DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORKCAMPS

Any participant can chose between the different ecological and social projects and / or Spanish Schools that we have available for 2005 and 2006. Some projects as indicated in their description have a minimum time to stay (normally 2 or 4 weeks) so please pay attention to this point. Remember that some of the work projects like the ones working with turtles have a Season during the year.

Volunteers can decide in how many projects and in which order they would like to work with. They can choose the date and time when they want to come to Costa Rica and must inform us about their arrival date, airline and exact flight number a few weeks, one or two months before their arrival so that we have enough time to prepare everything. As soon we get this information we will send the confirmation of the reservation.

It is helpful for us and the projects/ host families to know about the participant age, information about allergies and if they have any special diet (vegetarian etc.). So, please fill the application form as completely as you can.

It is also very important to let to know the volunteers the conditions when they come with the Work Camp program, to clarify them that they will be volunteers and exchangees and not tourists. You can found below a document regarding general expectations from ACI-CR that we want the volunteers to have a look, sign and send us by e-mail or fax.

Airport Pick-Up

ACI Costa Rica is responsible to pick up all the volunteers or/and Spanish Students from the airport, if we received arrival date and time and the correct flight number at time (at least 2 weeks before the arrival).

If we got all the information which is necessary early, the participant will receive at the airport after the arrival a pack including a Welcome Letter in the mother-language (English, Spanish, French, Danish or German) with the invitation to the Orientation Meeting, and information about the organization.

VOLUNTEERS MUST LOOK FOR A PERSON THAT HAS A SIGN WITH THEIR NAMES ON IT. Normally the driver is just in charge of driving the volunteers but nothing else, that is why volunteers receive the Welcome letter with information and explanations.

If volunteers have any problem in the picking up, please call Mauricio Gabert (contact person) to his cell phone: 830-86-85. Please do not take a taxi before calling and contacting ACI-CR.

The first night

The person responsible of the picking up will drive all volunteers for the Short Term Program to the GREEN HOUSE hostel located in San José which charges $8 without breakfast or $10 including breakfast, per person / night with shared rooms, bathes, free internet. The telephone numbers are 258-0102 or 258-9193.

Students with a reservation for ILERI Spanish School in Escazú will spend already the first night with their host-family. In this case the person has name and address of the family and will bring the students directly to Escazú. If volunteers come directly to a SOCIAL project and the placement is located in San José, then she or he will go directly to the host family too.
For the other cases, if volunteers go to the school in Jacó, or directly to an Ecological project, then they need to spend at least a couple of nights at the hostel.
Volunteers are always in charge of paying those nights of hostel

Orientation Meeting

All participants in our program receive an Orientation Meeting at the ACI-CR office. The official languages for this meeting are English or Spanish.
If volunteers are arriving between Sunday and Thursday, probably the meeting takes place the following day (Students going to the Spanish School in Escazú may have the meeting later). Those who arrive on Fridays or Saturdays have to wait until Monday.
Depending on the number of participants (normally between one and three), the meeting takes about 2 hours and includes general information about Costa Rica, the projects and how to get there, weather, culture, host-families, ACI, etc. Volunteers will receive a document that has information about Costa Rica, San José, ACI-CR, general recommendations and maps of San José & Costa Rica.

ACI FEE
The ACI fee is for all volunteers of the Work Camps (ECO and SOCIO).

1- FOR ECO CAMPS
(Price for 2005 and part of 2006)

The amount is: $150, it doesn’t matter if the person stays only 2 weeks or 3 months. The payment way depends of the organization which sends us the volunteer, could be directly or by bank transfer. If the volunteer come in an independent way, he/she always must pay directly. For directly payments the volunteer pays the ACI Fee after the orientation meeting at the ACI office (in US Dollars or Colones, Please don’t bring Traveler Checks or Credit Cards). Then, he/she would pay the projects once he/she gets there.

(Price for 2006 will be revised)

IMPORTANT!!! This ACI fee of $150 is outside of what volunteers pay for lodging and food at the Ecological projects or Spanish Schools.

