At the top of the agenda for the 2010 volunteer season is rebuilding the Arco Iris house (The Rainbow House), at the Bible Home. Currently 83 children live at the Bible Home in foster care under the supervision of house parents. The mission of the Bible Home is to house children from the most difficult home situations, providing them with treatment, love and schooling. The Arco Iris house is one of the 9 homes for the children living in temporary shelter at the Bible Home.

Many of the houses at the Bible Home are very old and one-by-one they are being rebuilt. The Arco Iris house is 40 years old and no longer meets the standards of Costa Rican law. Moreover, the home has problems such as poor ventilation and lighting, humidity damage, rotting of the structure, and a poor floor plan for the needs of the family.

The plan is to rebuild Arco Iris from the foundation up, using a more open floor plan that will provide ventilation and space for the 16 people living in the house. The new house will be handicapped-accessible, and will be larger, allowing the children to each have their own bed and closet. Additionally, the plans include more bathroom facilities and a better arrangement of rooms in order to provide better supervision of the children. We are thankful for the volunteers who will help bring down the cost of this project through their work. It is expected that some of the materials in the current home will be recycled, saving money as well.

Work is scheduled to begin February 2010 when our first volunteers arrive. The cost is projected to be $160,000. Some of these funds will be raised by our volunteer groups as they prepare to come this year. If you’d like to help fund this project, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .