In recent weeks, pieces have been broadcast about the socio-educational center of the Augustinian Recollects in Costa Rica on the program Report 11 of Channel 11 of Repretel, on EWTN through a piece produced by Telefides Costa Rica and on the morning program “Get excited!” of Radio María.
Until next October 30, the 2025 admission process of the Boys’ Town, a socio-educational project of the Augustinian Recollects located in Agua Caliente de Cartago, in Costa Rica, is open.
During these days, the City tries to reach the furthest corners of the country so that potential new beneficiaries find this unique opportunity for their lives, knowing that in their environment they lack any other help and project aimed at their comprehensive training.
Thus, throughout the month of October, the Boys’ Town carries out an important information campaign with the aim of becoming known even in the most remote rural communities and among the population where the cycle of poverty is especially punishing.
Thus, the social agents of the project visit the most remote communities where there are already students of the Institution. Word of mouth and personal experience are the best letter of introduction, and they also check in situ the progress of their already students by visiting their communities of origin and meeting their families.
Another field of action is in Social Networks and public communication. And here the most watched media in the country do a great job, which launch the testimonies of life of those who have substantially improved thanks to the comprehensive education received in the Boys’ Town to encourage the new candidates.
In recent weeks, three important public media with a strong presence in Social Networks have broadcast pieces about the Boys’ Town. To do so, they have brought their cameras and microphones closer and have interviewed the current inhabitants of the City. We have put together their reports to make it easier for you to watch them:
On September 30, the program Report 11 on Repretel Channel 11, which is broadcast at nine o’clock at night from Monday to Sunday with the intention of making known the reality of the entire country, wanted to show the testimony of Milton Ortiz, a 14-year-old indigenous man from Chirripó who is a student at Boys’ Town.
On October 2, a team from Telefides Costa Rica, a Catholic radio station associated with the giant EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network), also broadcast a piece about life in Boys’ Town.
And on Thursday, October 10, it was Radio Maria Costa Rica that was present with the morning magazine Get excited!, presented and directed by journalist Wendy Arias. Radio Maria has also broadcast other interviews and pieces promoting the 2025 admission of Boys’ Town.
The testimonies are of great importance. Milton tells Report 11 how, after finishing his vacation with his family, to return to the Boys’ Town he has to get up at two in the morning and walk seven hours to get to the nearest bus stop, showing the distance and the general economic situation of his place of origin. What motivates him to make all this effort? Well, to fulfill his own dreams. For now he studies agriculture, but he also has in mind to study automotive mechanics.
The Telefides-EWTN report takes a look at the history of the Boys’ Town and the progress made until it became the Saint Augustine Technical School Boys’ Town, expanding the number of students, their origin, the educational offer and the time they spend in its facilities.
Several collaborators describe these changes, as well as several beneficiaries describe the internal changes they have experienced since they arrived. Once they adapted to the style of the Boys’ Town and embraced the educational proposal with enthusiasm, they all point out that they have learned, above all, to be good people, supportive, free of vices and with a conscious and positive life plan for the future.
This aspect is also of great importance in the Radio Maria programm. It focuses on the accompaniment of the beneficiaries, the management of life in the shelters and residences, the operation of the professional learning workshops, the labor and social insertion of the beneficiaries in their communities to be promoters of wealth and work and break the cycles of poverty…
The beneficiaries also talk about the enormous advantages they have in the Boys’ Town by receiving comprehensive care that includes aspects such as health, food, culture… The psychologist Noelia Solano, for example, talks about how it helps young people to understand, accept, respect and value themselves; or to overcome problems that are very typical of their age in our time, such as anxiety.
As one of the young beneficiaries says, it is important to trust young people and everything they have to contribute.
“The Boys’ Town became my home, that place where I spend every day, where I manage to share and learn something new every day: and it is super nice. Entering the Boys’ Town is one of my best decisions, the best way to develop myself.
