Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, July 22, 2005
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President Visits Damaged Hospital,
Optimistic About Reconstruction
President Abel Pacheco visited Hospital Calderón Guardia yesterday to honor the 19 victims who died in a July 12 fire at the hospital, and to check up on the efforts to return the hospital to normal.
(Click for more)
“High-Tech” Youth Will
Meet in Costa Rica
A group of students with innate technological abilities will meet in Costa Rica next August for the first Power Users of Information and Communication Technologies International Symposium.
(Click for more)
Southern Zone Farms
Lack Coffee Collectors
Coffee growers in the Southern Zone are worried about a shortage of coffee pickers to harvest their crops in September, October and November, the Ministry of Agriculture announced this week.
(Click for more)
Government Offices
Closed Monday
All government offices and many private businesses will close Monday, July 25 for Guanacaste Day, a national holiday to celebrate the annexation of the northwestern province of Guanacaste – formerly part of Nicaragua – to Costa Rica
(Click for more)
July 22
Guanacaste Day Fiesta
Expoliberia 2005: July 22, Horse Exhibit, 8 a.m.; Talk about meat, 10 a.m.; Kids show by Vaca Lula (Dos Pinos Milk Factory Pet), 4 p.m.; bullfights, 6 p.m.; Fantasy Night, 7 p.m. (Rancho San Miguel). July 23, Cattle exhibit, 8 a.m.; Horse judging, 8 a.m.; Concert, 3 p.m. July 24, Dog exhibit, 9 a.m.; Cattle exhibit; Horse parade, noon; Concert, 3 p.m.; Bullfights, 6 p.m. July 25, Horse judging, 11 a.m.; Champion parade, 3 p.m.; Bullfights, 4 p.m.; Concert by the Guanacaste National Band, 5 p.m., Campo Ferial El Capulín, Liberia, 666-2469, 666-5505.
Festival de Guanacastequidad (Guanacaste-ness): Festival exploring the traditions, idiosyncrasies and culture of Guanacaste. Music, dance, folklore, plays, July 22, 8 a.m., Tilarán Central Park.
Festival Folklórico-Cultural Liberia 2005: Parades, art shows, concerts, crafts, July 22-25, 7 p.m., Liberia Park, 665-2996. Celebration of the Annexation of Guanacaste to Costa Rica : Presidential visit, dances, cultural festival, July 25, Nicoya Park.
Under Guanacaste's Shadow: Opening Ceremony, 10 a.m.; Book and document exhibit of the Literary Guanacaste Center, 10:30 a.m.; Craft, food, and music sales throughout the day; Marimba Recital, 2 p.m.; Guanacaste Narrations, and presentation of the book “Estampas de la Pampa,” written by Ramíro Arauz Aguilar, 3 p.m., Torres del Colegio de Costa Rica (CENAC); Presentation of songs, bombas, retahílas, etc., 4-8 p.m., July 20, at CENAC, Ca. 11/15, Av. 3/7. Info: 226-6697, 275-1775.
International Bowling Tournament
All categories, with competitors from the United States, Puerto Rico, Aruba, Guatemala and Costa Rica, finals, July 22-23, Boliche Dent, Barrio Dent. Info: 253-5745.
Track and Field Competitions
All categories, July 23, 8 a.m., National Stadium, west Sabana Park. Info: 233-6560, 295-2428, lperaza@ccss.sa.cr
Edited By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
President Visits Damaged Hospital,
Optimistic About Reconstruction
By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff
lbaxter@ticotimes.net
President Abel Pacheco visited Hospital Calderón Guardia yesterday to honor the 19 victims who died in a July 12 fire at the hospital, and to check up on the efforts to return the hospital to normal.
After pausing to be photographed with a flower wreath displayed at the northern entrance of the hospital, not far from where the fire gutted the fourth and fifth floors of the oldest part of the building, the President met with medical staff for a briefing on the process of attending to the many patients whose services were affected by the fire.
Pacheco then visited patients on the second floor of the Emergency Tower, which has become the maternity and gynecology ward, and toured of the fourth floor of the tower, which is being considered as an option for housing more patients while the hospital is rebuilt.
“It had a big impact on me, and was very painful,” said the President. “However, when I see the heroism of the staff, their great ability to organize and how they have responded and attended to the patients…I believe more in Costa Rica, more in the staff and the doctors of this hospital.”
During a press conference following the brief tour, Vice-President Lineth Saborío said she is working with the National Emergency Commission, the Finance Ministry and other institutions to gather government funds for the reconstruction efforts, which she hesitantly approximated at $15 million. That figure could change depending on many factors, including the costs of new equipment, demolishing the part of the hospital that burned, and construction.
“High-Tech” Youth Will
Meet in Costa Rica
A group of students with innate technological abilities will meet in Costa Rica next August for the first Power Users of Information and Communication Technologies International Symposium.
Sixty young people between the ages of 12 and 18 from Australia, the United States and various countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America will meet for the symposium, which will take place in San José from August 8-10.
According to a statement from the Universidad Nacional (UNA), a co-organizer of the event, the conference targets technology-savvy young people known as “power users” or “high-tech youth.”
“When a new technology reaches their hands, they (the high-tech youth) are using it before adults have finished reading the instructions,” the statement said.
The Education Development Center in the United States, the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships and UNA's International Center for Economic Politics are collaborating in organizing the event.
Its objective is to “promote a space for these young people to exchange knowledge and skills in the use of modern technology, but moreover, to reflect on how their abilities could be of use to reach the United Nations development goals for the millennium,” according to the UNA statement.
“This is a unique opportunity for exchange among talented youth, who have incorporated the use of modern technology into their daily lives from an early age,” said Joyce Malyn-Smith, from the Education Development Center.
The symposium will take place in a San José hotel and will include the participation of researchers interested in this new generation of high-tech youth, said the statement.
-ACAN-EFE
Southern Zone Farms
Lack Coffee Collectors
Coffee growers in the Southern Zone are worried about a shortage of coffee pickers to harvest their crops in September, October and November, the Ministry of Agriculture announced this week.
The high production of pineapple in the region is using up much of the local labor, coffee producers say. Lack of sufficient labor during the sugarcane-cutting season this year also prompted concern among the coffee producers.
An estimated 420,000 fanegas will require harvesting in the Southern Zone this season. A fanega equals approximately 20 baskets of the traditional coffee-collection size – or 46 kilograms of coffee after processing, according to the ministry.
Three people are needed to harvest one hectare, according to estimates. Pickers are paid ¢10,000 ($21) per fanega.
Most coffee pickers in Costa Rica are foreigners, particularly Nicaraguans.
Government Offices
Closed Monday
All government offices and many private businesses will close Monday, July 25 for Guanacaste Day, a national holiday to celebrate the annexation of the northwestern province of Guanacaste – formerly part of Nicaragua – to Costa Rica
See today's print or pdf edition of The Tico Times “Weekend” section for more information on Guanacaste Day.
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