Help Elena Travel to Costa Rica!

Hi everyone!

My name is Elena Henderson and I am a rising senior at Vassar College. I am a Political Science Major and minoring in Education. I am also the President of the Black Student Union.

Since starting college, I have always complained about how disconnected my political science classes can be. We spend so much time focusing on the theoretical, which is important in its own right, but there isn’t enough focus and grounding in the real world.

I believe that the study of political science shouldn’t just exist in the four walls of a classroom - it should involve stepping foot into the environment and places that are affected by government policies and systems. It should involve actually seeing the impacts face to face, meeting the people who are affected by these policies, and overall experiencing the world around us.

This summer, I have the amazing opportunity to do just that. I was accepted into a study abroad program in Monteverde, Costa Rica. During this program, I will be studying and living amongst the mountains at the world-famous Monteverde Cloud Forest.

Deforestation had a tremendously negative impact on the Monteverde Cloud Forest in the 1980’s. But, it was political action by the Costa Rican government coupled with organizing and educational programs by environmental groups that restored the forest and implemented new conservation efforts.

As a result, Costa Rica is the first tropical nation in the world to stop and reverse deforestation.

In this month and a half long program, I want to see firsthand how government laws can act as a positive force to affect the well-being of the country, its environment, and the people. During the program, I will be hiking, surveying the land, plants, and animals, and learning about Costa Rican culture. And I look forward to speaking with the different peoples who live there and hearing their perspectives on life in Costa Rica.

I will be gaining real world, hands-on experience and knowledge that cannot be attained by simply reading about it in a textbook.

I am a low income student and I am unable to pay for this program.

I applied and was accepted into the study abroad program on March 31st.

On April 4th, I applied for a fellowship from my college that would grant a student $8,000 for studying abroad. Unfortunately, I was not accepted for the fellowship.

I did not receive the fellowship decision from my college until May 11th. As it stands, I have only 2 weeks to pay the cost of the program. The payment for the program is due on May 31st.

The total cost of the program is $4,200. I also need additional money to pay for my flight, necessities for the trip, and spending money for the month and a half that I will be in Costa Rica.

Having not been accepted for the fellowship, I thought that attending this program was hopeless, until someone gave me the idea to create a Gofundme.

Without your help, I will unfortunately miss out on this incredible educational opportunity.

Thank you to everyone reading this. And to those who donate, thank you very much! I greatly appreciate it!

Two weeks is not a lot of time to raise this amount of money, but I believe that with God, all things are possible!