Mohari and Peninsula Papagayo have united for a pioneering three-year initiative which funds English upskilling for employees of Ecodesarollo, Andaz, Four Seasons and the future Ritz-Carlton Reserve. Weekly instructional time targets English language skills development for current team members aspiring for additional tasks and responsibilities in their current role, immediate advancement, or future promotion.
With support from Mohari, the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort and Costa Rica's Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA) have joined forces to provide local aspiring hospitality professionals with hands-on culinary and service skills training through INA’s Dual Training program. Bridging the gap between industry and education, the purpose of the dual training programs is to provide students with the skills required by employers and those that enhance their personal and professional development, as well as integration into society. Having completed seven months of classroom learning with INA instructors, the 12 students are guided by 8 certified mentors at the hotel through an immersive and comprehensive 5-month practical learning experience across culinary and service roles. Students rotate through various areas to ensure a well-rounded experience. The structure allows students to interact with guests, hone their skills, and gain confidence in each aspect of hotel service, from preparation to presentation. Beyond the practical hands-on experience, students’ daily needs are supported to ensure they can focus on their training without financial worries. The program exemplifies new culinary and service education standards, emphasizing the value of practical, high-quality training for long-term success, ensuring the Guanacaste hospitality industry thrives with passionate, skilled, local professionals.
Ocean afforestation is one of the greatest opportunities to address climate change, protect ecosystems and support community development. At scale, it offers extraordinary potential to sequester carbon dioxide, provide habitat for marine life, reverse acidification and hypoxia, support tourism and fishing jobs, enhance coastal climate resilience and restore depleted fish stocks to the abundance we need to feed the world’s growing population. Mohari is funding a project to carry out an in-depth analysis of the seagrass presence at Peninsula Papagayo to assess the potential for seagrass restoration. It is hoped that the research will lead to the successful restoration and expansion of healthy seagrass meadows in the Culebra Bay.
In a second phase of work carried out in partnership with Creciendo Juntos, to raise English proficiency amongst the children in the communities in closest proximity to Peninsula Papagayo, Mohari provided financial support to create attractive and stimulating English reading corners in schools local to Peninsula Papagayo. Dedicated English classrooms at 13 primary schools, and mobile English reading corners at two primary schools without a dedicated English classroom, now feature bookshelves, furniture, posters and reading books to support English proficiency amongst the children in the local community.
Learning and playing chess has countless benefits for developing children’s cognitive development, as well as being an accessible extra-curricular activity that can improve the outcomes of children in areas that are economically disadvantaged. Mohari is funding a pilot programme to train, support and provide key resources to 40 teachers across 11 primary schools and 3 secondary schools in Guanacaste. Through this programme the non-profit Chess Without Borders will help to establish in-school chess schools and successfully engage and teach over 300 students the art of chess.
In 1996, due to budget cuts, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) closed the government run primary health clinic in the town of Corralillos in Costa Rica. This created a barrier for an extremely poor and isolated community to access healthcare, with the nearest public health clinic 15km away. Mohari provided financial support to Creciendo Juntos to replicate its successful community health clinic in the town of Comunidad, in Corralillo. The funds have been used to renovate the building and to cover its annual running costs, enabling the health clinic to open to the public 5 days a week throughout the year. The clinic serves Coralillos’ population of over 2,000 people and the over 1,500 inhabitants of the towns La Guinea and Bolsón.
In 2019, only one of the 21 schools in the communities surrounding Peninsula Papagayo had the internet available throughout its facilities, which restricted the learning experience teachers could provide for their students. The Connected Schools programme aims to bring comprehensive internet access to teaching and communal areas at primary and secondary schools in the area, as well as ensuring each classroom has a connected SMART TV. Mohari has funded the installation of this critical infrastructure in 16 primary schools, the construction of a 21m aerial tower to secure reliable internet in the village of Triunfo, and provides ongoing financial support for related infrastructure improvements, and the maintenance and replacement of equipment due to wear and tear.
A partnership was formed between Age of Learning in the USA, Creciendo Juntos (NGO) in Costa Rica and the Costa Rican Ministry of Education to collaboratively launch an educational pilot project in February 2018 to support English language learning amongst economically disadvantaged communities in Costa Rica. With funding from Mohari, Age of Learning’s® online learning platform ‘Bring Learning to All’ was introduced in 14 primary schools in the Guanacaste region (near to Papagayo). Mohari continued to fund the programme in the following years and donated hundreds of tablets and headsets. Through this ongoing work, Mohari has helped to raise English proficiency amongst the children in the communities in closest proximity to Peninsula Papagayo. In 2021, the Ministry of Public Education announced a national collaboration with the Age of Learning Foundation to provide free access to the online platform to all eligible public primary schools in Costa Rica.
