Los niños

 love children. I knew even before coming down here that I wanted to look for an opportunity to work with children, see the Costa Rican school system, or volunteering with children. I was able to combine this desire with my photography course. Our final projects were photo essays. A photo essay is a story told through a series of photographs. I decided to take my photographs of the children in an orphanage nearby the university. This is not an orphanage in the traditional sense of the word. The children are not up for adoption and they all have a least one living parent. The parents cannot financially provide for the children and this foundation La Fundatión Mi Tía Betel has given the children a place to live. I loved every second I spent with these children. They did not care if I misconjugated a verb or if my sentence was not in gender agreement. I was able to practice my Spanish, take photographs, and get down on the floor and play. It is really inspiring to see a child, who is not being raised in necessarily the best of environments, smiling, laughing, crying, playing, and just being a child.

Crowding around a phone

Playing with my lens cap

The bond between siblings

Siblings

I love the faces she makes

Finally looking at the camera

He swiped my sunglasses