My friend Gabriel Segura and his family live in Playa Brasilito, Costa Rica. His wife Nancy is pregnant and their son Yahir is one and a half years old. They’ve been without an income since March 2020 when the pandemic shut down Costa Rica and Gabriel’s tour business. Let’s ensure that this good man won’t lose his business so he’ll be ready when the tourists start arriving again!
Last year, in happier times, Kent and I took a dream trip to beautiful Costa Rica. We were impressed by the young generation’s enthusiasm to invest in their education, especially in the tourism industry, eager to share the beauty of their country and improve their standard of living. Gabriel, owner of Gabriel’s Custom Tours, was the BEST driver and has a very comfortable van (which is necessary on the windy and often bumpy roads!) and he’s an excellent guide. We admired his friendly, entrepreneurial spirit as he described how he studied to become an accredited Naturalist Guide and invested in his business, even being able to hire other guides. He takes great pride in supporting his family and his business. In March 2020 Costa Rica's tourism industry crashed abruptly as the country closed it's borders to tourists as a result of COVID-19.
Gabriel has been looking for any kind of work, but no one is hiring. He’s planning to offer virtual tours and online Spanish conversation practice sessions. But this won't pay the big bills. He had to use credit cards to pay expenses but now every day he gets calls from the credit card companies and banks threatening legal action.
If we can raise $24,000 USD this will ensure 6 months of living expenses, payments on his tour van and other bills such as internet that he needs to keep his business going, and to pay off his credit cards.
I know there are millions of families struggling all over the world and it can seem overwhelming to know how to help. There’s a story about a child on a beach who found many stranded starfish washed in by a storm. Someone sees the child carrying starfish back to the water, one by one, and says to the child, “There are too many. You’re wasting your time, you can’t make a difference”. The child says, “I can make a difference for this one.”
Will you help this sweet family to stay afloat until he's able to work again? I selected Spotfund because they’re able to securely send funds to Costa Rica without large fees on either end of the transaction.
To anyone who donates, Gabriel is offering a 10% discount on his tour services once it’s safe to travel again. May Pura Vida be restored soon! Check out his website https://gabrielscustomtours.com
Here's Gabriel and his family and their tour van
