There are many public health projects in Costa Rica , which need interns. These projects vary from fighting Dengue fever to working in a retirement home. Please specify your project choice on your application.

Ministry of Health Dengue Project

The local Ministry of Health fights diseases in their tropical environment and assists with general health of the population. The Atenas Ministry conducts many health and social projects including projects fighting Dengue and other contagious diseases. The public health Dengue project educates about the ways to prevent Dengue and tries to eliminate the spread of the disease.

It is a house-to-house project: inspecting areas that could breed mosquitoes and educating the public. Currently, informational brochures and support materials are being designed to communicate information about this disease. Interns may also spend some time teaching English to the Ministry of Health officials. At least basic Spanish is required, preferably intermediate.

PROJECT AT A GLANCE

Location: Atenas Start Point: San Jose End Point: San Jose Duration: 2 -12 weeks  Hours: 20-30 per week  Food: Provided by host family  Room: Host family  Date: First and Third Monday of each month

Association for Women: Make and distribute brochures to fight violence against women and children, teach English and support other projects as needed.

Public Daycare: Teach English in the public daycare program sponsored by the Ministry of Health. This is an internship project, which can be completed in conjunction with other internship projects, as it only requires 1-2 hours each day. Children are from lower income families who do not have access to the English instructors that private daycares have.

Red Cross: Public ambulance service provides transportation to the local clinic in emergency cases. Interns will work and train with employees teaching them English to use when they are working in the field. At least basic Spanish fluency is required, medical or first aid experience is preferred.

Private Ambulance Service: Work with the highest quality ambulance service in Atenas. Assist them at the office and with transport. Applicants must have some medical training and basic Spanish fluency.

Dentist Assistants: Assist dentists and observe dental practices in Costa Rica . Interns should have at least basic Spanish and be dental students, hygienists or dentists.

Retirement home Work with the elderly in the retirement home, leading activity time with the residents. Previous experience with the elderly is helpful, at least basic Spanish required.

Association for the Mentally Disabled: Work with the mentally disabled helping and assisting them with projects. Previous experience with the mentally disabled is helpful and at least basic Spanish fluency is required.

Laboratory: Work in a private laboratory, which processes general and specific blood, urine and feces tests for the detection of diseases and infections. Assist in the lab with the doctor analyzing the samples. An intermediate level of Spanish fluency is required. Experience in a lab setting is mandatory.

Recycling project with the Ministry of Health Develop and implement more recycling programs for Atenas.

Park & Plaza Cleaning: Help maintain and clean the central park and plaza, landscaping, maintenance, etc.

Beginner to intermediate knowledge of Spanish is preferred ( but not mandatory) . . If you cannot speak Spanish, we suggest you enroll in our Spanish language course to make your stay more rewarding – both for you and for the children you are helping. In addition to the projects' noted requirements, previous experience in the public health industry is useful, but not necessary. Interns are expected to be reliable, flexible, use initiative and be patient.

As an intern in the health projects of Atenas, your activities will vary based on the project you are assigned to.

In Costa Rica , all interns stay with well-screened host families. Our host families are socially respected and are well versed in the art of hosting international interns. Host families offer a safe home, private rooms (occasionally rooms will be shared with other same-gender interns) and shared bathroom facilities with running hot water and a “western” style toilet. Interns have the ability to do laundry at the house or the host family may offer to do it for you for a nominal extra fee. You receive three prepared meals per day. If you will be out of the house during lunch hour, you can request a lunch "to go" that you can take with you or eat out on your own. Host families provide typical meals that are traditional to Costa Rica .

Throughout the internship project, our local staff stays in contact with interns either with face-to-face visits or via email/telephone. With longer placements, we visit our interns every two weeks (when possible) and interns are always welcome at the local office. If project placement is local, we request that interns stop by the office once a week to keep us posted on how they are doing with their home stay and project. If project placement is very far, then our local staff members maintain communication by either email and/or phone.