SMART Goals

We did a check-in with our youth to see what their individual goals were for this trip. Here's what they had to say.

Yumi L
I want to learn Spanish. I would like to talk with the Boruca people in Spanish for a little bit and be able to introduce myself. I will achieve this by learning from others that are taking Spanish in school and interacting with others on the trip.

Rika L
By the end of our Costa Rica trip, I will be able to explain in detail about at least 5 cultures (including food, clothes, events, the way they live ect.) of Costa Rica and Boruca. I will achieve this goal by listening to the local Boruca people carefully when they teach us about culture, and look closely to their life. And take note about things I learned when I’m on the trip.

I want to achieve this goal because I’m really curious about the unique culture in Costa Rica and Boruca, and I would like to remember all the things I learned as long as I can. 

Devon M
I want to be more comfortable planning and executing a successful trip in order to work towards my longer term goal of travelling independently. I will know that I have achieved my goal if I can:

 - Create a list of concerns about travelling & leading before the trip and then compare how I feel about each of those issues after the trip
 - By the end of the trip, identify at least 5 occasions during the trip that I successfully assisted the Scouters in managing an action (such as accommodation check in, check out, finding transportation, booking a meal, etc.)
 - Create a detailed itinerary document based on the one created by the Scouters and keep track of our progress throughout the trip to ensure we are on track.
This goal is realistic because I can take advantage of the leaders' support to guide me. By actively participating in travel preparations and responsibilities, I will gain hands-on experience, making it easier to build confidence for future travel.

This goal is directly related to the trip because it involves travel logistics and leadership. It is important to me because it will serve as a step toward my long-term goal of traveling independently.

Huy P
My goal on this trip to Costa Rica is to be able to learn more about the culture of the Boruca people and how they are able to live in a place that is considered to be much poorer than what we live in. To measure this goal I could reflect about what I know about poorer living conditions now and compare them to after I learn more about the Boruca people.

I see this goal as a way to make myself pay attention to things I normally wouldn’t see on a regular trip and I think it is very important to learn about how the rest of the world lives compared to us.

Stephen J
One goal I have is to share some of my knowledge or the scouts’ skills with the Boruca people. We will be learning many things from them, but I also want to share some of our knowledge as well. We can teach them how we were taught to tie knots and survive outdoors and also learn how they do it differently. I can also teach some of my skills like fishing or music if I get the opportunity. I will know when I have achieved my goal when someone from the Boruca tribe learns how to perform some of our skills, and we learn some of theirs. I want at least one person from Boruca to learn something from us.

This goal is achievable as long as we get enough resources and time with the Boruca people (which we most likely will). I will try to find times when we are free and see if they are willing to exchange knowledge with us. 
This goal is relevant to the trip as we will be learning about the Boruca Tribe and volunteering for them. This makes it a great opportunity to teach something to them as well.

Hunter R
I want to learn as much Spanish as possible during our trip to Costa Rica. By the end of my trip, I will have learned and recorded 170 new words, improving my vocabulary daily. I will learn 10 new words each day from various sources, such as conversations with locals, restaurant menus, street signs, or the Boruca people. At the end of each day, I will write the words in a journal and memorize them before bed. This goal is relevant because I want to have conversations with locals and read restaurant menus and street signs.

1st Anmore Scouts are Heading to Costa Rica for Spring Break

 Support Your Local Scouts Group's International Volunteer Trip

Imagine being a young teen and spending your Spring Break volunteering in a tropical rainforest far from home!  The 1st Anmore Scouts are travelling to Costa Rica this March where they will  spend about two weeks volunteering at a nature reserve and visiting an indigenous village. 

The youth, aged 13 to 15, have been actively involved in trip preparations and decisions, learning all about planning and fundraising. Beyond doing good for others and, of course, having an amazing adventure, the trip is also intended to teach them the value of volunteering and the importance of travelling responsibly.  Each group member has also set personal goals that include learning to speak Spanish and talk to locals, understanding more of the local culture, feeling confident when travelling, and more.

