Spirit in Action
Risë Hunter - Monteverde, Costa Rica and The Cloud Forest School
[music] ♪ Let us sing this song for the healing of the world ♪ ♪ That we may hear as one ♪ ♪ With every voice of every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world home ♪ ♪ And our lives will feel the echo of our healing ♪ ♪ With every voice of every song ♪ Welcome to Spirit in Action. My name is Mark Helpsmeat. Each week, I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, creative action, and progressive efforts. I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service. Hoping to inspire and encourage you to sink deep roots and produce sacred fruit in your own life. ♪ Let us sing this song for the dreaming of the world ♪ ♪ That we may dream as one ♪ ♪ With every voice of every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world home ♪ We're going to take you to the mountains of Costa Rica today for a visit with Risa Hunter, a teacher and administrator in the Monteverde region at the Cloud Forest and Monteverde Friends Schools. This community, over 5,000 feet up in the Costa Rican Mountains, is a special place for plants, animals, and for humans. Six years ago, Risa Hunter packed up her bags and she moved down to Monteverde to teach at the Cloud Forest School, which focuses on bilingual environmental education for all students, preschool through high school. This past year, Risa moved over to the Monteverde Friends School as an administrator, a school that combines top-notch education with quicker values like peace and care for creation. Before we talk to Risa Hunter, let's get in the mood by listening to some music by a Costa Rican group, La Pandia, The Gang, and their song from the 1980s, "A Comer Mommé." ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ That was a song about eating "Mommé," a fruit from the region, including Costa Rica, by La Pandia. And let's now go to the phone to speak with Risa Hunter at Monteverde Friends School in Costa Rica. Risa, thanks so much for joining me for Spirit in Action. Thank you for inviting me. And the place that you're at is Monteverde Friends School, which we're going to talk about a fair amount in this interview. But first of all, I would like to have our listeners understand how someone who is from the United States came to be working for these many years in Costa Rica and at the two different schools you've taught at. How did that come about? Well, before I came down to Costa Rica, I was teaching at a wonderful school just north of Philadelphia called Abington Friends School. I taught second grade there, and I absolutely loved it. But I did decide after three years there that I was looking for a change and wanted to go to Latin America. I talked to the woman who was teaching Spanish there at the time. Katamina Rios, and she told me about both schools actually, Monteverde Friends School, where I currently work, and the Escuela Criativa, or the Cloud Forest School, where I used to work. And she told me about both schools in the area she had volunteered at the Cloud Forest School. And so I looked into both and ended up being able to come down here to work at the Cloud Forest School, so I taught there for five years. I wasn't expecting to stay that long, like many teachers that come down. I was expecting to stay a year or two, but absolutely loved it and keep staying on. So I taught there for five years, all in elementary but different grades, and now I am here at the Monteverde Friends School as the Assistant Director. Are both of those schools bilingual? Did you start out being very bilingual because you're obviously a very comfortable and Spanish now? Thank you. No, I didn't. I had to work hard to learn Spanish, and I still have a lot to learn, but taking classes here in Monteverde, and also I was lucky enough to be able to go to both Mexico and Guatemala to continue my studies there. And just trying to be really assertive about learning it. It can be hard actually, Monteverde. There's a fair amount of English here, so you really have to make an effort to learn a lot of Spanish. And was learning Spanish one of the motivations that took you down there? Are you just one of those internationally minded people who wants to be able to be comfortable in all these different cultures? Definitely going to another country with attractive to me. When I went to Guilford College, I got the opportunity to travel to Belize and Cuba and Ghana and West Africa, and I absolutely loved my experiences in all three of those places. So I did have that travel bug, and being a teacher, it really opened up opportunities to be able to teach abroad. It's one of those jobs where you can often find good opportunities in other countries, which is what led me here to Monteverde. And yes, learning Spanish was definitely one of the reasons I wanted to come, so that has definitely paid off, which has been quite a perk. Well, let's talk about your work. When you first landed there, you went to the Cloud Forest School. La Crayatifa, I think, is the name in Spanish. What is this school? Do they have regular public and private schools like we have here in the United States? We're talking about Costa Rica, which is an entirely different environment. So about the schools, public, private, how does it compare to what we have here in the U.S.? The Costa Rican school system, they do have many public schools, of course, and they have a system that starts in February at the beginning of their school year, and they go until December, and then they have their long break from