Day 6

Well today was pretty miserable because we had lectures all day, but on the bright, we leave for the all-inclusive resort tomorrow!

Our first guest speaker was an entrepreneur that was very informative.  He told us that years ago, there were not many job opportunities in Costa Rica. People usually worked with their family and did not lead successful careers. Today, the job opportunities are practically endless in Costa Rica, especially since Costa Rica is the number one exporter in the world. They have more free trade agreements signed around the world than any other country. At one point in time in Costa Rica, the inflation rates were so bad that he would pay his employees twice a week so they could take advantage of the purchasing power of the dollar each day. The rate would rise 30% every two days! The most interesting thing about this guy is that he started a company that had no receivables or inventory. He noticed the products that were in high demand by tourists, so he set up the company over the internet where people could order those high demand products. Then, the company would take the money the customer would pay, go out and buy the product requested, and ship it to the customer. So, no accounts receivable or inventory was necessary. If the product was not offered on the website, the customer could still request the product. The company would take a picture of the requested product and send it to the customer to make sure it is what they want. The expenses of the company are very low. This company is called ticoshopping.com. Genius idea!

Costa Rica is known as the happiest country in the world. They discovered this through surveys with simple questions. Happiness is a result of three variables: a set range of positive emotion that we inherit such as your valuation of how happy you are in comparison to other people, the set of circumstances you face in life such as developing education, and those factors under your control such as having personal objectives, a positive attitude towards problems and an interest too climb the social ladder. It was discovered that Costa Ricans feel very good about themselves, despite the poverty of the country. They are extremely family oriented. Another factor that plays into the happiness of the country is that because the country is so small (it only takes 8 hours to travel across the whole country), many people do onot have to leave their homes or move far away from their families in order to go to school, advance their career, etc.

Another speaker we had today was from the Peace Corps.  Poverty stricken communities usually wake up without water, which is a problem in many areas of Costa Rica.  It is hard for people in these communities to obtain jobs because they cannot afford the proper attire to secure a job.  Issues involve poor self-esteem, frustration, and guilt.  In order to fulfill the mission of the Peace Corps, first, they start working with the children.  By working with the children, they form a bond with the parents.  There is a two-fold mission for the Peace Corps: to improve the quality of the underprivileged people's lives and educating those providing the services.  From the time our speaker began working with the community, three kindergarten schools in the area have been shut down, which is a good thing because this means families are learning about family planning.  The Peace Corps is a very expensive organization to run.  Most of the funding comes from donors and volunteers.  Many times, the volunteers are the donors.  Several of the volunteers donate both their time and money, which turns out to be extremely rewarding to the volunteers because they see exactly where their money is going.