Gloria Huang is a mechanical engineer who has lived in Guttenberg for the last five years. A native of Hong Kong, Huang came to the United States about 12 years ago and settled in the Galaxy complex soon after.
About a year ago, Huang was interested to read about the Global Volunteers program, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based non-profit group that coordinates nearly 150 teams of volunteers annually to work on development projects all over the world.
Huang was particularly interested in a group that was headed to Costa Rica, where the focus was going to be on a women’s crafts cooperative, geared towards establishing a commercial area in the community of Santa Elena, located in the northwestern highlands near the famed Monteverde Cloud Forest.
“I had never been to Costa Rica and I heard it was a very beautiful country,” Huang said. “I thought it might be an interesting experience and a unique way to travel.”
So Huang joined 14 other Global Volunteer team members last month to go to Costa Rica for two weeks to lend a hand in a variety of projects.
During that time, the group worked on everything from embroidering crafts to construction, from putting together garden window boxes to painting and design.
It was a little different for Huang to do manual labor, but she encouraged the change of pace.
“I was painting walls and building stores,” said the 30-year-old Huang. “We were doing landscaping and construction. I didn’t mind the manual labor. It was totally different than what I am used to doing, but it was fine.”
Added Huang, “I knew it was going to be a challenge for me, because I didn’t know anyone who was going and I don’t speak Spanish. But I was able to work with the local people and we got along very well.”
The volunteers are required as part of the program to work hand-in-hand with the local residents, to get a sense of the community and experience a different perspective not found in the United States.
“It was totally different than what I expected,” said Huang, who works for Parsons Brinckerhoff, a construction firm in New York. “Parts of the community had people who were well dressed and well fed. But then, there were other parts that were not so fortunate. The people we worked with were so appreciative of anything we did. They were all very friendly people.”
Huang said that her accommodations were better than anticipated as well.
“They went way beyond what I thought we would have,” Huang said.
Huang said that the experience was uplifting.
“The weather in Costa Rica was very hot and humid,” Huang said. “It was during the so-called dry season, but it rained every day. One of the most amazing things was that we saw a rainbow every day. In the lowlands, it was very hot, but we were in the mountains, so it was humid, but cool.”
Added Huang, “Plus, it wasn’t all work. We had some time to do some sightseeing and explore the area. We went to a wildlife refuge and saw some really cool animals. I really enjoyed it.”
Before she made the journey, some of Huang’s friends thought she was crazy to spend her vacation helping the people of Costa Rica.
“But then, they got to see that I enjoyed the trip thoroughly,” Huang said. “Some other people thought the trip would be interesting and they were right. It was much better than what I expected.”
Huang was asked if she felt good about donating her time.
“I felt rewarded,” Huang said. “I think people want to reach out and help others, especially after what happened on Sept. 11. Just help out with the little things in life.”
Huang said that she planned to do the volunteer effort about a year ago, but the terrorist attack brought about uncertainty in traveling to foreign countries.
“It was worth the wait,” Huang said.