mid-December or so until early February. And then there are also many schools here in Costa Rica that are private schools. And both the Cloud Forest School and Monteverde Friends School fit in these categories. So they are private schools but are open to, of course, everyone in the community, and both schools do a lot to do fundraising so that they don't turn away people that can't afford the tuition. Instead, they help raise money so that anyone who wants to be able to go to the school, of course, if there's room for them, that they're able to have that opportunity. In this area that you live in, are there public schools there so that people who live in that area, they could have their children go to the Cloud Forest School, they could have go to Monteverde School? Yes, there's many public schools in our area, and then there's the Cloud Forest School which has an environmental education focus in addition to being bilingual. There is an Adventist school, Seventh-day Adventist school, and there's also our school, the Monteverde Friends School, which also has, obviously, quicker, we offer quicker education, and we're also bilingual. Are there a whole lot of kids around there? I thought that this was a fairly small community, and yet I'm hearing that there's a large number of schools people can choose from. There are. We now have about 7,000 people in the area, so it's definitely grown a lot over the years, and you can tell, even if you've only visited in the last few years, there's a lot of development and change every year. So, yes, there's quite a few kids that need to be educated in the area, and they do have quite a few schools to choose from. Tell me about the Cloud Forest School, the Crayativa. Where did it come from, who founded it, why is it bilingual? What's the motivation behind this school, the place where you landed when you first arrived in Costa Rica? The Cloud Forest School was founded in 1991, and it was founded by local parents in the area that wanted an alternative. They wanted to offer environmental education to their children and neighboring students, and they also wanted to create a school where they could offer education to as many local children as possible. So, it's grown quite a bit at this point. They now have 220 students. There's something I'm not getting, Risa. Why would people be creating a bilingual school in a country that's Spanish-speaking? Are these local folks who are creating this? I mean, because creating it with bilingual education with English just seems something that's a little bit extraordinary for a Spanish-speaking country. It is, and Monteverde is a very unique and special place. We attract, 70%, is the number I've heard, of tourists that come to Costa Rica, make it up to Monteverde. So, eco-tourism and tourism in general is a big deal up here. So, being able to give local children the opportunity to learn English really opens up tons of doors for them. And the Cloud Fire School also focuses on environmental ed. So, it's really creating learners that can then go into the workforce and make good choices about the kinds of jobs they get and the kind of decisions they make about how they live, and possibly work in an environmental and possibly bilingual type of job. Being guides in our Cloud Fire Reserve here, we have two different reserves in the area. There's lots of hotels and different businesses here that really need a lot of bilingual employees. But obviously, many graduates do leave Monteverde and go on to study in universities both here and in the states and then look for other opportunities elsewhere. What's the age range of the students at the Cloud Forest School? And how is the school environmental? I mean, is everyone walking around in white coats and doing biological research? Not exactly. So, the school starts at preschool. So, children, three and four years old, and goes up to 11th grade. Here in Costa Rica, most of the public schools only go to 11th grade and so does the Cloud Forest. So, they graduate and take national exams and graduate after 11th grade. And as far as how is it an environmental school, it's kind of complicated and depends on the grade. But there is an environmental education coordinator every year, and that person helps the teachers organize their curriculum and do activities that involve environmental education. And studying it, both in the classroom, but also out in their forest there at the school. They have about 106 acres of Virgin Cloud Forest. It's absolutely beautiful. There's a series of trails. And the children do tons of reforestation work. They take care of that entire area, clean the trails. Also, there's little streams in there and they can do different kinds of research and observation. And it starts from the youngest and goes all the way through high school doing different kinds of projects and investigations there, right there on the property. So, give me some idea of how school life would be essentially different from, I guess, a mainline school. How could I recognize this is a special case of some place that's really sensitive to the environment? Okay. The way the Cloud Forest School is set up is in every given school year, there are six different themes. And so, these themes are sections of the school year. They're about six weeks long, usually. And they each have different environmental focuses. So, depending on what grade level you're in, depends on what you would study. So, it could be understanding biomes or studying different types of rivers in Costa Rica and different climates that