NYC students paint classrooms at Costa Rica school

NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Kids from New York City and Washington D.C. spent two weeks in a Costa Rican community.

“They don’t have that much, like in school, they don’t have that much technology,” said Shaun Evelynn, who is only 15 years old.

He traveled along with Julissa Roque and 18 other kids to the Latin American country. For the first couple of days, they were immersed in the history and culture of the country

“We’ve seen waterfalls, churches, we got to cook food with locals, we’ve seen a lot of new animals,” Roque said.

They were exposed to the challenges that underserved communities like Turrialba face. The kids in that area have a very small school desperately needing a facelift.

“Somethings were worn out and somethings were broken down, but us painting it made it look more alive and welcoming,” Evelynn said.

“It was a multiple of five classrooms all together fitting over 50 students, and we had to paint every single classroom there and revitalize the entire school,” said Leslie Cano, the assistant director of practice and impact at Global Kids.

The organization paid for the trip. It focused on dynamic global education and leadership development programs for kids in New York City and Washington, D.C. and partnered with Global Glimpse, a nonprofit.

“We offer the kids the opportunity to gain academic success, college and career, readiness, social and emotional learning and global awareness so they are more well versed on what’s happening around the world,” Cano said.

For Shaun and Julissa, the journey to Costa Rica was eye-opening.

“It taught me to be more grateful for what I have in the U.S. because our schools provide us with more opportunities than they do in Costa Rica,” they said.

Global Kids has many other programs available for students, including youth activism, and it has an annual youth conference. To learn more, visit Global Kids – Developing Youth Leaders for the Global Stage.