Impact of 10 years of the Constructive Revolution based on volunteering

ANIV

ERSAR

IO

SERVE AND LEARN

TO BE HAPPY

Brief synthesis of impact of a Sifais constructive revolution based on volunteering 10 years.

SIFAIS WAS BORN IN FEBRUARY 2011.

At that time, fear, marginalization, and poverty defined La Carpio, the largest immigrant settlement in Central America, in the eyes of outsiders.

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE WERE REGARDED WITH APPREHENSION, IF NOT WITH HOSTILITY: interlopers that could easily identified by their accent and appearance, who came to Costa Rica to take advantage of our social institutions, take jobs away from Costa Ricans, or lead lives of crime.

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POVERTY, INDEED, IS WIDESPREAD, AND SOMETIMES EXTREME. And while most people here work honestly and hard to improve their lot, occasional outbursts of violence and crime reinforce the prejudices of outsiders and the isolation of insiders.

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In the midst of this harsh reality, a local community leader who earned a living as a domestic servant met a professional communicator, and approached her with an outrageous request:

HELP ME CREATE A SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA IN LA CARPIO, TO KEEP KIDS OFF THE STREETS, TO MAKE THEM SAFE.

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

AND THAT WAS THE CONVERSATION THAT STARTED IT ALL. The communicator, Maris Stella, started searching for volunteers willing to teach music to the kids at La Carpio.

The community leader, Alicia, started searching for a place that could be used as a classroom, and to invite parents and children to participate.

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WITH NOTHING MORE THAN A FEW PLASTIC FLUTES, AND SOME DRUMSTICKS IN A SHED, SIFAIS WAS BORN.

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

And while the small and big plans proposed by the volunteers were spontaneously executed, they discovered four differentiating attitudes that favored a rapid social transformation:

TRUST, PERSEVERANCE, A LITTLE CRAZINESS, AND A LOT OF TENDERNESS.

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BUILDING ON THEM,

xenophobia, fear, hostility and marginalization started to morph into healthy and powerful dynamics of solidarity and social development, that started small, and then grew, grew, and continues to grow

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

MORE AND MORE VOLUNTEERS JOINED THE INITIATIVE. Fundraising effort took off. Musical instruments, food, equipment, and money to cover basic expenses started to come in.

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

IN A SHORT TIME, WHAT STARTED AS A FEW KIDS LEARNING MUSIC BASICS, grew into a Symphonic Orchestra, a Chamber Orchestra, a rock and jazz bands, dance, flamenco dance, hip hop, painting, theater, photography, computing, languages, judo, karate, boxing, soccer and chess classes, and the creation of a Montessori preschool.

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THE SHED WHERE ALL STARTED COULDN’T CONTAIN ALL THESE ACTIVITIES.

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PROBONO TALENT WAS SUMMONED, MONEY WAS RAISED AND THE TALLEST WOODEN TOWER IN CENTRAL AMERICA TODAY HOUSES SIFAIS An adjoining gym is used for sports training, and a second, taller tower, is on the works to house a whole new set of activities that SIFAIS is undertaking after 10 years of work, experience, joy, and success in La Carpio.

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

WHILE ARTS AND SPORTS TRAINING DEFINED THE INITIAL WORK AT LA CARPIO, at some point new volunteers arrived, proposed, and launched workshops to provide training in dressmaking, 3D printing, leather goods, serigraphy, wooden-toy making, bakery and bread-making.

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As it usually happens when neighbors and volunteers meet at SIFAIS and are joined by Trust, Perseverance, , a little craziness, and a lot of Tenderness, what started small soon began to grow, and training workshops are being transformed into social enterprises that, in addition to training, provide much need jobs and work experience, and are generating a cash flow that puts SIFAIS on the way, for the first time since its creation, to financial self-sustainability for all non-capital expenses:

ENTRECOSTURAS, SIFAISLAB, SIFAISSORI ARE ALREADY IN OPERATION. PANDELUZ AND SIFAISGRAFÍA WILL BE LAUNCHED IN A FEW MONTHS.

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IN ADDITION, WITH THE SUPPORT OF ULTRAPARK, ONE OF COSTA RICA’S

leading free trade zones, we have created ACTIM Zones for employability, a program that provides training in technology, languages and job skills so that young people in the community can join companies of the fourth Industrial Revolution.

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GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE IN 10 YEARS,

but much remains to be done. We want to consolidate and document the model so that it can be replicated in other communities and nations, because it has proven to be effective.

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WE WANT TO SPREAD THIS GOOD SPIRIT,

we want to create more opportunities for people marginalized by being born in another country, professing a different way, or having other cultural conditions, people who can contribute their talents to others with dignity and pride.

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IN THE MEANTIME,

the model enriches and transforms the lives of volunteers from all backgrounds; by actively interacting with people from a very different environment from the one they have been accustomed, causing a greater sensitivity and joy of serving others and closing a virtuous circle of social improvement.

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

WE ARE CONVINCED THAT VOLUNTEER-BASED ARTISTIC AND SPORTS TRAINING LEADS TO MULTIDIRECTIONAL SOCIAL INTEGRATION,

it creates the basis for social enterprises and leads to social integration and sustainable prosperity.

S I FA I S : S E R V E A N D L E A R N T O B E H A P P Y

Serve and learn to be happy

ANIV

ERSAR

IO