Yet, the other face shows a broken economy, leading to crime and violence.

He explains how Golfito is a warm, beautiful place with kind, hardworking people. Like many of the other students, he is taking the class to learn English for better job opportunities. Villalta has been a part of the English-language program offered through the Shannon L. In her name, students who studied abroad with Shannon, her family and the Golfito community have set up a foundation to help the local community. Abraham Vallecillo, the professor, smiles as they enter, welcoming each student by name.Įighteen years ago, the port town of Golfito made international headlines after 23-year Kansas University student Shannon Lucille Martin was murdered here. Some are wearing school uniforms, while others dress in their work button-downs. His classmates, women and men aged 17 to 64, shuffle into their desks, set up in a circle. He is currently unemployed after a work accident that broke his ankle and femur, leaving him with new pieces of metal in his body, out of work and unable to hike, his favorite pastime. The broad-shouldered, brown-eyed Golfito native has a soft smile.

The 41-year-old English student sits on the far left of an elementary school music classroom as he waits for his 6 p.m. GOLFITO - Reinier Aguilar Villalta never misses class.

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