Costa Rica Indígena is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving and supporting indigenous communities in Costa Rica. With a focus on promoting cultural preservation, social equity, and community development, we work tirelessly to address the unique challenges faced by indigenous populations.
If you would like to donate by wire transfer or donate stock, please email admin@amigosofcostarica.org to receive the indicated account information. We will also confirm which project you would like to support with your donation and how you would like to receive your receipt.
Amigos of Costa Rica charges a 3% fee on donations. If you would like to cover the fees associated with your donation, please include an additional 3%.
Please make payable to Amigos of Costa Rica and mail to:
Amigos of Costa Rica
P. O. Box 748
West Chester, PA 19381
Amigos of Costa Rica charges a 3% fee on donations. If you would like to cover the fees associated with your donation, please include an additional 3%.
Don't forget to tell us what you'd like your donation to support! Please indicate the organization & project name on the memo line, or include with your check. Checks received without a designation will be used to support Amigos of Costa Rica operating costs. Receipts will be mailed to the address on the check unless you request a digital receipt.
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1. Healthcare: We provide access to essential healthcare services, promote preventive care, and conduct health education programs to improve the health outcomes of indigenous communities. This includes medicine and veterinary care.
2. Education: We support educational initiatives by building schools, providing educational resources, and supporting different initiatives to empower indigenous youth through quality education.
3. Capacity-building for women: We work with women within indigenous communities through skill development, entrepreneurship training, and advocacy for gender equality and women's rights.
4. Community Development: We engage in community-driven projects that aim to enhance infrastructure, promote sustainable livelihoods, and preserve traditional knowledge and practices.
At CRI, we believe in a holistic approach to community development that is inclusive, culturally sensitive, and sustainable. We work in partnership with local community leaders, public and private organizations, and stakeholders to co-create solutions that are tailored to the specific needs and aspirations of each indigenous community we serve.
Health promotion campaigns in Indigenous Communities:
One of our biggest achievements as an NGO has been to give medical attention to over 3,000 individuals in 8 “Intercultural Health Campaigns”.
In these campaigns, we’ve had over 500 medical professionals signed up as volunteers with us to provide basic healthcare, dental care, obstetrics and gynecological care, minor surgeries, pharmaceutical assistance and veterinary care, in 4 different Indigenous communities all over Costa Rica.
On average, we assist between 300-400 individuals and 150- 200 animals over a three-day course. Alongside the medical and veterinary care, the promotion of health education is a fundamental part of the project, as it gives the opportunity to reach more people and have a longer lasting effect in the community. Also, some of the volunteer doctors usually arrange a mobile care unit to assist the elderly and infirm who may be unable to reach the location of the campaigns.
Some of the benefits these campaigns have provided to our public health-care system are the shortening of waiting times for minor surgeries (such as vasectomies, orthopedic surgeries and extraction of tumors), broader ob-gyn care and the de-congestion of basic urgent care facilities.
This Intercultural Health Campaigns also serve as an opportunity for any US medical professional (doctors, nurses, dentists, therapists, nutritionists)interested in engaging in medical volunteers with communities in Costa Rica and the promotion of health.
Apiculture & food sovereignty in Alto Pacuare Community:
This is a women-led initiative, from the Association of Cabécar Women of KjalaBata, that has the potential of helping over nine hundred individuals in the Alto Pacuare community, all while promoting sustainable farming practices that help the environment and fight climate change.
The general idea behind this project is to provide these Indigenous women with the basic knowledge, tools, training sessions and means of commerce for beekeeping (apiculture). This gives the community a way to produce, distribute, market and sell their honey and related products to a broad market, providing a source of revenue whilst helping the environment through pollination in a large area of protected forests.
Most of the women from the Association of Cabécar Women of Kjala Bata are the heads of their household and have big families. This project seeks to give them knowledge, tools and a collective project that can not only benefit them, but their families and the community too. Alongside beekeeping, the project aims to grant these women with a sustainable, culture appropriate, farming system that will help them secure food sovereignty.
Workshops, on-site building of vegetable and fruit gardens, making of organic fertilizer, soil health understanding and many other areas of this project can help the community obtain proper nutrition through a regenerative and conscientious farming system. This project also contemplates long term sustainability with the creation of a seed bank, giving them the possibility of expanding the project beyond their borders.