we have here in Costa Rica. Or conservation and recycling. There's all different types of themes that come up and topics that they study throughout the year. But in each given school year, they touch six of those. And what that means in a regular school day is that there are conversations about environmental topics, whatever they may be studying at the time. But in addition to that, they also have a land stewardship time, which is scheduled into every week. And they go outside rain or shine, usually, and are doing different projects to help take care of their school and the land there. So, like I was mentioning before, a lot of it has to do with refar station. But they also go into the greenhouses and work on preparing the seeds before they get planted. Or working with the compost hour, our recycling program, or getting things ready for groups of volunteers that come to visit. So, there's tons of different projects. But even the youngest children are involved in creating that environment there at the school. You mentioned recycling program is recycling something that happens in Costa Rica in general. And what do you mean about recycling in the school? What kind of things are they recycling? Well, they recycle and they reuse. So, there's recycling that does go through the whole process and get turned into different items made out of glass and plastic, et cetera. But they also reuse some of the things. So, you'll often see in the classrooms, rather than getting a brand new pencil holder or something like that, it'll be a bottle that's cut well cleaned, of course. And they do art projects with recycled materials and things like that. As far as Costa Rica, every town is different. Some places do have a good recycling system and others do not. Frankly, in Monteverde, we still have a long way to go. We used to have a recycling center and now we don't. I know here at the friend school, we end up having to take a lot of our stuff already sorted and cleaned to a local hotel that then recycles it mixed with their own recycling from their hotel. But you have to make quite a concerted effort to be able to recycle here. How is it compared to America? I mean, America, we produce such a vast volume of waste from fast food places. We've got styrofoam everywhere. Everything has a lot of packaging. How is Costa Rica compared to the United States in that respect? I would like to think it's better, but it still has that issue. You still see styrofoam more than you should. And there's lots of things that come packaged. And unfortunately, even at the store, I see tomatoes and lettuce and all sorts of things in plastic wraps. That's still an issue. I remember a teacher not too long ago saying that she feels even here that most of the trash she creates is from the plastic that food comes wrapped in or bottles and things like that. At the Claupe Bar School, one of the policies or one of the things they try to enforce with the children there is that their snacks should not include any trash. So rather than bringing those chips and granola bars and things like that that are always in some sort of wrapping that turns into garbage, they're encouraged to bring fruit and healthy things that are homemade kinds of snacks rather than creating garbage. So juice boxes are not encouraged and all those styrofoam definitely not, but any of those kinds of snacks that create trash are really discouraged there. I'm still trying to get an idea of whether Monteverde, the region right there, is a special bubble in Costa Rica if it's completely different. For instance, organics, organics become increasingly important in the United States, increasingly common. Is organic agriculture common in Costa Rica? Is it common around your region? It's hard to say because there isn't as big as of a push board here so people might be selling organic but might not advertise it as much as they would in the States. We do have a farmers market every Saturday morning which is only starting the last year or so and it's absolutely wonderful. They start at 6 a.m. and they fill the whole public school gym with different vendors of fresh fruits and vegetables. And I do know that some of those vendors do sell organic and others do not, but they do have very fresh food and fruit and whatever's in season at the time. So that's where I try to do most of my shopping there on Saturday mornings. I've also been wondering about the Cloud Forest School if it was run different administratively. First of all, you were a teacher there for five years. Is it common to have teachers from outside of Costa Rica? Is that a normal thing? And is it managed differently, administratively? Is it still a top-down management or is there some different way of organizing that you wouldn't expect in a public school? Let's see. As far as what's different with administration, it is its own entity. So there's the board, of course, but there is a director, an assistant director, an administration. But there's not as many in public schools often in the States. There's so many rules that you have to follow as far as curriculum which is not necessarily a bad thing but also all sorts of different policies and rules that every public school has to follow. So they do set their own rules and their systems and their curriculum. It's a pretty unique place. It is not your typical town in the mountains of Costa Rica. This town attracts tons of different types of people. There's many tourists, like I mentioned before, that pass through that come through here. But they also attract many people