Our Central America Program

Are you interested in:

• Working with some of the world’s most respected community sustainability organizations, including Heifer International and others?
• Immersing yourself in another culture?
• Learning through service to others?
• Taking a leadership role in sustainability once you return home?
• Receiving 15 college credits while integrating classroom knowledge with real-life applications?
• Making a difference and being changed in the process?

If so, we invite you to join us for an adventure of a lifetime. During a CELL Central America Study Abroad program, you will spend twelve (12) weeks in three different countries: Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica. You will learn experientially and through service to others. You will learn that although the impossible may take awhile, it is, indeed, achievable. What will you do?  Below is a brief description of our three country program.

In Nicaragua we work with CELL’s partner – Grupo Fenix, a Nicaragua-based cooperative network of university-trained engineers and local community people who share a common passion for developing solar- and renewable-energy technologies and finding cost-effective ways to have these simple technologies utilized. Providing affordable and renewable electricity to rural villages helps to reduce the over-consumption of firewood which causes deforestation, the drying up of local rivers, serious erosion, and loss of top soil.

During the Nicaragua portion of the semester program, you help local villagers improve their standard of living and become economically and environmentally sustainable. You help build solar power systems that provide renewable energy for people who have never benefited from electrical power. You help build bio-digesters

that provide free, renewable fuel and play a role in stopping deforestation and serious erosion. You earn college credit while figuring out how to apply practical solutions to real-world problems. You learn about the history, language, and culture of the country. (For more information on Grupo Fenix, see their website at: www.grupofenix.org).

We will also spend 11 days living at Selva Negra (Black Forest), a sustainable coffee plantation nestled in the rainforest near Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Selva Negra is one of the world’s inspiring ecological farms. There are many different aspects to this farm, but it can be divided into three primary sections: the mountain resort, coffee plantation, and flowers and agriculture. The farm is self-sustainable, meaning the farm produces everything to maintain itself, from methane gas to various meats and vegetables. The farm is located at over 3,000 feet, and the weather is tropical year-round allowing the cattle to roam freely within the pasture. Vegetables and flowers are grown organically on the property year round. During our stay here, we will do a variety of service-learning projects while living in and learning from a community committed to living sustainably. We will learn how sustainability is achievable (i.e. ecological, economic, and social sustainability) from a community doing it! For more information on Selva Negra, visit their website at www.selvanegra.com.

Honduras

Next, in Honduras we partner with Heifer International and Sustainable Harvest International.

You visit Heifer project sites that demonstrate how people working together in community can achieve economic, social, and environmental sustainability. You see families who were once hungry now nourished by milk, eggs, and fresh vegetables. You see families who for generations knew only poverty now building new homes and starting sustainable businesses. You see children who once headed out to the fields to do backbreaking work now heading into schoolrooms to learn to read. You see people who never thought they would be in a position to help someone else now able to experience the joy of passing on a gift, of an animal and the knowledge of how to live sustainably, to a neighbor. You see first-hand how we can achieve global sustainability one village at a time. You visit Mayan ruins and learn about the history, culture, and language of this beautiful country  (see www.heifer.org).

Sustainable Harvest International’s (SHI’s) mission involves building a global network of local partners working toward environmental, economic, and social sustainability. SHI facilitates long-term collaboration among trained local staff, farmers, and communities to implement sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty by restoring ecological stability. CELL students participate in service projects with this organization while living with local families (see www.sustainableharvest.org).

Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, a country leading the world in its commitment to conserving species

and natural habitats through community sustainability initiatives, we spend time with two organizations: with Kekoldi and Asociacion ANAI. With Kekoldi, a sustainable development organization located in the rainforest of the Talamanca region, you learn about the Bri Bri indigenous people and their commitment to conserving natural resources through community involvement  (see www.kekoldi.org).

