Equipment for Costa Rican Womens’ Exercise Clase

Hello, my name is Nicole and I have been living in the mountains of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica for more than 5 years now.

This region is particularly characterized by its beautiful landscapes, the mountains, beautiful beaches and a large variety of wildlife.

Agriculture is the main business here, especially coffee and orange growing and some livestock.

People still live and work very traditionally, mostly manual labor without the use of modern equipment. Machete and spade are the standard tools. The pay is comparatively low: on average a farm worker earns $ 500 a month and must feed his family.

But nevertheless, the people here are very happy and satisfied and the life motto in Costa Rica is: "Pura Vida" - pure life.

But now to my request:

Two years ago, I started a women's gymnastics group with some women from my neighboring village of Los Ángeles de Nandayure. The course regularly takes place once a week. I have to say that it is not like in Europe or the US. where there are such facilities as gyms in every village. There is also no sports club that could organize and support such a thing and also no sports hall where the gymnastics lesson takes place: we have to meet in a small bar that is closed on Tuesdays.

It is the first and only group of that kind in the region. It's great for the women because they can finally do something for themselves and their health under guidance. At the moment about 15 to 20 women visit the course (the village has 500 inhabitants). That's a success, I think!

But of course there’s a lack of lots of things.

Since family income is so low, the women cannot afford to spend money on things like gymnastics mats, tapes, dumbbells, etc., which are normally used in gymnastics classes. The women initially had no gym mats, floor exercises were performed on the concrete floor with only a simple folded towel on it. I have already contributed some mats and a few other things so that the course could take place. But we still need more help and need more equipment, as more and more participants are coming and there are not enough mats available for all at the moment.

I also plan to create another course for seniors for the future, as I find it very important that older people exercise with guidance and do something for their health.

Here, too, senior-grade equipment is needed.

It would be great if you sponsor my project in Costa Rica so that we can purchase some of the missing items.