YachtAid Global is best known for mobilizing superyachts to deliver disaster relief and help with recovery. However, it is steadily increasing humanitarian aid and conservation efforts, too. YachtAid Global’s Operation Jade is a good example of how it’s enabling the yachting community to make a long-lasting difference in a local community. Its team and several yacht crewmembers built a classroom in Costa Rica earlier this year, as part of ongoing efforts to make a difference.
Operation Jade, one of several initiatives around the world, focuses on Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Each Operation brings together several courses of action. The team determines what the most urgent needs are after establishing relationships with local residents. For instance, some regions need maintainable clean drinking water. Others, meanwhile, need better building infrastructure and ways to support education. In Costa Rica and Nicaragua, YachtAid Global learned that schools particularly are in need of repair. In some cases, entirely new school-related buildings are strong needs.
Working with local contractors and superyacht crews who volunteered, YachtAid Global’s Operation Jade started construction on an entire new school in Costa Rica. In fact, they completed one full classroom, from the foundation to the painted interior. Additionally, they cemented posts in place for the rest of the school. They further leveled, assembled, and sealed pre-fabricated wall panels for the remainder of the building. Finally, the yacht crewmembers visited other schools in the region to spend time with the kids and distribute school supplies.
Though the crews had finite time available, YachtAid Global’s own staff and coalition partners continued construction. They ultimately built six classrooms and bathrooms for one school and finished bathrooms for yet another school.
All funding for the building materials and school supplies as well as local labor resulted from donations to Operation Jade.
While Operation Jade is ongoing and taking donations, YachtAid Global is simultaneously making environmental improvements in Costa Rica. Through its Blue Carbon Initiative, it’s planting mangrove trees in the Osa Peninsula. Mangroves act as natural barriers against storm surges and rising tides. Furthermore, they naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), mangroves and coastal wetlands annually absorb carbon 10 times more than mature tropical forests. They also store three to five times more of it per equivalent area than tropical forests. The Osa Peninsula is YachtAid Global’s focus because it’s home to half of the countries half a million species.
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