September & October 2018

Medical Mission to Indigenous Communities

A few days ago, we carried out a mission in several indigenous communities and for us it is a pleasure to share our journey with you.

To achieve this initiative, Dr. Martín contacted us and we began the organization of the mission.

What do we wanted? To provide medical care to different indigenous populations located in territories of difficult access such as, Jak Tain and Duchari, who are members of the Cabécar and Sixaola ethnic group of the Gnobe group.

In these places, the transport of medical equipment is complicated and we wanted to contribute to the cause.

How did we do it?

We gathered a group of volunteers and we moved to the areas. We took the resources on buses and approached them until the route allowed us. From there, we moved walking – in the case of Duchari’s educational center … even on horseback – to our destination. We chose two schools and an indigenous orientation center as strategic bases, which allowed easy access for people.

Once in place, we installed medical equipment and went to rest for the adventure that awaited us the next day. The day of medical care began at 7:00 a.m. and they spread throughout the day, in some centers until 8:00 p.m. In Sixaola it was extended to two days.

During the medical mission, we took blood pressure, measured anemia and, finally, we supplied medication, among them dewormers and multivitamins.

We also responded to an emergency. A 20-year-old patient had a wound in his arm, caused by a knife. He needed an hour and a half of medical intervention due to the significant loss of blood he presented and ten stitches for the wound.

Thanks to this visit, it was possible to attend 300 people, including adults and children, who received medical attention and medicines. In addition, we donated three piñatas with candies so that the children could have fun while they waited. It was a total success!

Commitment to the protection and conservation of Wildlife

Human beings are not the greatest or strongest creatures that inhabit the planet earth, but with certainty, we are the only ones that have the power to make significant changes. While some of these changes may be negative, we also have the power to make changes that seek protection and conservation of the different species that live with us, especially in our daily operations at the destination level.

Therefore, Swiss Travel is committed to comply with Law 7317 Wildlife Conservation.  It establishes and regulates the sustainable management, protection and proper management of wildlife. One way to show this is that all our suppliers that offer tours or activities that involve wild species, have all the permits established and granted by Minae. That is how we ensure that they are provided with adequate protection for these species.

Together against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of children and adolescents

Swiss Travel is committed to comply with Law 7899-8590 Against Sexual Exploitation of children and adolescents, for this, we kindly request your support to denounce any situation or act that you consider is threatening the innocence of minors. These are emails and telephone numbers where you can report any suspicion anonymously:

  • Confidential line: 800-8000-645. OIJ WhatsApp: 8800-0645
  • To request information or make any inquiries about the procedures to follow, you can contact the Paniamor Foundation: promocion@paniamor.org or 2234-2993 ext. 106
Plastic Lids Donation Campaign

We are happy to support initiatives that seek the continuous improvement of our country. That is why we are proudly participating in the Plastic Lids Donation Campaign. As the name says…It collects plastic lids (mainly from bottles). A special procedure will be applied to the collected caps to create plastic wood and with it to be able to make retractable walkways.

The structures will be placed in different Costa Rican beaches, in order to make them accessible for people with some physical limitation or who require a wheelchair to be able to move.

The main objective of this campaign is to make Costa Rica the first country with accessible beaches in Central America.

In order to promote this initiative, we placed trash cans, for this purpose, in each of our locations. So all our staff can deposit the plastic lids of the products they consume.

This way, we can all give plastic caps an efficient use and at the same time collaborate with the continuous development of our country.

Rational Use of Electric Power

We want to share with you tips to optimize the use of electric power, both in the office and at home:

  1. Turn on only the lights that are necessary, remember to turn them off after leaving the area where you required them.
  2. Keep a periodic cleaning control of the luminaires; this will improve the quality of the lighting and you will save energy.
  3. Remember to the last collaborators leaving the office, to turn off the lights. You can also tell to security colleagues not to leave lights on, only the strictly necessary for surveillance purposes.
  4. Take advantage of natural light through windows. If you plan to remodel the office, opt for colors that reflect the natural luminosity.
  5. Promote the use of efficient technology such as lamps, LED lighting or motion sensors.
  6. During the night, only the necessary security lights, both external and internal, should be kept on.

We assure you that, if you put these tips into practice, you will be able to increase savings and efficient use of electric power.