2- FOR SOCIO CAMPS
(Price for 2005 and until February 2006)

The amount is: $150, it doesn’t matter if the person stays only 2 weeks or 3 months. The payment way depends of the organization which sends us the volunteer, could be directly or by bank transfer. If the volunteer come in an independent way, he/she always must pay directly. For directly payments the volunteer pays the ACI Fee after the orientation meeting at the ACI office (in US Dollars or Colones, Please don’t bring Traveler Checks or Credit Cards). Then, he/she would pay the projects once he/she gets there.

(Price for AFTER MAY 2006)

The amount is:
$250, if volunteers stay from 2 weeks to 3 months.
If volunteers stay an extra month, this forth month will cost $100 extra.
Examples:
*Volunteer coming for 2 weeks: will pay $250
*Volunteer coming for 2 months will pay $250
*Volunteer coming for 3 months will pay $250
*Volunteer coming for 4 months will pay $350

t doesn’t matter if the person stays only 2 weeks or 3 months. The amount will be $250, but the extra month after this period, ACI will need to charge $100 for this extra month.

IMPORTANT!!! This ACI fee is outside of what volunteers pay for lodging and food at the Host families or Spanish Schools.

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The prices for Language schools, host families and work projects are given after this general information, each project has its own rate that covers three meals a day and lodging with host families, volunteers project houses and lodges (depending on the placement) during the whole stay of the participant at the site.

The money that volunteers pay to those placements will be used to pay families, lodges or administration fees to keep those places working for conservation of the nature. The way how they spend the money is up to them.

3- With the ACI fee, volunteers pay for:

*ACI, to be the contact organization for their entire experience in Costa Rica (Phones in case of emergency).

*Transportation from the airport to the first host situation (family/hotel) on the arrival day.
1-Sometimes, the planes are late or something change on the way to Costa Rica, then if volunteers do not see anybody with a sign with his/her name, then he/she has to wait for about 30 minutes, if nobody comes, then they must call to Mauricio Gabert (the person in charge of all volunteers), his mobile phone is 830-86-85.

*An orientation meeting of two hours at the ACI office. This meeting will be done before they travel outside of San Jose to the work project.

*Written information (to be given during the orientation meeting) that includes:
1-Guide for volunteers in Costa Rica (general recommendations).
2-Information about San Jose (recommendations) places to go.
3-Information about ACI-CR / Telephones and Contacts.
4-Information how to get to the work project that he / she has chosen
5-Map of San Jose
6-Map of Costa Rica

*ACI to have all the reservations on time in Spanish schools and work projects, with the dates that volunteers have chosen before coming to Costa Rica.

*ACI to do the payments for all the different places, if the sending organization transfers the money to our bank account.

EXTRA THINGS FOR SOCIO CAMPS:

*Somebody from ACI will go with the volunteer to get an interview the first day of the experience at the work project, to help with translations (if they are needed) and support the people from the work project and the volunteer to get all the information needed to start with the process.

*ACI will be in charge of sending all the official documentation needed to the social sites, to accomplish with their requirements to get the approvals for having volunteers at the sites.

*Most of volunteers coming as SOCIO CAMPS will stay in the Central Valley, which means more contact and then more direct support from the office of ACI.

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4- What does not include (What volunteers have to pay when they are here and during the whole experience)

*Local Transportation with all the local buses needed.
*Nights of Hostel needed in San José, in Green House Hostel or anywhere else.
*Lodging and Food in:
The Host Families for Social Work Projects,
Ecological Work Projects
Language Schools
This last thing about lodging and food, applies only if volunteers pay directly and not through an organization in their country.

Refunds:

When volunteers come through a sending organization, and we receive the money by prior transfer of funds, ACI-CR will be in charge of doing all the payments. If volunteers want to do changes on the way, or cancellations, we recommend them to do the changes during the orientation meeting or with four weeks in advance, just before we send the money to the different placements.

If volunteers do not do change on time, and the money is not with us anymore, then ACI-CR is not in charge anymore of giving any refunds to the participants. Then each project will be the one in charge, they will be the ones deciding if they do or not the refund to the volunteer.