You also partner with Asociacion ANAI, a Costa Rican sustainability organization which has pioneered some of the tropical world’s most successful community-based, sustainable-development practices. Working hand-in-hand with villagers in the Talamanca region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, ANAI has been instrumental in implementing a regional initiative that is helping rural communities become more economically self-reliant through environmentally friendly activities.

For example, Asociacion ANAI is working with community members in Gandoca (a beautiful coastal rainforest community) to help turn the energies of the local population from poaching to tourism. The community has raised their standard of living by preserving rather than poaching endangered sea turtles since people from around the world come to see and learn about the turtles and rainforest ecology  (see www.anaicr.org).

During this portion of the semester program, you learn about the environmental, social, and economic challenges facing the country of Costa Rica. You learn about the history and culture of the country, including the indigenous Bri Bri. You learn about the rich biodiversity of the rainforests and the unique challenges of preserving them. You work along with community partners to help conserve endangered sea turtles, conduct bio-monitoring research which provides valuable data needed in the conservation of tropical species and habitats, and participate in a variety of sustainable initiatives from encouraging organic farming to reducing waste and the use of toxic chemicals. You begin the Costa Rica portion of your

semester program in the capital city of San Jose where you learn about the history and culture of Costa Rica. You then travel to the unique mountain rainforests of the Talamanca region. Along the way, you learn about the human and ecological issues confronting this unique region of the world. And through experiential and service-learning, you play an active role in contributing to the sustainability of human and ecological communities.

We end the semester program with a debrief in Costa Rica, including project presentations, individual action plan development, program evaluations, etc.

In addition to the above country-specific learning activities, you will also:

• Immerse yourself in the cultures of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua
• Experience home-stays with village families
• Learn Spanish – Note: Although you do not have to have had any prior Spanish language training in order to participate in this program (we provide basic language instruction), you might find it helpful to get introduced to the language prior to your arrival. We would be happy to suggest ways for you to get some exposure to the language before you arrive. Please contact us for further information.
• Tour various historical, cultural, and natural sites from the mountains to the sea, including:
  • Capital cities: San Jose, Costa Rica and Managua, Nicaragua
  • Tropical rainforests
  • Mayan ruins
  • Tropical volcanoes
  • Historic Granada and Leon
  • Mountains (Tisay or Miraflor)
  • Environmentally friendly agro-forestry practices
  • Gandoca, a coastal rainforest habitat in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica
• Participate in service-learning projects promoting community sustainability (e.g. sea turtle conservation; building and installing solar electric systems, solar drip-irrigation systems, solar ovens, biogas digesters, solar driers, building sustainable homes, etc.)
• Design your own action plan, working with a support team, to continue to make a difference after the program.

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You will receive 15 college credits in:

Language, History, and Culture of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua (LINTD 2003)

(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill LAN,HIS, SOC, IST requirements -
3 credits)

This interdisciplinary course provides students with an immersion experience in the language of the host country. Through classroom instruction and living with a host family, students develop an ability to converse in basic Spanish. Students who have already completed one year or more of college-level Spanish, receive more intensive intermediate Spanish instruction and practice. In addition, this course also gives students an overview of the culture of the host country.

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Service-Learning: Sustainability Through Community (LINTD 3707)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill Interdisciplinary, Sociology, or Service-Learning course requirements – 3 credits)

This service-learning course is designed to immerse students in another culture and to provide real-life opportunities to assist a community in becoming environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. Students participate in a dynamic process involving local participants in the evolution of new habits-of-living and making-a-living that incorporate renewable energy and other environmentally sound strategies for achieving sustainability.

Specific service-learning projects will be driven by the needs of the local community. Through structured reflection exercises and journaling, students will constantly evaluate their progress, examining how theory relates to their real-world experience in the community.

