Systematic Observations

As we near the end of our Costa Rican adventure, I have been reflecting on the things that I have gained and learned while here. Naturally I have gained far more than I could ever list, and I will likely continue to discover even more after we return to the United States. But in an effort to articulate something I have learned that I can take back to my professional life, I have given some serious thought to systems and institutions with which I have interacted while here – particularly from the perspective of an immigrant (albeit a short term one).

For those of you who don’t know, my work back home is coordinating a coalition of agencies and organizations in Rice County, MN with the goal of building community connectedness in order to improve health. This connection building often focuses on the systems in place to serve families and analyzing whether those systems could be improved to make connecting easier, friendlier, and more efficient.

So in my reflections on the systems and institutions with which I have interacted here in Costa Rica, I find myself continually feeling like there are major contradictions in place – and things that just don’t make sense to me. Take for example our experience today. Greg and I went to the school office to remind the Director that we will need documentation of the children’s school participation to give to our school back home. The secretary indicated that in order to make the document as official and formal as possible, we should go to the regional office of the Civil Registry and purchase “Timbres de Educacion” (stamps from the Ministry of Education) that will be affixed to the documents, then signed, sealed and delivered back to us. So we went in to Turrialba and found the regional office of the Civil Registry. But we didn’t go inside. Why? Because the stamps were being sold by a little old man sitting on the sidewalk outside the office. Literally, we bought the official stamps on the street. AND, this same man (presumably representing the Ministry of Education) could not figure out the total cost for buying three sets of stamps, nor could he make change for me. (We helped him with the math and it all worked out in the end, but come on!!)

To me, this incident was both hilarious and utterly depressing. Really? We are making our children’s school documents more official by affixing stamps we bought from some guy on the street? It just seems so ridiculous.

And that, my friends, is where my reflection led me. If that one incident seems so nonsensical to me, what are the systems and practices we have in place back in the States that are viewed as unnecessary, unreasonable, or just plain ridiculous by the individuals and families we serve? I am a self-proclaimed tax and spend liberal, but I can’t stand inefficiencies. So where are the processes that are needless or wasteful? How can we look at our own systems through a different lens to see things from a new perspective?

I am happy that I still have a couple weeks to enjoy, observe and reflect. But come July, I’ll be more than ready to roll up my sleeves and get back to work.