from other countries who come here to live and settle down. So there's many of us who are educators or work in schools. There's also lots of scientists and biologists and botanists who come up here because there's just such a wealth of forest and animals and plant life to study here. So they often come and live here either all year round or part of the year. And there's also lots of students that come. There's quite a few biologists that lead groups of students that come down, usually from universities in the States and do a program here. It can be for a few weeks or sometimes up to three months or so. And they study here in Montevideo travel around other parts of Costa Rica while also studying Spanish. So all those types of people are coming in and it creates quite a unique place up here. There's Costa Ricans, there's South Americans, there's people from Central America. There's lots of people from the States. But there's also people from Europe and Israel and it's a mix. It's kind of strange to me still thinking of a town of 6,000 which I think you say the area is grown to. And you're drawing people in from outside. Now I'll mention here Montevideo Friends School. You have students there who are exchange students too, right? Yes. At Montevideo Friends School we have a program for high school students from 9th grade through 12th grade. They can come and participate in our school for a semester a year and we've had quite a few students do that. And they can live with a Costa Rican family. And in that case they get to not only be a part of our school community but also a part of the Costa Rican community and work on their Spanish. For those students who don't have Spanish yet, we set up classes for them that are often one-on-one or small group. And if anybody has questions or knows people that are interested, they can always write to me directly at Montevideo Friends School at gmail.com or check out our website which has more information about this program at www.msschool.org. Which brings me to a question. Monte Verde, one word or two. It is one word and my understanding is the town is one word but there's a zone and I think the zone they might have written it as two words. But it is definitely one when you're talking about this area up here. And does it green year round? Is this a solid paradise for us? It's pretty impressive up here. The amount of different kinds of greens and coming up the mountain especially during the day is just stunning. I mean there's just rolling hills and mountains and farms and small cabins and it's just absolutely stunning. And it's green for a reason. I mean we get tons of rain every year and it's a pretty damp place but it makes it such an amazing place for so many animals and plants to survive and flourish. On the ground level turtles and leopards and snakes live in the shelter the rain forest makes the ground is so soft and the air is so clear with 300 inches of rain every year all at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. All at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. And down in the ground the worms and the ants nurture the roots of the flowering plants and up in the canopy life is a breeze. A rang it and swing from limbs of the trees all at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. All at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. And high up above where the two cans fly. Emergent tree tops reach into the sky. There's more kinds of plants than anyone knows. Look out there's a swab hanging by her three toes. All at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. All at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. There's the under story. The under story. The under story. The under story. There's the ground level story on the ground level story. The ground level story on the ground level story. The ground level story on the ground level story. The ground level story on the ground level story. Emergent tree tops reach into the sky. All at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. All at the rain. Feed the thirsty ground. Sing me the song of life you sing such a beautiful sound. Rain come down. Rain come down. Rain come down. Rain come down. That song Rain Forest is by Jim Scott from his CD Sailing with the Moon. And today for Spirit and Action, we're talking with Risa Hunter down in Monteverde Costa Rica. I'm your host, Mark Helpsmeet, and this is a Northern Spirit radio production, which means that you can listen to this program and many others on my site, northernspiritradio.org. That's also a good place to find links related to this program like those of the Cloud Forest School and Monteverde Friends School, both places where Risa has worked over the past six years. This little town, poised in the Cloud Forest as it is, it sounds so rich in flora and fauna Risa. I'm wondering why hasn't it been overrun and overdeveloped? You mentioned that there's two reserves there. Is this something established by Costa Rica? Is Costa Rica as a nation very ecologically minded? More and more so. I think Costa Rica has learned that there is a market in ecotourism. So if they really take care of areas that can be national parks and really promote them as ecotourism sites, they can bring a lot of money and economy to their country. So I think that's what they're trying to do for the most part. And of course, like in the States as well, their national park system needs some support, needs funds and everything. But there are very impressive parks here and lots of things to see and do. It's a