The Cabecar Indigenous will share their culture with us at this event. You are invited to attend.  We are accepting donations so that we can give the Cabecar children the gift of rubber boots.  We are also accepting donations so that we can give machetes and sharpening files to the Cabecar men.  With these tools they can earn a living and put food on the table. 

Your donations are most welcomed.  You can mail checks and we will purchase boots and machetes.  Our local supplier is giving them to us at his cost.  Thank you for helping the poorest of the poor to help themselves.

Finca Quijote de Esperanza

Ginnee and Phil Hancock
Apdo 178-7150
Turrialba, Costa Rica

This evening in the dark, an ambulance came to our house. They were here to pick up an indigenous young person who they believe had been snake bit on Friday, today is Tuesday. He is bleeding from his ears and his eyes. The weather has been too bad to send a helicopter to the Cabecar’s Chirripo Reservation to rescue this young man.




It is our rainy season, and this afternoon it rained as hard as the hardest rain I have experienced. We get 300 inches of rain a year. Hard rain, white-out rain and today’s rain blew down the valley, not up which is usually the direction it comes. So it was blowing down from the reservation.



We heard the ambulance squealing it horn, so when we finished dinner we took the quad and went further up mountain to see if the ambulance was in trouble. He was not, but the indigenous had not arrived as expected. Felipe and I went as far as the Rio Oro on my quad and there was no sign of the Indigenous. The ambulance left and we went home after checking gates, and taking a look at Brava and what damage had been done following the big water event.



I expect the ambulance will return, either tonight or in the morning. My best guess is that the storm was so severe that the men carrying the young man down have not been able to ford the rivers. At various places, they must walk through the river waters, on a good day for as long as 2 hours. This trip can take 7-10 hours depending on various conditions. A healthy Indigenous can make the trip down, running all the way under great conditions in 5 hours. Carrying a bleeding man, in landslide and whiteout conditions…. These are amazing people, able to overcome unbelievable odds.



When the rains stopped today, and I could see across the river, the Rio Atirro, I saw waterfalls cascading down the Fila Atirro. There were also several new landslides, one very large slide on a vertical slope. Not part of our farm, but dangerous for the river.



The bridge in front of the mill in Atirro, is in desperate need of repair. The locals are protesting, in the middle of the night they removed the giant steel plates that we drive over and threw them in the river and they cut down trees and placed them in front of the bridges so people would not drive to their deaths. Good thought.



The Rio Atirro Bridge has become so dangerous that we really needed to question driving across loose and missing steel. The buses refused to cross, and the government is dragging its feet, so the people made their point, dismantled the bridge, then marched to the Casa Presidential and voice their complaints. We can ford the river in our 4 wheel drive truck on a good day, if need be. But today a neighbor was kind enough to open his locked gates and to allow us passage through his beautiful farm. Thank You Machina Viejo!

The Cabecar Indigenous who are my neighbors have a hard life.

Three indigenous, a man and two women came down today to retreve building supplies in addition to their personal supplies. Marcos tied items together so they could wear them for their 8 hour difficult hike. They will return, or other indigenous will come down, to retreve what they could not take. That big red jug filled with gasoline is heavy.

We also received a report that my 3 volunteers and the teacher arrived in the dark, their trip took them almost 12 hours. Well at least they made it with their heavy packs. They are experienced hikers but this type of hiking can only be decribed as ultra extreme. The indigenous have made this trip since birth, but they are tough, strong, extreme people capable of running to make this trip in as little as 5 hours when an emergency is pending.

Three foot bridges are now functional making this trip easier then it was. Which is not to say that this trip is easy by any means nor under the best conditions as is evident by our experienced hiking team.

Good thing I made those high energy granola bars with honey and fruit, I knew they would need fuel for their bodies to get there.

More news to come later this week,

Yesterday my friend Dan and I found shoes to fit these Cabecar indigenous children from the reservation.

Dana visited and brought clothing, shoes, and backpacks. Thanks Dana.

I also want to thank all of you who have donated, and I have no idea who you are. Thank you so much.

It is 7:40 in the morning and here are a family of 7 indigenous going through my farm and back to the reservation. Two adults, 5 children and 3 dogs. The youngest child is set atop of the pack on her Mother’s back and tied there. The father said good bye as they passed, in Spanish of course.

They have one umbrella between them and they will walk for 8 more hours to reach their home high in the mountains. It has rained for the month of November, it was in the 50’s last night. Today they have a sunny blue sky day to make their journey to 6,000 ft. I hope the weather holds for them.

Please remember these folks and the other 10,000 plus who have nothing, struggle to survive, and need your gifts of practical warmth. Please either bring used sweatshirts to Costa Rica and donate them to my indigenous, or please send a donation and I will buy used sweatshirts at the Ropa Americana for the children. We also need crayons, pencils, and educational materials for the children. Many of the children need shoes, rubber boots, sneakers and school shoes, some children have no shoes. If you are visiting our country, pack your donations in an old suitcase, put my name on the outside and inside, print out driving instructions from www.puravidahotel.com and you can then give the directions to a cab driver and send your donations in that cab to the Pura Vida Hotel just 15 minutes from the airport. It is a small cab fee for you and the children appreciate your gift.

If you need a place to stay while coming or going, please stay at the Pura Vida Hotel, you can thank me later for this recommendation. The food is fantastic, Bernie is a historical guru, and Nhi is the best chef in Costa Rica. After one stay, you will return to them repeatedly, everyone does. They are gracious hosts and the best, most generous people. Without your help and their help, we would not be able to help the indigenous as we do. It is a combined effort of friends helping friends. Thank you for joining our team effort. Together we can make great strides forward in bringing the Cabecar Indigenous to sustainability.

If you wish to send a check, please mail it to:

Finca Quijote de Esperanza
Ginnee Hancock
Apdo 178-7150
Turrialba, Costa Rica

I will send you photos of the purchases and post photos of the children.

Thank you for your support and help. THANK YOU!!!

If you wish to know more about the indigenous there are many articles posted here on my blog. Please contact me at ginnee@gmail.com for more info regarding donations. If I do not contact you quickly it is because we do not have internet access, we live off the grid at our farm that borders the Cabecar reservation.