Aloy and Edu are two young brothers from Costa Rica who reached out to ask if we could help them get postcards to Ukraine’s front line Defenders.
Sending mail around the planet is not easy for them. Costa Rica has suspended mail service to many countries. Including Ukraine.
Their interest in postcards started accidentally a few years ago when Aloy’s grandfather helped him research about kangaroos on the Internet. They discovered some information about sending postcards, and his grandfather suggested, “perhaps someday someone will send a kangaroo card, and guess what … Now we have more than 300 kangaroo cards, many souvenirs, a t-shirt.”
They try their best at school and like to watch old TV shows, such as “Lost in Space” and “Skippy the Bush Kangaroo” (a box DVD set was sent to them by a pen friend in Australia). And, they are Postcrossers. They love to send and collect postcards.
Edu, the younger, likes science, but is not confident with languages. Postcarding gives him a chance to practice writing in English. He has pen friends in India and Romania, and is interested in learning both languages.
It’s not easy for these two lads to get stamps or postcards. Sometimes, they have to wait until their family makes a trip to the capital, San José. But they persist! And persuade.
Once, when buying postcards to send to Ukraine’s Defenders, the guy at the shop actually just gave the cards to them. “No charge … for a good cause!“
Since joining Postcrossing more than five years ago, postcards have given Aloy and Edu the opportunity “to learn about all the countries of the world … to read about rare animals, traditions, food, people’s hobbies.” As they are introduced to new ideas and places, Aloy has expanded his interests to learn about UNESCO sites that he calls “wonderful treasures in the world. There are only four UNESCO sites in Costa Rica.”
When asked why they decided to write postcards to Ukraine’s front line Defenders, Aloy and Edu agree that they want to join the many others around the world who want to help Ukraine.
“It makes us believe there is faith in mankind. A war in our time, no way. We like to send mail to all good projects.”
In other words, they are concerned about the war, and want to do something “good”. Like write messages of support to Ukraine’s Defenders.
Aloy emphasized that when they first saw the news of Russia’s invasion, “it was HARD to believe … and our country is very small, our Government can’t help Ukraine. We only have faith for the end of any war. We don’t understand why a country with many resources want[s] to invade another country. Watching guns: all are terrible, awful.”
Edu added, “War is very ugly. I can’t imagine how kids must stay in bunkers or closed places to study or to play. I pray that they can play outside with all the family. They need education.”
It’s a delight to receive a batch of postcards from Aloy and Edu. They feature stunning colourful tropical flora, fauna and Costa Rica landscapes. Some read as a love letter to nature. All express gratitude for Defenders doing “a great job”. They are also decorated with fun child-centred colourful stickers.
The boys also like humour, so employ it. They feel that Ukraine’s Defenders “don’t want to read about war, [so] we write some funny things that happened to us. We write just positive things.”
They imagine a Defender receiving a card from them, and thinking, ‘I would like to visit Costa Rica some day’. And they hope that “their families will be happy to know that our world is worried about people in the front. In our country there is no army, so just thinking about the word WAR is like saying a bad word.”
When we began to encourage our postcard warriors to write some phrases in Ukrainian, Aloy and Edu took up the challenge instantly, and with a practical attitude. “We just write small sentences.”
Both Edu and Aloy like to learn phrases in different languages in order to help tourists who visit Costa Rica. Now, they hope to one day meet Ukrainian tourists that they can speak with.
After watching a Polish language movie, they decided they liked the language, and that “we need to watch a Ukrainian movie or documentary film to listen,” to how the language should sound. Not just to see it on paper.
Aloy explained that his greatest wish right now is for peace on this earth, and “no more viruses”. Both boys lost a lot of time from school through the COVID pandemic, which was an unpleasant setback for them. Still, they are fluent in reading, writing and responding to our questions – in English!
Since reaching out to us a three years ago, Aloy and Edu have sent over 100 postcards to Ukraine’s front line Defenders.
And if you need any more reason to write messages of support to Ukraine’s Defenders, young Aloy and Edu remind us: “most of us are at home, safe, happy, with no worries … about war. Sending a lovely message to someone who is doing dangerous work is to admire. We respect them so much.”
Tell others about this project. Ask family and friends to write cards. Involve your children and grandchildren. Defenders especially value postcards with drawings from children.
Need cards? Write to us at postcardstothefront.canada@gmail.com. FREE!
Not sure how to get started? Check our “How to” page, and our Ukrainian phrases page. Want to organize a group of family, friends or others to write postcards? We have a page with suggestions about How to Run a Postcard-Writing Workshop.
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