very small country, really. It's about the size of West Virginia. But there's just so much to do. And with both oceans on either side, it's pretty impressive. I want to learn a little bit more about Costa Rica because I think there's a reason that the Quaker community in Monte Verdi moved down there. Costa Rica has some distinctions as a nation. Can you talk about those? Sure. One of the reasons the Quakers originally moved down here is because Costa Rica doesn't have an army, which is pretty unique in this day and age. And they still don't. They do have a police force, of course. And there is what's called the Oehota, who are the people that investigate crimes after they happen. But there is no army. And that is one of the really attractive things about Costa Rica. Why is it, Risa, that they don't need to have a military? It sounds like such a garden of Eden. I think I'm going to come over and invade and take it over. I wouldn't recommend it. You know, I don't know much about the history, frankly. I know that it hasn't been much of an issue and they've just stuck to not having an army over the course of the years. And frankly, it seems like they'll be able to keep that up. They instead put a fair amount of that kind of money into education and healthcare. Your first five years there were spent teaching at the Cloud Forest School. Now you're at the Monte Verdi Friends School. Tell us a little bit about that community, Monte Verdi Friends, and how they came to be there. We already mentioned that it had to do with them not having a military there in Costa Rica. About seven Quaker families and about 50 people altogether came in around 1951 and settled here in Monte Verdi. There were already some Costa Rican families here in this area. But they came up to this area and have been growing ever since, frankly. And they started this school and it's moved locations. But we've been in our current location for quite a while. Our meeting house is here too. We now serve a hundred students from Kinder, which is preschool, all the way through 12th grade. And about 70% of our students are Costa Rican and the rest are from various other countries. There's many from the states that have moved down here to live, but also many from South America and other countries. If I recall correctly my own reading, the families that moved down there moved down there from Alabama area. And this of course would have been during, I think, Korean War. It's certainly, you know, World War II is over. There's a mass conscription for that. And there's draft continuing during the Korean War. So was war the total reason for moving down there? Was there ecological urges or was there something else that you know about? I think it's actually a pretty complicated story. There's a whole family album they call it. It's the Monterey and the Jubilee family album. And it is quite a huge document of 300 pages of their entire experience of making this decision to come down to Monterey and all the steps involved to getting up here on the mountain and making it their home. I know that a couple of the members were arrested for being conscientious objectors during the Korean War or around that time. And that was kind of the catalyst. They were arrested and that helped motivate those families to look for other options. And does this remain as a peacenic area of Costa Rica or the world? I would say so. It's an impressive place. It's a very peaceful and welcoming place, I would say. You said there's about 100 students now at the Monteverde Friends School, Risa. And that's compared to 220 students over at the Cloud Forest School. Is this the right size for it? What is the purpose of Monteverde Friends School? Given that you've got this wonderful Cloud Forest School right at the side. What's the difference? Well, there's quite a few differences, but really there's a lot in common too. The Friends School has a focus on community building and Quaker education. And the Cloud Forest School is focusing mostly on environmental and also, of course, community building and teaching morals and good choices. But both do have the bilingual aspect, which is quite a great opportunity for the children that study in either of the schools. And the Cloud Forest School does have more of a Costa Rican student body. But both are doing really fantastic work. The Friends School is obviously smaller. Most of our classes are smaller as a result. And while there's many people that would love to come to the school, we really try to make sure that we're able to provide quality education and keep our classes small. There's also a conversation of spiritual awareness here at the Friends School. During the week, every week we have meaning for worship with the children from 9 to 10 on Wednesdays. So anybody coming by is welcome to stop by. But before that time, there's a time called pre-meeting. Students in their different classes talk about different things that are important to them that might kind of spark thoughts or messages during meeting. But also just community building with their class and having some pretty profound conversations depending on what's developmentally appropriate and what the teacher plans. And sometimes it's community building games and activities. It depends what the group needs and what they're working on. But that's a very special time that's always set out every week in the curriculum. You have this religious spiritual focus to the Monteverde Friends School. What percentage of the students there are Quaker related? Are they all Catholics? And so this