Sarah Fagerman
Sometime in the future there will probably be mama sea turtle basking on a sunlit Costa Rican white sand beach with her babies gathered around her in their little pink and blue sunbonnets; she will be sipping a non-alcoholic margarita, a pretty yellow umbrella will be shading them all and she will be telling her attentive youngsters that they are alive because of the efforts of a young volunteer who came from Grand Marais, Minnesota.
Okay, so maybe the mama turtle will leave out the part about Sarah Fagerman coming from Grand Marais, but no doubt the baby turtles will be thankful for her assistance.
After completing two years of college at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, Fagerman said she needed a break from school.
“I still haven’t declared a major yet,” she said. “I finished my two years of generals but I was feeling burnt out and I needed a change before resuming my pursuit of a college degree.
“At first I thought about volunteering to work in an orphanage because I love children. But then I thought about it and realized that I work with children all summer long and maybe it would be time to try something different.
“I always wanted to travel, but not travel alone. I began researching online until I found A Broader View, a nonprofit charity located in the USA.”
After combing the site for a project, she found the perfect fit.
“I have loved turtles all of my life. I had a pet turtle, a Christmas gift from Bekah Laky. He was a red-eared slider, a type of turtle found locally. I named him Beans.”
Beans is now in turtle heaven, but Fagerman’s love of turtles didn’t diminish with his passing.
“The projects are arranged for volunteers to live with, and work sideby side with local people in a range of fields,” said Fagerman.
“They offer travelers the opportunity to explore a new country while taking part in meaningful, rewarding service work. Through ABV, I will participate on the sea turtle preservation including the monitoring and registering nesting patterns, record keeping of eggs, moving eggs to the hatchery, beach patrols, and freeing and assisting the newborns to the ocean,” said Fagerman.
Costa Rica is a sea turtle mecca. It is home to the green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Olive Ridley sea turtle, Hawsbill sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, and Pacific green sea turtle.
Sea turtles lay between 70-190 eggs. It can take the hatchlings as much as one week to dig out of the sand and race to the sea. It’s during that run that most of them are taken by birds and other animals waiting for the hatch. Fagerman and others will help escort them to the sea where they will encounter other dangers, but at least they have a better chance of survival from that point on.
Another of Fagerman’s duties will be to keep people from stealing turtle eggs. She will also spend time cleaning trash and refuse from the beaches and monitoring the turtle nests to make sure they are safe.
“I will leave September 21 and return November 4. I will be working six eight-hour days of the week. This won’t be a vacation,” she said.
To help raise funds to pay for the trip Fagerman has set up a site on GOFundMe.com/aybisw.
“I am leaving for Costa Rica in two months. Financially, I will need to pay for flights, local transportation, the host family, meals, travelers insurance, vacation and any other necessary items I will need prior to my trip as well as throughout my stay in Costa Rica. Any and all contributions will be a huge help and are greatly appreciated,” said Fagerman.
And greatly appreciated too, by the turtles.
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