East End girl guides travel to Costa Rica

East End-based Girl Guides of Canada group 1st Toronto TREX, under the guidance of leaders Liane Paixão and Rosanna Manarin, spent 12 days traveling in  Costa Rica this August, where they learned about the country’s diverse ecosystem and engaged in different service projects.

The girls, 13 to 15 years old, spent five days at the Caño Palma Biological Station, participating in hands-on activities offered by Canadian researchers, such as marine turtle data collection, cayman survey, basic photography and Spanish lessons.  In the remote and impoverished area of  El Bruxo,  they also helped to  build the foundation for a community hydroponic vegetable garden – a pilot project that will benefit the public schools in the area, where the students  will  learn  to grow and harvest their own food. They also gave a presentation on the differences between the seasons in Canada and Costa Rica to primary grade students  at a public school in the Tortuguero region, and collected USD $200 to help purchase books and school material for the students.

“I really enjoyed this trip! We learned so much,” said Kate Semple, one of the six 1st Toronto TREX members.

“I was amazed at how much information our girls were able to absorb during this trip and how well they represented our country.  They were like true ambassadors,” said leader and educator Liane Paixão.