Hugs, Hand Games and Plastic Sheets in San José

It’s hard to capture Clara smiling in a family photo this year—and her school photos could wither a spider (no offense)—but this girl in the middle of some little kids and she’s lit up like a hot tamale. They banded around this beautiful child of mine like fans to a rock star, which she is. The photos are the proof of what she’s too modest to say, which is that people feel her care, her sense of fun and kindness and her spark.

International Volunteers Headquarters (IVHQ) assigned Clara to work in a child care program in gritty San José, Costa Rica. IVHQ is a program my friend recommended, and Clara initially asked to work on a 2-week turtle conservation project on the coast, in line with her love of beaches and the environment and Bali. That plan got upended by Kevin’s move to Kyiv because Clara wanted him to join the trip and he could no longer take 3 weeks of vacation.

Instead, they slept on plastic sheets in a narrow room in a home stay in San José for one week, and then Tatum, Finn and I joined them for a week of vacation in Montezuma for a week. While Clara’s slightly older peers in the program, those not joined by a parent, were possibly checking out dance clubs and local pubs, Clara and Kyiven were drinking tea, chatting with Vera in a flowery house dress and watching cat videos before falling asleep at 8.30 pm.

But look how worth it that was: Clara was amazing with the kiddos and loved the experience. They loved her, it’s plain from the adoring hugs, and she is super organized and responsible, which teachers need in a classroom. Whitman High School prepared her well, with a Child Development class and hands-on practica experience developing curricula and leading activities with pre schoolers—although in this case, Clara and Kev worked with slightly older kids.

Poppy prepared her well too, and she was ready to go with the hand games, no language skills needed.