I would say today was one of the best experiences I have had on this entire trip. In the morning, we visited a local school to complete our service project. Our job was to help paint the walls of the school with the help of some of the kids. When we got there, I was split into a group with kids who were 4-9 years old. After we introduced ourselves we got right into painting. It was heartwarming to see how excited the kids were to paint with us. After we finished the first layer of paint we took a break and played soccer with some of the kids. It was very cool to see how good some of them were for being so young. After the break, we finished painting the rest of the wall by adding the alphabet and numbers onto the wall. It was then time to say goodbye and we headed over to the coffee plantation.

After we ate lunch, we started the tour of the coffee plantation which was highly focused on sustainability. We learned about the process of how they grow coffee plants from seeds and use the root length to determine whether or not a plant will be able to absorb nutrients well. Compared to Cafe Britt and Doka this farm also has different practices. One of the major ones is how they use a specialty type of arabica coffee due to climate change. This is because over the years the dry season has increased and the farmers have had to use a coffee plant that is more well adapted to less rain. The practices of how they treat the plants at Monteverde are also different. At Doka and Cafe Britt, we learned that a coffee plant is usually replaced every 20 years but at Cafe Monteverde, they have coffee plants that are up to 40 years old. The fertilizer used at Cafe Monteverde is another reason why this farm is so special. They use a homemade fertilizer here, made from charcoal from old coffee trees, water, molasses, corn, rice, milk, and microorganisms. This fertilizer along with their natural pesticides not only allows them to save money, but it allows them to not use potentially harmful chemicals. They then try to teach this method to about 100 new farmers each year, with around usually 70 of them adopting these methods. These processes at Cafe Monteverde show how dedicated Costa Ricans are to creating a more sustainable future.

For many of the migrant workers life at Cafe Monteverde is also much better. The workers here receive 4 dollars a basket and usually pick around 12 baskets due to the better climate for coffee. This increased price and workload allow the workers to make more than at Doka or Cafe Britt. The workers are also offered free housing, health insurance, and cheap meals. These conditions ensure the workers will keep coming back and make sure they can be compensated more fairly for their work.

If I were a child of one of the Tico farmers on this plantation I would want to devote my life to creating more sustainable farms that are resistant to the changing climate. I would do this by ensuring I made my plantation had native plants throughout for shading the coffee, attracting pollinators, or creating natural fences. I would then make sure I used natural fertilizers and pesticides to keep myself, the wildlife, and the customers safe. Another goal of mine would be to give back to the community. This would allow me to develop strong connections with the community and create a more motivated society. Which could then be more dedicated to helping the world to create a healthy environment and a thriving world.