is, you know, anything south of our border, we figure that they've got to be Catholic, right? What is the religious diversity there? There are quite a few Catholics here. We were recently planning a field trip. And many of the children were saying we don't know if we can go because they had to go to a religion class or a Catacism class that they have on Saturdays. Very few of our population are Quaker, maybe 10% max. But some of them are the grandchildren of some of the original settlers. And others, there are also Quakers that have moved here mostly from the states that have decided to settle here in the last few years as opposed to 50 when the original Quakers came. And so now their children are going to the school and many are graduating from the school about four, five actually of our graduating class do have Quaker connections. And I think, Risa, you're Quaker. You were raised Quaker. Tell me a little bit about the background. And I think that there must have been a reason that you chose to go to this Quaker area. Mm-hmm, definitely. The story goes that when I was five, that I talked to my mom and my dad and said that I was interested in a church-like thing. I had friends that were going to church and synagogue, and so I was asking for the same kind of thing. And my parents at that point decided to look into Quaker meeting because that fit more with their beliefs. So my mom and I started attending meetings since then, and we joined Homewood Friends meeting in Baltimore when I was about 13. And so I've been Quaker officially ever since. But one of the things that really drove home Quaker-ism for me was going to Catoctin Quaker camp in Frederick, Maryland. And I went there as a camper for years, and then I went there as a counselor. And I worked there for six summers as a counselor, which was really a life-changing event. And so having that basis already, and then it was really pretty fascinating. I was in Philadelphia and thinking about going to Latin America and finding out about Monterey Day and looking at these schools, finding out the requakers there, which I hadn't grown up knowing about. And then I just looked into all these different things about Monterey Day and what it had to offer, except to the job and came without even ever being here before. And lucky for me, I fell in love with it and have continued to stay here after year. What was it that was so special about your experience at the Quaker camp? And what's the name of it again? Catoctin Quaker camp. It's located in Frederick, Maryland, and it's operated through Baltimore yearly meeting. It is a magical place and anybody that's ever been there. And many Quaker camps have that same kind of feel. It's a place where people really learn how to be a part of a community and be a good friend and learn how to work together. And it was a place where I got to grow spiritually and just grow as an adult too and just learn what my strengths were and what things were challenging and really work with some really amazing people. Having that as a basis really gave me the confidence to kind of look outside of places where I had been before and kind of experiment and step outside the box a little bit and end up moving down here. And to this day, really the connections I made at that camp at Catoctin are still very near and dear to me. I recently went back to the States and got to visit a lot of people from camp that I hadn't seen for years. It was great to be able to see them and reconnect. Of course things that are of deep spiritual value usually are hard to put into words. Obviously at the age of five you had researched all of the religions and decided the Quakers where you should go. Have you tried out other religions in between? Have you visited and gotten to know? So you're making an informed choice about this Quakerism that you're in the midst of? Yes and no. I mean during college and some when I was younger I did visit other churches and synagogue as well. But I really like Quakers and because it's so open you don't have to necessarily believe one fixed thing. And it's really open to different beliefs and different types of people. It's the worship that you share together not necessarily all the same beliefs. And some Quakers would disagree with me. I've definitely had conversations with Quakers who feel that there are certain regiments that you have to follow and believe. And as far as could talk to and why it's so special it's partly the sense like I said the sense of community and really taking care of each other. For young kids it's hard to be away from home sometimes and it really gives them a chance to feel that out and really make connections beyond their school friends and family. It teaches a lot of responsibility too and so for the kids I know and for their oldest group for example they go on a ten day trip and they're helping to carry the food and organize things and look at the maps and plan and do all sorts of different organizational steps of that trip. And it's hard. It's hard work. Our last day we would be hiking tons of miles and it was really tiring but it's the kinds of trips and activities that really bring people together. One of the things that's really special about Catoctin 2 is having meaning for worship and we haven't there at the camp twice a week outside in the evenings which is called Fire Circle. And one time on Thursdays after the weekly trips there's trips every week three days out of every week and everybody comes back from their trip and they're full of stories and adventures and thank yous and