Solemn graduation ceremony: the wife of the German ambassador in Costa Rica, Petra Kriener (left), and the deputy ambassador, Alexandra Herr (right), with the legal representative of our centre in San José, Wilber Pérez.

06.06.2024 | Costa Rica

Successful project completion: Help for women affected by sexualised violence

In mid-May, our cooperation partner in San José, Fundación Rahab, celebrated the successful completion of vocational training courses as part of its ‘Rehabilitation and social reintegration for women affected by sexual exploitation and violence’ programme. In a festive graduation ceremony, the successful participants in one of the cookery, tailoring, cosmetics or digital skills courses on offer received their certificates. In combination with psycho-social services, the courses are designed to help the women build a new life after their traumatising experiences.

Since July 2023, the Hedwig and Robert Samuel Foundation has supported this project to improve the infrastructure, in particular the modernisation of training rooms, workshops and computer systems at Fundación Rahab, and to run the above-mentioned vocational training courses. The graduation ceremony also marked the end of the time-limited cooperation project for our foundation. We are very pleased and grateful to have supported the important work of Fundación Rahab and to have contributed to giving affected women and their children better prospects for their lives.

Fundación Rahab has been actively campaigning against human trafficking and all forms of violence and exploitation of women and girls for 25 years. The project was co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development's (BMZ) Small Projects Fund.

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A year as a volunteer in Costa Rica

29.05.2024 | Costa Rica

A year as a volunteer in Costa Rica

For ten months Anna, a German volunteer, has been supporting the staff at our Centre for Technical Education in San José | Costa Rica. She helps with administrative tasks and also assists the teacher in English lessons, helping the students to improve their vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Anna describes her experiences as a volunteer at our Centre for Technical Education in Costa Rica very pleasantly: "When I make my way to classroom no. 4 for English lessons in the morning, I look into 30 familiar faces of the students who are trained in Administrative Assistance. They spend 21 hours a week in English lessons, which means I know them best of all the students. I immediately hear a cheerful "Hi Anna!" 30 times. I wave briefly and smile as I sit down in the chair next to the English teacher. Today, the students have to write and perform a role play. They push the tables together and start exchanging ideas. I sit down with one group and give them tips on how to formulate the sentences better. Behind me, I hear my name and go to another group who ask me how to pronounce "comprehensive". When the group has finished, I am asked what Germany is like and whether I like Costa Rica. In return, I learn about the students' hobbies and favourite places. The hospitality and warmth of the people were the biggest "culture shocks" - in a positive sense - when I arrived here. Both colleagues and students welcomed me immediately, wanted to find out more about my life and overlooked my Spanish language skills (which were really in need of improvement at the time). Volunteering gives me the opportunity to meet young people my age and learn more about their culture, their lives, and their language. This gives me a very special insight into the country from different perspectives. Outside of my work at the foundation, I love traveling around the country with friends and discovering the cultural differences and way of life in the different regions. With all the memories and encounters over the months of my stay, I can feel Costa Rica slowly but surely becoming a second home for me." We wish Anna many more wonderful experiences during her remaining time in Costa Rica and thank her warmly for her support!

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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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