Lighting up Lives in Costa Rica

Written by Erin Tandy

Page 1 of 6
Canadian volunteers bring solar-powered study lamps to their fellow students deep in the jungles of Costa Rica.
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For a typical Canadian student, studying after sunset is commonplace. She simply flicks on a light or two, and maybe a computer, and she’s ready to learn.

In southern Costa Rica's remote mountainous region of Talamanca, the situation is very different. A student living deep in the rainforest must rush home to study in the few hours of daylight remaining after his hour-long trek from school—instead of playing with friends. Or, he must spend his evening hours crouched over a candle or kerosene lamp. The light is poor and unsteady, the smoke black, dirty and toxic. The open flame is a fire hazard and the fuel is costly, using up as much as 30 percent of the family's income.

David Wiwchar, a former teacher and vice-principal is working to brighten this situation, with the help of high school students from northeastern Ontario’s Rainbow District School Board and the organization, Light Up the World (LUTW).

For the past three years, Wiwchar has spent his March breaks in Costa Rica, bringing solar-powered electric light to indigenous communities. Every year, Wiwchar, his wife and some Rainbow School Board teachers accompany a group of high school students to Costa Rica. There, they install lighting systems in the simple, often thatched-roofed homes of members of the Cabecar and Bribri tribes, sometimes hiking more than 15 kilometres to reach them.



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