just a celebration of really coming home from an adventure and so sharing those kinds of stories and experiences around the campfire is something really special. And then on Sunday there's a committee that comes up with a query so that query is shared and the kids say some of the most profound things and it's a really safe space. It's not a place where just the adults in the community are sharing but the youngest children too are really thinking about the queries and how it affects them. And so that's one of the things that makes it a pretty unique place. In worship at camp kids are not famous for liking to sit long periods in silence. What is worship like there? We at the camp we also have meaning for worship in the morning. It's at the same fire circle, assuming it's not raining. It's peaceful and quiet and the kids really do well. I think being outside really helps and even though some will fidget and grab a little stick and maybe draw on the dirt or something like that or watch the ants crawling up a tree nearby, they still get a lot out of it and just being able to be and sit and be present in nature is something that we don't take time enough for these days. Can you give me an example of a kind of a query that might be used at the camp? Very, some would be light focused and more using spiritual types of terms and others would be more about being a friend and what makes a good friend or is there a time that you decided to or when do you decide to speak up and stand up against something that you don't believe in or don't agree with? And it can also be what does the light mean to you and those types of questions? So there's no right answer which is part of the beauty of queries in general is that it's what you make of it and so they really varied. [MUSIC] [SINGING] [MUSIC] [SINGING] [MUSIC] [SINGING] [MUSIC] [SINGING] [SINGING] That was this little light done by a Quaker group called Faith in Practice. You may be wondering why I tossed in that particular song at this point. It's because Risa's experience at the Catoctin Quaker camp included a lot of singing around the campfire including songs like Simple Gifts, Step by Step and of course, This Little Light. For today's Spirit Nation, we're speaking with Risa Hunter down in Monteverde, Costa Rica, or maybe I should say up in Monteverde since they are in the cloud forest altitudes of Costa Rica about 5000 feet above sea level. Risa taught for five years at the cloud forest school and Risa, now you're an administrator at Monteverde friend school. Is that why you made the switch from the cloud forest school? Because obviously there's two schools you can believe in strongly. What was the impetus for you to move over from one school to the other? Actually, my boyfriend and I were looking into possibly moving down to San Jose and it ended up, we changed our mind. We really like Monteverde a lot so we ended up sticking around here and this position opened and the assistant director position here at Monteverde friend school. And it was a new opportunity and I had already been on the school board here for the last three years. So I had already been a part of the community both as an attender of meaning but also on the school board and so I had gotten a good sense of what the school was up to and what the community is like. So I was pleased when I got offered the job because it's really, it's been a great experience. I work with a wonderful woman named Anika Felsted and she's the director and she's a wonderful mentor and we work well together. But just working in such an impressive school and really learning the side of administration in such a supportive environment, the board and the teachers and the other administrative staff are just so supportive that it really, it hasn't been as intimidating as that kind of switch from teaching to administration can typically be. Now you're a big heavy duty administrator at a Quaker school. How old are you? I'm 31. And where does that mean that you fall in terms of the age range of the teachers, other administrators, workers at school? I'm the youngest administrator. As far as the other employees, I'm somewhere in the middle. We have quite a few teachers, four or five teachers that are younger than me and then we have a few that are not too far from my age range and then a couple that are older as well. So somewhere in the middle. Your administrative duties, does it include working on getting the students that are going to come in from other areas? Some people want to read about it. They can go to the MF School, Monteverdi Friends School.org site. What should they be looking for? What's the name of the program? We don't have a specific name for the program, but it'll say international students or something along those lines that will have information about how to apply. The application is online and you can find more information about it there. Please definitely get in touch if you're interested, even if it's not for the school year or sometime in the future or if it's for a friend or someone else. And we have been sending out brochures and information about it. And so if anybody listening does belong to a Quaker meeting, please feel free to mention it at Quaker meetings, Quaker schools or anywhere that you think would attract interested teenagers in such a program. It's a unique experience and our community is so supportive that our students that come from abroad, even though they might not have many connections here originally to start with, they really become part of our community very quickly. And