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Gina Russo
Costa Rica Country Manager |
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"I look around our green mountain and see the fruits of the Global Volunteers'
When I was 10, my family left Pennsylvania for the south and we lived there until I graduated from high school in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1984. I deferred my college enrollment and moved to Venezuela for a year as an exchange student, under the auspices of the American Field Service (AFS). By the time I returned from Venezuela, I was able to speak Spanish fluently (all those years of junior and high school Spanish classes finally paid off!), with a new worldview and an understanding of what I wanted to pursue in my life and my life's work. I have one son, Colby, who is 8 years young and the most wonderful child and person in the whole world! Colby is about to begin third grade at the Monteverde Friends School, a bilingual Quaker school, located within walking distance of where we live. Colby and I have a lot of fun living in the mountains of Costa Rica. He likes to play with his friends, read books, play Chess, listen to music, draw, color and illustrate, fence, travel, walk and too many other things to mention.
A couple of days after completing my Master's degree, I began working on an organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm outside of Washington, D.C. I worked with the Chesapeake CSA for over five years until I left to become a full-time Mom. I loved working and living on the farm and hope to combine my international development and small-scale sustainable agriculture work experience in my personal and professional lives someday in the future. In January of 1998 I began working for Global Volunteers as Costa Rica's Country Manager, with Colby and my farm dog, Mina, in tow. I love, cherish and appreciate my work with Global Volunteers. I love working with the phenomenal volunteers who come to Costa Rica and with my Costa Rican friends. I feel great about helping to facilitate amazing experiences for lots of people, both those who live here and those who come for a short while! We are striving, in our small way and in our tiny corner of the world, to leave our world a better place. I look around our green mountain and see the fruits of the Global Volunteers' labor that has taken place over the last almost seven years and I breathe and smile deeply!
I also like to look out of my window and see the Gulf of Nicoya and the beautiful views of Costa Rica. Note: Gina was Global Volunteers' Staff Person of the Year in 2003 |
I was born in Altoona, Pennslvania on November 30, 1966. I have one sister who is four years younger than I, and who lives and goes to school in Seattle, Washington. My mother, a special education high school teacher, lives in Alexandria, Virginia, a couple of miles outside of Washington, D.C. My father passed away a couple of years ago and the rest of my small extended family lives on the east coast. We get together when we are able, both here and there.
I graduated from the American University in Washington, D.C. with a double major in Spanish/Latin American Area Studies and International Relations. I went to the Ohio University on a full scholarship to pursue my MA and was graduated in 1990, majoring in International Development.
Most of all I like spending time with Colby. I also enjoy having friends over to visit while consuming great food! I like to cook and bake, walk and hike, swim and snorkel, read books and mags, practice yoga, work out, and sit quietly at the Quaker Meetings.
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