Costa Rica leads in peace initiatives

I was recently fortunate to be in Costa Rica attending the Human Forum 2008: A Symphony of Transformation, a gathering sponsored by the Alliance for a New Humanity. One of the founders of this organization is Oscar Arias, 1987 Nobel Peace Prize winner and current President of Costa Rica. Fifty-nine years ago, Costa Rica declared peace on the world, abolishing its armed forces, and turning its barracks into classrooms for its children. Twenty years ago, Oscar Arias was at the center of the accord that helped all of Central America lay down its arms, earning him the Nobel Prize. Currently, President Arias, once again at the helm of his country has issued a powerful commitment to the future of Costa Rica; a Peace with Nature initiative. This initiative commits Costa Rica to become carbon neutral by the year 2021; to carry out an expanded program of tree planting that will make it the country with the most trees per square kilometer in the world; and to promote a curriculum of sustainable development and environmental education in its elementary and high schools.

The money freed from supporting armed forces has also been dedicated to the education of the youth of that country. At least ninety-three percent of the people can read and write, meaning that they can feel partner to events taking place in their country and throughout the world, and can make intelligent, educated decisions regarding responsibilities to their nation and to our Earth. All of this was described in a moving speech delivered on the opening night of the gathering on the grounds of the National Museum which had once been the Army headquarters

The most stunning result that I experienced from the emphasis on youth is from the money spent on youth musical education. The Costa Rica Youth Symphony played for our assembly, and I was really impressed by their confidence and professionalism. It seemed evident that a society is truly uplifted by choosing to support the arts in place of military capacity. That is a change that truly makes a difference.

Gayle Van Gils

Comments

 

RichardBlank said:

Outsourcing Costa Rica? It may be a wise move during a recession.

In today?s highly competitive outsourcing market, a closer proximity to the United States , Central Time Zone and  Spanish language capability as an added value are now considered almost basic requirements when making a decision on what call center to use for your important project.  Leaving this to chance is not even an option anymore.

Many of the offshore call center agents are bilingual in their native Middle Eastern or Asian language which is difficult to the North American ear. Whereas Spanish is more useful and practical as a second language for potential untapped markets throughout the North, Central and South American populations as well as those countries where Spanish is either a primary or secondary language. This aspect alone has made Costa Rica a very attractive ?near-shore? outsourcing solution. Most importantly, you can take advantage of the international tax laws granted to international companies that invest in Costa Rica and its local economy. The potential savings and benefits will make your outsourcing campaign a very wise business decision.

In addition, unlike other traditional call centers, Costa Rica?s Call Center stays focused on managing no more than a hundred person call center, one outsourced or inbound customer oriented campaign at a time in order to properly control quality, performance and positive employee morale. Once capacity is reached at one of our call centers, another location will be created with the same structure and business plan in order to keep our call center results and expectations consistently higher than that of the competition.

Call center software is as important to an outsourced campaign as telemarketing training. Both areas must be secure, reliable and willing to out perform the same competition that you are currently considering. Costa Rica has a very solid infrastructure ,stable democratic government, very competitive labor costs and a call center job pool that is especially attunded to the North American culture. Call center jobs are some of the top paying career opportunities in Costa Rica. This differs greatly from other countries that consider it as a starting position in a dead end company.  Turnover at these other locations are five to ten times more than in Costa Rica. The high demand for call center services has provided our company with an abundance of respectable resumes of qualified telemarketers that want to work with and for you.

We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America?s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb a volcano or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.

www.costaricascallcenter.com/why_costarica.html

August 20, 2008 1:22 PM

About gail

I am a poet, a mother, a dreamer and a corporate colleague. I am married to a teacher and have two inspiring children. I have degrees in English and commerce. I've taught economics and enterprise at high school, written textbooks, published poetry, written software documentation, managed money and people, and worked in various ways to advance the development and prospects of people and of technology products.