our academic standards are really high, so by no means is it a semester off and just kind of hanging out. Our high school teachers really have high demands for their students. So they come in and need to be on here as well. And in addition to the regular classes, they also have time to be working on their Spanish, which is great. And another added perk for being here. Well, let's talk about the crucial deciding factor for a lot of folks. How much does this cost in dollars or whatever currency you're using there? We use Colonies here. What it costs is really compared to the states is quite affordable. For high school students, I'm checking my list here so I get it right, is $460 a month, and that's for 10 months out of the year. Then if they need the Spanish tutoring, that's an additional fee of $170 a month. That sounds a lot cheaper than living here. I think I'd better move down there and save the money and difference. Of course, you have to work down there. What kind of jobs are in that area? It's tricky. There are jobs for educators and people that can teach English. Then if you're a biologist or a botanist or work in science in general, sometimes there are opportunities, but it depends what your focus is if you're bilingual or not. There are lots of people, like I mentioned before, that work in hotels and different tourist organizations, like the Butterfly Garden, or we have a serpenthedio, which is where you can go see snakes in terrariums, not to worry. There's a ronadio, which is where you can go see frogs, and so there's often visitors that can go and work there temporarily. Then both schools, both Monterey Friends School and the cloud forest school, if you're looking to volunteer, both have volunteer programs. So either school has a whole process for accepting applications and accepting volunteers into their school and placing them where they can best be put to use. Does the cloud forest school also have international exchange students in scholarships, the whole kind of thing that you have at Monterey Friends School? Yes, they do have a whole scholarship program as well, definitely, and they do accept international students as well. There's a woman who works there in charge of working with farm families and making sure their questions get answered and any concerns they have or any questions they have about moving to the area. She also helps them find housing here. She's very good at her job. I think I've learned enough about your community that I'd better pay to visit pretty soon. The last little glimpse I'd like to give our listeners, Risa, is of you personally. Are you there because you want to save the world? Is this part of living out Quaker testimonies? This is an exotic, eco-vacation for you. How does that mix go for you? How much of this is spirit and how much of it is paycheck? Well, I'm not here for this huge pay that I get, definitely. It's more for the community and the unique place that Monterey is. Like I mentioned before, I thought I would be here for a year or two, but I have since changed my mind and keep sticking around. I don't know how long I'll call Monterey the home, but I feel really lucky that this is a place that has been so welcoming and where I've really met a lot of people and become a part of the community here too. It helps that there is the Quaker aspect here and that when I feel moved, I can go to meeting and be a part of that as well. One of the unique things about Monterey Day 2 is that it just attracts so many unique people and that while it's hard because people do come for a year or two and then move on, there are just so many unique people that come up here and really want to get to know Monterey Day and what it's about. There's lots of live music and different kinds of events between both schools but also just in the community. There's the reserves and places to hike and go around and it's just a wonderful place to be and learn and work. The two different schools, both are great places to work and it's a great place for people who are interested in working on their English if they don't speak in or learning Spanish and really meeting the unique people here. I think that Monterey Day is lucky to have you down there. It sounds like a wonderful place. You sold me on it. Okay, we'll come on down. Thank you so much for joining me for Spirit and Action. Keep up the wonderful work down there, Risa. Okay, thank you very time. My guest today for Spirit and Action was Risa Hunter and we spoke to her at Monterey Day Friends School in Monterey, Costa Rica. A few websites, if you're interested, Monterey Day Friends School is mfschool.org. And for the Cloudforce School, it's cloudforceschool.org. Or just go to montaverity.org for links to these and other resources in Montaverity. And of course, you can always start from my site, northernspiritradio.org, and you'll find all of these. The theme music for this program is Turning of the World, performed by Sarah Thompson. This Spirit and Action program is an effort of Northern Spirit Radio. You can listen to our programs and find links and information about us and our guests on our website, northernspiritradio.org. Thank you for listening. I am your host, Mark Helpsmeet, and I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit. May you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light. This is Spirit and Action. With every voice, with every song, we will move this world along. With every voice, with every song, we will move this world along. And our lives will feel the echo of our healing. You