1. Catherine Schmidt ANTH 360 Spring 2010 Roads of the Maleku

2. Questions I asked the people

3. What the people said: “We need improvements” “The roads are bad.” “It’s hard to walk on the roads.” Desya Sophia

4. Observations

5. Walking It takes one hour to walk from the last village to the bus stop to get into town.

6. Bicycles Bicycles are the fastest and cheapest way to travel on the Maleku reservation.

7. Buses It costs $40 per month per child for transportation to and from high school. Buses come to take people to Guatuso or other places around the country.

8. Trucks

9. Horses Few people have horses because it costs a lot of money to keep them.

10. Cross the river…

11. On this bridge. The bridges are wooden. Trucks and buses have to cross a couple to get to the villages.

12. Flooding with little rain.

13. Drainage system.

14. Sidewalk community... Because most people do not have cars, many houses do not have or need direct road access. This is an area that is of good quality, with the sidewalks.

15. Or not. The only sidewalks were directly adjacent to the Methodist church. The rest of the community did not have sidewalks. Muddy pathway

16. How could better roads improve the quality of life for this community?

17. Secure bridges… Bridges that can safely support tour buses would encourage larger groups of tourists to come, boosting the economy of these villages.

18. Street/Drainage improvements… Sidewalks with underground drainage systems would clean the area from mud. Trees along the streets would shade the roads and sidewalks for more comfortable for pedestrians.