Adventures in Costa Rica

Our home in Costa Rica was nice. We saw a cow walk up right to the door.

The walk from our house was an hour walk away from the Salvando Corazones safe house.
The view was beautiful. The dog with the glasses was their watch dog. She is named Kaya; the girls called her Kaya Papaya! They were adorable!

 Teaching the girls was hard work and they were not always easy to get along with. They did not know much English and really needed to review the basics. We taught them English, sports, and art, such as drawing, painting, and crafts. The girls loved the cartoon drawings that my husband would draw to help them learn conversations in English. There were five girls between the ages of 11 and 15. Their names were Marcia, Julissa, Katia, Lady, and Karina.

Painting The Girls' Bedrooms

 Each girl picked their own picture that they wanted created on their personal bedroom walls. This was Marcia's choice.

 Lady loves pirates, especially Jack Sparrow. She chose this painting to go above her bed to dream sweet adventures.

This mural was chosen by Karina. She loves the danger and mystery shown in this painting. The heart was added to the picture because she knew she was now in a place where they loved her.















Sugar and spice and every thing nice, that is what these girls were made of. The youngest girl, Katia, was trying to be all grown up but she was only 11 years old. This painting shows that even girls that have to grow up fast have big dreams. This fairy tale mural was so much fun to paint. I hope it reminds her always that she can dream big and good things can happen.











This was painted for a girl named Julissa. She was so sweet and small but she had a great big heart of gold. On the outside she looked like a normal happy teenage girl. But on the inside you could tell how much pain and hurt she had experienced in her life. I think this mural was chosen because she wished someone could heal her heart and she knew that it would take some time.

 The rest of these paintings were for the staff, volunteers, and others to admire to bring smiles and color to the girls' lives. This was painted in the kitchen.

 We painted birds down the stair walls.

 Butterflies with rainbow music notes.




















A skyline to remind them that they can do anything and see everything from the rooftops of safety.

Love birds

 This mural was so special to me. I choose this one because they should always make a wish and help each other work together to achieve their greatest wishes.

All of these words were words of strength for the girls to remember that they need everything to be a strong tree.

This mural was painted in the psychologist's lobby to show the beauty of Costa Rica and have a nice picture of each girl playing and having fun. 

Putting up the School Roof

Day 1- This was quite the project. I helped by scrubbing and cleaning the roof before they put it on top of the school.












Day 2- Was a long day but it made a lot of  progress despite the wind and the rain storm.

Day 3-  This was the final day of putting up the school roof. It looked amazing once finished!

These amazing women make Salvando Corazones possible!

The girls used gardening as a tool for therapy. 

Yoga with the girls was a fun experience. It was great for
them to be able to relax while at the same time excising.

We went on a walk to the nearby town to play soccer and kickball.

We love these girls. Their spirits are so strong; they are the strongest teenagers I have ever known. 

They have been through so much and to protect their identity, I have masked their faces,
but these girls are awesome. They are the best girls.
 I went to Costa Rica thinking I would be their teacher and role model, but it was so much more.
They became my family, my friends, and girls that taught me to love life.