costa Rica Star Facebook page. There is a place in Costa Rica where a unique award winning Yoga retreat awaits to provide travelers with breathtaking scenery, serenity and a holistic method to alleviate body and soul. Vacations are supposed to liberat...

People in Costa Rica are being marketed a new treadmill, and not just because more Ticos are joining the ranks of the overweight and obese around the world. This treadmill is behavioral, and if its marketing forces are successful, Ticos will lose their status as citizens of the happiest country in the world. The hedonic treadmill being peddled to Ticos is a direct result of globalization and the n...

Consumers have become increasingly more demanding regarding the conditions under which the products they consume are produced, and businesses that have an ethical commitment are growing. A statement from the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) reads: Commitments made by the food industry have meant increased sales of products certified as Fairtrade worldwide Sales of Fairt...

NARGANA, PANAMA — In an 11th-grade classroom on this tropical island, the students have the deeply bronzed skin and black hair typical of ethnic Kuna people. That is, all except one: Mayli Gonzalez looks like she's from a Nordic realm. Her hair is blondish white and her skin is as fair as cream. The 16-year-old girl is an albino, and she is not unique among the Kuna, a band of indigenous...

The Sandinista government’s treatment of childhood pregnancies as a “miracle” from God rather than a mortal issue related to public health, sexual violence and reproductive rights has contributed to a dramatic increase in kids giving birth to more kids, according to human-rights activists. Official statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of Heath’s Dr. Wilmer Beteta reveals a 48% incr...

The National AIDS Commission today released an ambitious four-year strategic plan and two-year operational plan designed to tackle key problem areas in reducing the grip of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on Belizean society. Executive Director of the Commission, Dr. Martin Cuellar, told Amandala that the three listed priorities in both the s...

North Americans do not have to settle for high costs or government regulations and wait times often associated with their domestic healthcare; there is a better, less expensive and more enjoyable option. World Institute of Surgical Excellence, “WISE”, is a Costa Rican company that is owned and managed by a group of North Americans who saw a need for a solution to the broken healthcare systems ...

The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan is sponsoring a social welfare organization in its collaboration with a Nicaraguan foundation to train burns rehabilitation personnel in Central America, MOFA said July 24. Under the three-year program, members of the Taipei-based Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation provide training in burn treatment and the production of pressure garments for bu...

In the past four years, the number of farmers engaged in rice production increased from 743 to 1,200, drawn by a fixed price system which in 2011 was covered by a subsidy amounting to $104 million. The recent judgment by the Administrative Court annulling a presidential decree and ordering an increase in the price of a 73 kilo bag of rice to almost $49, confirms the wisdom of farmers who ...

The population of unwanted dogs and cats that roam this small Central American country is staggering. Sadly, it is partly the owners of these animals who allow the perpetuation of unwanted litters…primarily because they cannot afford a vet’s services. That being said, there are local people, animal organizations, individuals and even tourists who are working to reduce these numbers. Our Spa...

Vegetarian-Vegan-Raw-Be inspired & change your life from the inside out through what you put into your body. Hop on the bus with Pura Vida Pantry and discover the magic of an AWAKENED LIFESTYLE through Compassionate Foods & Juicing! Mission To inspire and create awareness of how important the foods and drinks we put into our bodies are, and the changes that occur when we nourish ourselve...

In the past The Costa Rica Star has reported on the usage of Cage Free Eggs in Costa Rica. Humane Society International applauds San José restaurant Café de los Deseos for switching from battery cage eggs to eggs labeled as cage-free. Café de los Deseos now joins other socially responsible restaurants in San José that are already using cage-free labeled eggs, including Oasis, Alquimia Healthy, ...

In the year 1921 a new project was started in Costa Rica by the Latin American Mission. Several missionaries of various nationalities came to this country with the goal of helping those in greatest need. Mr. Henry Strachan, of Scottish nationality, and his Irish wife Susan Strachan joined this noble cause after having served as evangelical missionaries in Argentina for 17 years. Upon their arr...

The 4th of July was an important day for Guanacaste-based nonprofit Salvando Corazones. After two years of preparation, it received a license from the Ministry of Health to operate a safe house for young female victims of sexual enslavement. Maria Jesus Gonzalez, Area Rectora de Salud is quoted as saying, “This is an historic day for us as this is the first license of its kind ever issued in Costa...

