2007 Calendar

As a happy and blessed expat living in Costa Rica for close to nine years, I have always believed that International Citizens living in a foreign country have a civic responsibility to give back to their “Home Away from Home”.  Nothing worse than the image of the ‘Ugly Gringo” living cheaper in paradise than they could at home and feeling no obligation whatsoever  to do anything for their host community, other than contribute to the economy  by asking for “Otra Cerveza Por Favor”.

Therefore it was pretty easy to say “yes” when a year ago, I was asked to “Get Naked and Literally Drop Everything” to embrace SASY!  (Stop Animal Suffering Yes) in Costa Rica and convince my fellow expat amigas to do the same.  Modelled after the original Calendar Girls project, which has raised funds for Cancer Research in England and the popular film, which told their empowering story of female volunteerism, the wild and SASY Calendar Girls of  Costa Rica was born over what else?  Lunch with the Girls.  We had afterall been asked for help by 4 legged friends who desperately needed an advocate.  There are numerous community needs hidden beneath Costa Rica’s tropical oasis and as you might imagine, help for much needed shelters, spaying and neutering clinics in low income barrios and reporting and prevention of animal abuse isn’t always a top priority.

So we gathered up a collection of international women who brought their talents, their beauty, their love for animals and Costa Rica and their SASY Ways to create the 2007 Wild and SASY Calendar Girls.

There were guidelines:  “Breathtaking, Award Worthy Goddess-Like photography, women who would not only tastefully bare all but commit to the project’s success by sharing their creativity and special talents.  Yes, among the girls you’ll find a former marine - now a jazz singer who also donated a concert to SASY;  photographers, event specialist, A computer programmer who handles on-line calendar sales and yours truly, a professional speaker, writer and specialist in non-profit fundraising and volunteerism.

If you’re reading this article you might be dreaming of  living or volunteering abroad or you might already be there.  If so, I ask you to consider volunteering and giving back in some small way to your chosen international community.  No, you don’t need to take your clothes off,  but maybe dare to step outside of your comfort zone -  out of  your gated community of safe and secure expat living and give back in some small way.  I think you’ll find the personal reward and cultural enrichment immense.

I would frankly be thrilled if countries added to their residency requirements a commitment to provide either financial or volunteer support to their host community.  What a concept! 

Finally, if this article touched you in some way or if you believe in the words of Mahatma Gandhi that “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated …  That  the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man”  then please visit the SASY Web-site and order your 2007 Wild and SASY Calendar .    On our web-site, you can meet the girls, and even get a sneak peak of the calendar. 

Until then, be well, be bold, be caring and be a citizen of the world.
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