Visit from the Swiss “Neighbour”

The Swiss Ambassador, Gabriele Derighetti, in conversation with the Director of our Centre in Costa Rica, Wilber Pérez, and the Training Coordinator, Karla Arguedas.

06.05.2021 | Costa Rica

Visit from the Swiss “Neighbour”

In March, the employees and students of our Centre for Technical Education in San José welcomed the visit of the Swiss Ambassador, Gabriele Derighetti. He took up his duties as ambassador of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama at the end of 2020 and paid a visit to our training centre as a European neighbour of the foundation, so to speak. The director of our centre in San José, Wilber Pérez, guided the ambassador around the facilities, while informing him about our work and offers for technical education. Gabriele Derighetti praised the quality standard of our centre and was also very impressed during his direct contact with the students, carried out, of course, under observation of all COVID-19-protection measures. The Samuel Foundation welcomes the cordial relations with the Swiss embassy and looks forward to new opportunities for cooperation.

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The President of the Samuel Foundation, Martin Barth, with representatives of our new partner in Costa Rica, Fundación Rahab, during an on-site visit (from left to right: Martin Barth, Ana Karina Polo, Marcela Barrantes and Laura Naranjo González).

02.08.2023 | Costa Rica

Vocational training as an opportunity for victims of sexual violence

The countries of Central America are a hotspot for human trafficking for sexual exploitation. In this context, Costa Rica plays an important role as a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking. In addition, the country records a high number of other cases of sexualized exploitation and violence caused by poverty and lack of prospects. This is where the work of the Hedwig and Robert Samuel Foundation's new project partner comes in. Fundación Rahab has been active in the fight against human trafficking for 25 years and is committed to combating all forms of violence and exploitation of women and girls. The San José-based foundation supports trafficked women and their children, as well as at-risk youth, in holistic prevention and rehabilitation programs. It helps them to come to terms with the trauma they have suffered, strengthens their social skills, and offers educational and professional qualification measures that open up ways out of the dependencies they have developed and show them new perspectives. Specifically, the project, which started in July 2023, includes the modernisation of classrooms, workshops and computer systems at Fundación Rahab in order to improve or create new infrastructural facilities for vocational training. In addition, the women participating in the project will be qualified in a range of new courses. As part of the project, cooking, sewing and cosmetics courses will be offered, which will help the participants to build a new livelihood. The project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Samuel Foundation and Fundación Rahab.

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Together for a clean neighbourhood

01.08.2023 | Costa Rica

Together for a clean neighbourhood

In June and July, the Samuel students of our center in San José joined an initiative as part of a safety day launched by the Police and Municipality of the Costa Rican canton of Goicoechea by cleaning up lots and collecting waste. The day had the ambitious goal of leaving their community without an ounce of litter. The Samuel scholarship holders participated in the initiative as part of their social service that is included in the curriculum of the four careers offered by the Technical Education Centre in San José. The efforts of our students were also recognised by officials. "We are proud of the commitment of these volunteers, who set an example and motivate the community to make environmental awareness a way of life," commented Roy Diaz, head of the Municipal Police. And as the photos show, the Samuel students supported the initiative with commitment and good spirits. Many thanks to all participants in this activity.

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The GIZ representative Adolfo Córdoba, his German colleagues, Miriam Frisch and Maja Schmauser, together with management and instructors of our centre in San José.

02.05.2023 | Costa Rica

Climate protection at a high level

At the end of March, our Centre for Technical Education in San José received a visit from representatives of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). Among other things, the meeting served as an exchange on the GIZ project "Cool contributions fighting climate change", in which our centre in Costa Rica has already been participating for several years. Further options for future cooperation with this important partner of the foundation were also discussed. Our team and the students in San José were particularly pleased about the handover of two refrigeration units that are operated with environmentally friendly refrigerants. The two units were built as part of a further training measure carried out by GIZ in our centre and can now be used here for training purposes. Thanks to this donation our students in refrigeration and airconditioning technology stay up to date with the very latest in environmental protection!

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