One week of the journey will be spent at Reserva Playa Tortuga on Costa Rica's west coast. Here, the youth will volunteer full-time alongside a team of wildlife researchers and conservationists. They're looking forward to tasks such as caring for crocodiles, monitoring local birds, learning about monkeys and other mammals, removing invasive plant species, helping with the operations of the research station, and more.  

Another major stop will be a visit with the Boruca People, a remote, indigenous community. Our youth will actually have the chance to live alongside a local indigenous Scouts group in their village. This amazing cultural exchange will surely be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!  Boruca is, unfortunately, quite a poor community, so part of the Scouts' goal is to take an assortment of school supplies, other essentials, and a cash donation to help thank and support their hosts. If you would like to help contribute to their donation fund for the Boruca People, go to Zeffy and donate here: 

https://www.zeffy.com/fundraising/donate-to-the-boruca-people

Be sure to follow along throughout the trip: the Scouts will be posting regular updates to their blog at: 1stanmorecostarica2025.blogspot.com as they make their way through Costa Rica!

The blog also has information about how you can contribute to help make this voyage even more successful.  The support of 1st Anmore's community here in Canada is essential and any financial donation to the Scouts, the nature reserve, and/or the Boruca People would be greatly appreciated.

Written by Bryan Mitten (Parent Support Team)

The Boruca People

On our trip to Costa Rica, we will be visiting the Boruca village. The youth will get an opportunity to learn about the culture and life of Boruca people, as well as interacting with the local scouts.

The Boruca mask is one of the most representative cultures for Boruca, yet Boruca is not just about the colourful mask. The Boruca are the Indigenous People living in southwestern Costa Rica. There are about 2660 members today, and most of the population live in the Reserve Boruca. While the main language spoken is Spanish, Boruca is still spoken by a few people now.

The meal they have are mostly same with Costa Rican’s food, nonetheless, there are some cuisines unique to them. As an example, chicha is an alcoholic drink made from corn. In addition, with its mountain landscape, the farming of rice, fruit, coffee beans, and corn is very prosperous.

Although Boruca is a beautiful place, the living conditions there are not so good. One of the reasons is that in the village, job opportunities are limited. In addition, the majority of families have culturally related jobs and small businesses, which makes it harder to have a stable income. Furthermore, access to healthcare and education services is challenging in this area. Many people struggle with finance and do not have much money to spend on necessities.

To support the Boruca community, we are collecting donations of school supplies such as notebooks, pencils, pencil crayons, and anything related. We are looking for financial donations to improve their life conditions.

Any supplies or financial donation from you, no matter if it’s big or small, will make meaningful changes. We hope to bring as many supplies as possible for the Boruca people and support them in any way we can on this trip.

We always appreciate your support and generosity. We will get amazing experiences from this trip, and we are looking forward to sharing with you! Stay tuned for updates from us and thank you for being a part of this meaningful experience!

A quick video uploaded by The World Offroad on YouTube.

Written by Rika L

What is Blogger and why are we using it?

 What is Blogger and why are we using it?

Blogger is a free blog program that is easy for 1st Anmore Scouts' Youth to use.

We will be writing about our experiences and how the community’s support is going to benefit our trip and local groups we’ll see.

Youth will update our Blogger site with posts consistently as well as attaching our posts to the 1st Anmore Facebook site.

This will benefit Scouts, as we can learn digital skills and practice our online writing using tools like embedding. This will also act as a way for us to reflect on our experiences and share with the community back home. We can share how our trip is going and where we are, similar to a Facebook post. You can comment on Blogger directly to show support to us.

It’s not too late to donate! We are still looking cash funds as well as school supplies for the less fortunate tribe that we will be visiting.

You can view our site on Blogger.com directly or from the Scouts Facebook page.

We hope you will join along our journey to Costa Rica while we learn various skills, volunteer with wildlife conservations, and learn to travel independently!

By Devon M