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Human Ecology: Humans and Their Environment (LINTD 3700)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill Geography, Sociology, Environmental Science, or Interdisciplinary requirements – 3 credits)

This interdisciplinary course provides students with an understanding of how ecological systems work, how the structure and function of these systems is altered by human activity, and how we can minimize our impact on these systems. The course is designed to help students understand the relationships between the principles of ecology and human environmental decision making. Students develop an understanding of biologic and biomimicry (i.e., human innovations inspired by nature), as well as sustainability, and have opportunities to visit a number of community-based, ecologically sustainable projects.

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Sustainability: Secrets of Simplicity (Iceland and Central America Programs – LINTD 3699) (Interdisciplinary coursed designed to fulfill Interdisciplinary, Sociology, or Ecology requirements – 3 credits)

This interdisciplinary course examines the field of sustainability and explores creative ways to build sustainable communities. We look at innovative strategies currently being implemented (both worldwide and in Iceland/Central America) to proactively address issues threatening sustainability. The focus of this class is to examine the choices we make and to look at how to incorporate sustainable practices into our lives. Students also explore the principles of voluntary simplicity and the relationship of these principles to sustainability and to their own lives. Students live in one of the world’s oldest and unique eco-villages and have ample opportunities to apply what they are learning in the classroom to real-life sustainability projects (these projects will be coordinated with students’ service-learning course).

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Sustainability Global Environmental Issues: Problems and Solutions (not taught every year – LINTD 3703)

(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill Environmental Science, Sociology, or Interdisciplinary requirements – 3 credits)

This interdisciplinary course explores environmental problems and solutions. Students examine a civilization in trouble and the major environmental problems our planet is facing: exploding population, rising temperatures, falling water tables, eroding soils and expanding deserts, shrinking food capacity – in short, the course will explore how we are exceeding our planet’s carrying capacity.
In the solutions part of this course, we examine successful strategies currently being implemented to proactively address the problems our planet is facing: from conserving shrinking water tables to raising land productivity, from cutting carbon emissions through renewable-energy systems to stabilizing population growth, from preventing soil erosion to innovative livestock-management strategies and wholistic development. This course examines initiatives in environmental stewardship currently being implemented in some countries and how they can be adopted worldwide. It also encourages students to explore other creative sustainability solutions.

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Crossroads Thinking Skills for the 21st Century
(Iceland and Central America Programs – LINTD 4000)

(Designed to fulfill English, Philosophy, Sociology, or Interdisciplinary requirements – 3 credits)

This course grounds students in a new and interdisciplinary way of thinking. Crossroads thinking combines elements of critical and creative thinking and helps students to develop skills in questioning, imagining possibilities, exploring opportunities, analyzing alternatives, synthesizing ideas, and evaluating thought. Through a variety of course activities, students identify essential intellectual traits, question long-held assumptions or biases, evaluate ideas, reason honestly and open-mindedly, problem-solve, and form objective conclusions. Students learn that “things are not always as they seem,” and they develop the capacity and skill to be able to examine thought from different points of view (e.g. cultural, political, social, economic, scientific, artistic, gender-based, multi-age-based, spiritual, philosophical, historical, empathetic, and integrated perspectives). This course will stretch both the depth and breadth of your thinking.
Note: The skills students learn in this course are infused across the curriculum (i.e. applied in all of the courses and activities that students participate in during the semester program).

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When is the CELL Central America semester program offered?

CELL offers fall (September through November) and spring (February through April) semester programs. For specific program dates, please contact us.

Where will I live during the CELL Central America semester program?

Students are housed in clean hostel-type facilities or home stays for most of the semester program. Although the accommodations are rustic, they are clean and provide an opportunity to form bonding relationships with other students and with your host family. Approximately 60% of our accommodation is in home stays.

What are the program costs?

Program cost is $12,500 + air fare from your home. Cost includes all fees for tuition, room and board, academic supplies, books, organized tour and activities fees, service-project materials, and ground transportation for organized activities. Not included in the fee are expenses for health insurance and personal expenditures for free time, including transportation, souvenirs, etc.

How do I apply?

For information on how to apply for the CELL Central America semester program, see the How to Apply section of our website.