By rachels522
Costa Rica is known worldwide for being one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It’s known for being lush and having amazing flowers and colors. So far I can’t disagree. Costa Rica is absolutely one of the most gorgeous places that I have ever been. However, there is another side to Costa Rica. There is a side of Costa Rica that doesn’t get publicized in the Eco-tourism magazines. One experience made me acutely aware of the fact that despite the renowned beauty of this country, it is still developing.
My group visited La Carpio, a turgurio (shantytown), located outside of the capital city of Santa Elena. La Carpio started as a haven for Nicaraguan refugees fleeing civil war in the 1980s. These refugees illegally squatted on an abandoned coffee plantation. Since the 1980s the neighborhood of La Carpio has grown exponentially and today the population is roughly 34,000 people. Many are the children and grandchildren of the original settlers. What struck me about La Carpio was how different it was from the postcard version of Costa Rica. The streets were lined with trash. Some of the houses were smaller than dorm rooms, and based off of the laundry on the clotheslines, the houses seemed like they had maybe four or more people living in them. The river was strewn with trash. Maybe the saddest part about La Carpio is that it is situated next to a landfill, which takes in the trash of the rest of the Central Valley of Costa Rica. This means while the rest of the people in the region have trash service, the residents of La Carpio live next to a dump.
While in La Carpio my group was fortunate enough to meet with a few of the residents. One of the women explained to us that she had arrived from Nicaragua in the 1980s and has been living in La Carpio ever since. She told us about some of the effects of living next to the dump including skin infections and respiratory ailments. However, she also explained to us the resilience of the people of La Carpio. She explained how community activists are working on improving the lives of La Carpio residents. For example they have put together a website entitled La Carpio En Linea (La Carpio Online) that seeks to inform the public about accomplishments in La Carpio.
While in La Carpio we also got a chance to visit the landfill and speak with one of the engineers. This landfill has been in use for roughly ten years, but will be closed to taking new materials in five years. Where will they put waste once the dump closes? Will waste have to be put into one of the gorgeous rainforests?
Although visiting La Carpio was not the same as visiting a green rainforest or admiring wildlife I think it will prove to be one of the most valuable experiences of my trip. It made me realize that in every country, even countries that are supposed to be the epitome of peace and beauty, there lays a different story. From an environmental point of view it is amazing to see how much human refuse can impact the natural landscape and turn it from beautiful to downright ugly. Furthermore, the trip made me question the consumer culture of that I have grown up in. The people in La Carpio live on so little, yet I “need” so much. Perhaps the thing that the trip to La Carpio made me realize the most was how much waste society can produce. Since my visit I have been extra concerned with eating all the food on my plate, turning the lights off when I leave a room, and recycling. I will absolutely take these realizations with me back to the United States and attempt to reduce my impact on the earth.