The University of Georgia Costa Rica 2014-2015 Sustainability Report UGA Costa Rica 2014 - 2015 Sustainability Report | Page 37

The campus sponsors a local children’s soccer
team coached by Hugo Perez.

Community service is an important aspect of campus
life, as well as many of the academic programs. For
example, in June 2015, the Health Sciences Program at
Georgia Highlands University transformed the nearby
San Luis Community Center into an educational
health fair, with the objective of increasing awareness
about the causes and effects of mental and physical
health and how to address them. The Latin American
Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) helped rehabilitate
the community soccer field in lower San Luis. The
campus sponsors a local children’s soccer team,
providing equipment and practice facilities for children
ages 7-9, coached by Hugo Perez. Additionally, UGA
Costa Rica has set up a fund to help maintain roads
in the community, donating $2,000 annually, greatly
contributing to development in the area.

variety of community-based activities, students and
guests have the opportunity to gain an understanding
of the effort and processes necessary to bring some of
their favorite food items to the table.

UGA Costa Rica makes a conscious effort to both
integrate into and serve as a resource for the
surrounding community. As the majority of those living
in the region depend on agriculture as their primary
source of income, it is fitting to describe the role of
sustainable agriculture at UGA Costa Rica, both oncampus and in the greater community. Through a wide

Field-based talks and experiential learning activities
focusing on coffee and chocolate, for example, are
popular and within walking distance of UGA Costa
Rica. Finca la Bella is a sustainable farming cooperative
in San Luis, and includes several landowners offering
presentations and hands-on activities related to
cultivation and processing of both coffee and sugar
cane. Café Caburé includes a one-room chocolate
factory where owner Bob Carlson (aka “Chocolate
Bob”) offers talks about the history and culture of
cacao cultivation as well as the art and chemistry
of chocolate making. El Rancho de Lelo is another
example of sustainable agriculture within the San Luis
Va