My name is Edie McGowan, I am a 14 year old, year 9 student from Devon in the South West of England. I have been lucky enough to be offered a chance to visit Costa Rica after my GCSE’s in August 2024.

The beautiful and biodiverse remote rainforest of Costa Rica will become my home on this exciting expedition. We will work alongside conservationists to protect the natural environment and discover an array of colourful marine life. I will get back to nature and experience living in the heart of the rainforest, with monkeys and toucans. Working alongside local people, we will learn about innovative and sustainable solutions to environmental issues and get involved in inspiring projects to support the environment, wildlife and community.

To be able to go I need to fundraise the money. This website is my homepage for all the activities that I will doing to fund raise for this life changing experience. There are some really easy ways to help me reach my goal, including using easy fundraising, where I will get a percentage from sellers including Amazon, John Lewis, Just Eat and lots lots more. You can find out more details in the easy fundraising section of my website.

Camps International are award winning global leaders in ethical and sustainable school expeditions across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Each expedition provides a unique opportunity for students to live alongside local rural communities, broadening their perspective on the world and increasing their understanding of the day to day challenges these communities face, such as access to clean water, education and housing. We will work on a range of projects throughout the expedition, each aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and designed to make a significant and lasting impact on the region’s most critical issues.

One of the main purposes of the expedition, in addition to the positive impact each student will have upon the local community, is to enhance each student’s self-worth, confidence, independence and their appreciation of the impact one person can have on the world. I feel that my participation on the expedition would be hugely beneficial in giving me increased confidence in myself . This would be the greatest achievement of my life so far!