Focusing on the other end of the hotel lobby, Daniel Somarribas, five, leans forward in his wheelchair, stares at a fixed point and races off past guests as his stay in Malta nears its end. This little boy with a “burning flame” inside is a Costa Rican champion – and “a Maltese one too”, he proudly declares – having won the first children’s wheelchair race in Malta last Saturday. Daniel, an ...

Earlier this year, a surgical team from Memorial Sloan-Kettering participated in an example of international collaboration at its finest: an educational outreach mission to Costa Rica. They taught local surgeons various techniques for operating on the liver, pancreas, and bile ducts, for the benefit of Costa Rican patients with cancers of these organs. In return, the surgeons experienced what it m...

Due to work that the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) needs to do in the Rio Macho hydroelectric plant, the ministry of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) stated that on Saturday and Sunday, July 14 and 15, the water will be cut off in several districts of San José and Cartago, affecting about 600,000 people. They will start work at 6 am Saturday and will restore service on Sunday at 8:00 pm. S...

The Evangelical Alliance of Costa Rica presented the Constitutional Court with some three thousand signatures against sex education programs provided by the Government to schools, on the grounds of unconstitutionality. It is the first mass action by the institution in what has been considered a declared war against Christian churches ever since the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) launched th...

Central America, Ecuador, and Colombia supply the majority of the bananas to the United States. The region’s banana industry features an oligopic market dominated by three U.S.-owned multinational corporations, Chiquita (formerly United Fruit Company), Dole (formerly Standard Fruit Company), and Del Monte. From their massive plantations spread throughout Latin America, this “Wild Bunch” controls 6...

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA -- An advertisement that greets passengers at the international airport here says, “Welcome to the happiest country of the world.” Inflated claim? Maybe, but a study indeed ranks Central America’s verdant nation of Costa Rica as the planet’s most content. Its citizens generally live to old age, watched over by a government that spends heavily on schools and health care and ...

While many of us set long-term goals in regards to our health and fitness, there are things you can do right now to boost your health each day. To improve your wellbeing and start feeling better, check out these 10 healthy changes to make to your day. Plan to be healthy Like most things worth having, a healthy lifestyle sadly won’t fall into your lap without any effort. To make healthy lifes...

Santo Domingo, Jul 5 - The eighteenth meeting of the Central American and Dominican Republic Health Sector will bring together ministers and representatives from 10 countries today, said Bautista Rojas, the head of Health services. The ministers and their representatives from Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua will attend, along with Cuba and Haiti as spe...

Sleeping on the left side of the bed can make you happy? It sure can, and there are plenty more surprising mood enhancers where that came from. Here are 10 somewhat strange things that can make you happier: Surprising happiness booster 1: Getting older Suddenly we’ve perked up at the thought of getting older. Experts suggest that the further we advance into our mature years, the happier we ...

A spanking may hurt a child’s bottom now, and his or her mind later on. Childhood spanking and other forms of harsh physical punishment can increase the chances of developing mental health disorders in adulthood, according to a newly released pediatrics study conducted at the University of Manitoba. “It contributes to the growing body of literature that indicates there are harmful consequenc...

They saved a lot of money, they received high-quality healthcare care and they enjoyed vacationing in the beach resorts and national parks of Costa Rica. These were the win-win experiences relayed by three medical travelers during a panel discussion at the recent Well-Being and Medical Travel Conference at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. While each of the individuals traveled for ...

A research team led by a plant scientist at the University of California at Davis claims that they have solved the mystery behind bland tasting tomatoes. Their findings were detailed in the June 29 issue of the journal Science. When shoppers look for tomatoes at the grocery store, they are often trying to spot the best looking tomato. While a picture perfect tomato may be pleasing to the eye, i...

Our goal is to create a thriving Work Bike Industry in Central America, to encourage job placement and create opportunities, while utilizing our Designs as a sustainable resource that can generate a livable wage for hundreds of new jobs that will be created under this program. The mission of La Asociación CREAR is to provide supplemental educational, recreational, and career opportunities for c...

To keep up with projected demand, farming output will need to double in the next few decades. This inconvenient fact is bad news for the environment as a whole, and biodiversity in particular. Large-scale, high-intensity agricultural production, scientists say, dramatically reduces variation between bird communities of different areas. But Stanford scientists say there may be a way to increase ...