By Mary Lee Behar

The Conference

In February, I attended the Pan American conference in Costa Rica and served as a volunteer interpreter, along with Miriam Kerekes Beltrán (Servas Mexico). Most conference participants were from US Servas and Servas Costa Rica, but participants also came from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Germany, France, Austria, New Zealand, and Guatemala. One of my favorite parts of the event was making friends and watching participants grow closer over the course of four days together.

Many presented about Servas operations in their respective countries. Some also showcased the beauty of their country and brought a little something to share. Canada offered maple-flavored cookies, maple-flavored candy, salmon jerky and a Canadian flag pin. Mexico shared some tequila, mezcal, and spicy peanuts. Colombia shared a salsa dancing lesson, loving yoga, and red, yellow and blue beaded bracelets. A family from Servas Panama shared an intimate portrait of what Servas has meant for them over the years and how they treat every guest like family. Servas Costa Rica shared coffee, cookies, artisanal soaps and souvenir keychains. Each country extended an invitation to everyone present to come visit.

In the first two days, we heard talks on many subjects. Nancy Castro on Costa Rica's biodiversity. President Radha Radhakrishna and Peace Secretary Francisco Solomón Luna) updated us on Servas International and ways to grow the organization. Irma Alvarez on the dances of Costa Rica. Doña Carmen Mora Mora on the history of Costa Rica. Roxana Abarca and Ligia Araya on the dissolution of the army and more history of Costa Rica. Jaime Duque on the coffee industry in Costa Rica. Jim Leask and John Whidden on changes to the Servas International website. Kent Macaulay on Servas and the UN. Monica Garcia and Ana Maria Fajardo on Servas Colombia. Miriam Kerekes Beltrán on Servas Mexico. Flor Cano de Picota, Arquimedes Picota and Eufracio Centella Rodríguez on Servas Panama.

United States Servas made some presentations, too. National Peace Secretary, Karen Morian spoke on various peacebuilding activities including an effort to reforest areas of Altadena, California, in honor of Paige LaCombe, former National Peace Secretary, former US Servas Board Member, current Chair of Servas Women, whose home burned in the Los Angeles wildfires on January 7, 2025, Bill Magargal, US Servas Board member spoke on internal operations and presented a Peace Pole as a gift to Servas Costa Rica. Paige LaCombe and Victoria Cripovich from Servas Argentina spoke about Servas Women.

On our third day, we had an outing to see some of the natural wonders of Costa Rica, including: a live volcanic crater, a waterfall on the side of the road, and a lagoon surrounded by a lush forest.

At the lagoon, we were hosted for lunch by the non-profit "Asociación de Desarrollo Especifica" in the large dining area of the Airbnb "Volcan Hule Lodging." The non-profit built this Airbnb overlooking the Laguna de Hule and the Bosque Alegre Natural Preserve (forest) as a source of revenue to protect these natural spaces and ensure clean water and ecotourism in the area indefinitely.

This spot was more than just a place to eat with a view; it was the result of ten years’ effort by a small group of women, who ultimately obtained government funding through Dinadeco to realize their vision. That ours was an inaugural event for the lodge and conservation non-profit made it special – as did the delicious food.  

A huge thank you to Servas Costa Rica: Larissa Mora Mora, Carmen Mora Mora, Marc Krebs, Manuel "Malo" Ramirez Quiros, Irma Alvarez, Ligia Araya, Elizabeth Araya, Roger Chavarria, Magaly Camacho Cordero, Tatiana Colindres, Roxana Abarca, Nazira Vega, Lorena Navarro, Nancy Castro and Jaime Duque, and Francisco Salomón Luna, one of the International Peace Secretaries, for hosting us.

Take-aways

Learning about local food, traditions, government, and way of life made for a great experience. One such tradition is the "El Torito" dance, a playful partner dance where the man acts like a bull and the woman acts like a bullfighter with her large colorful skirt. (In Costa Rica, they don't do actual bull fighting because they find it cruel.) This is one of the many ways that Costa Rica is a model for peace and social justice.

Most traditional meals in Costa Rica include avocado, fried plantains, some meat/fish/eggs as a protein source, their signature side dish "gallo pinto" which is a mix of rice and beans, and "gallo de queso" which is a corn tortilla with a slice of cheese on it. Our meals were well-balanced and flavorful. There was no shortage of exotic fruit including a local passion fruit, golden berries, coffee cherries, and coconuts. (Coffee beans are the seeds left over from coffee "cherries.")

I was surprised to learn that Costa Rica has had no army since 1949. Instead, Costa Rica has powerful "friends" and neighbors (including the United States, the European Union, and other regional organizations) who will come to their aid in the event of a threat or invasion. By having no army, Costa Rica can invest more money in public education (which includes a free college education), universal health care, social development, cultural programs, and conservation. After the dissolution of the army, weapons were melted and turned into sculptures. In Costa Rica, they have literally replaced the sword with the pen.

Costa Rica’s commitment to conservation is remarkable. In fact, after the banana and meat industries destroyed half of the forests in Costa Rica between 1940 and 1987, activists successfully pushed legislation to protect the existing biodiversity and increase protected natural spaces. Now Costa Rica has 52% forest cover (compared to the all-time low of 21% in 1987). How did they do it? They made alliances with politicians, planted trees, protected areas around active craters, created a national parks program, created a system of protected areas, biological corridors including interurban biological corridors, and provided incentives for landowners to not develop their land. Costa Rica recognizes that protecting biodiversity and its forests is a way of protecting our species and our planet. Costa Rica has determined that ecotourism can be just as profitable or more profitable than clear-cutting forests for crops or cattle, with the added perks of ensuring clean water, better air quality, and a source of food and medicine for generations to come.

I left the conference wishing that somehow the United States could be more like Costa Rica, as regards conservation and prioritizing social development over guns and warfare. I also left the conference sad to leave such a like-minded group of people, who had become like a second family... so I left with two new Servas friends on another adventure.

Together my new friends from Servas Canada discovered the Quetzal National Park and Uvita. I thoroughly enjoyed this time in nature. There we saw a magnificent blue butterfly, a sloth, and howler monkeys in the wild. We visited a village in the mountains that is pretty self-sufficient with its own cows for cheese, its own river trout and lots of fruit trees, avocado trees, coffee plants, fresh air, clean water and a simpler way of life. I saw more happy cows grazing in Costa Rica than I've seen anywhere in the United States, and I got to walk a spectacular coconut tree lined beach. The experience was a memorable one, for sure.

Upcoming Events

1) International Women's Day, March 8, 2025 -- plan an event in your community

2) CSW, the Conference on the Status of Women, at the United Nations in New York from March 10-21, 2025 (now accepting only for remote access and parallel events: https://ngocsw.org/ngocsw68/),

3) International Day of Peace, September 21, 2025 -- plan an event in your community

4) SICOGA, Servas International Conference & General Assembly, in Dijon, France, October 3-9, 2025 (save the date),

5) Servas LatAm Conference in Cundinamarca, Colombia from January 7-12, 2026 (https://myqrcode.mobi/7fcca16f), and

6) Servas Colombia's Peace School in Cundinamarca, Colombia, January 12-18, 2026 (servascolombia.latam2026@gmail.com),

Conclusion

If you've never been to a Servas conference, I highly recommend it. Travel with Servas not only opens your mind but also opens your heart. Pura Vida! ["Pura Vida" translates to "pure life" in Spanish and represents a laid-back, optimistic attitude towards life that is widely associated with Costa Rican culture.]