
Lázaro’s Success Story
- Posted by Intercultura Staff
- Date February 3, 2025
Lázaro Rocha is a folklorist, a musician, a carpenter, and Intercultura’s handyman, and has been with us almost from the very beginning of our Sámara School. Lázaro is many things to many people; you can read about him here through the eyes of his colleagues.
Spotlight on Lázaro
"Lázaro is a great colleague; he is a man full of music, poetry and stories. He never gets angry and he always tries to find a solution for everything. He has patience and his stories will take you to places you could not imagine. He makes lunchtime fun! My favourite story of his is when he had to battle it out with a raccoon who wanted to make off with the sugar. As Lázaro tells it, he had to run after the mapache as it escaped with the bounty! I enjoy his conversations, stories, taste and musical knowledge, which is as ample as a jukebox. Lázaro is very well loved.♥" Francinie, Receptionist & Student Services

From Nicaragua to Costa Rica: A Journey of Resilience, Craftsmanship, and Community
Lázaro in His Own Words:
My Early Years in Nicaragua
I was born in Nicaragua, in December 1964, in the home of a large family of very Catholic farmers. At five years old, I started living in the city of León where I started primary school, which I had to leave due to the political situation at the time.
The Journey Back to Education And A Life-Changing Opportunity in East Germany
Then I returned to continue primary school at 21 years of age! I made great efforts not to stop studying night high school, since I had a very possible goal: to become a mechanical engineer. But incredibly, things in the world took a very big turn, the Berlin Wall fell. And, I had already won a scholarship to study the degree I mentioned in a country very friendly to Sandinista, Marxist and revolutionary Nicaragua: East Germany. The pro-Soviet regime collapsed and with it, support for the other nations in the communist orbit.
From Cabinetmaker to Costa Rica
Scholarships were one of the most significant things for ordinary people like me in the late 80s. In 1987, I entered the National Technical Institute in the city of El Viejo and after three years I achieved a Cabinetmaker certificate. With this under my belt, I began to work in some workshops in León and Managua; consolidating myself as a cabinetmaker in practice, since the certificate indicated only one stage. As I already felt quite competent in the trade, I decided to start with a small workshop in my own home in the Venceremos neighborhood of León. This change was induced by my desire to complete my high school studies at night at the Salomón de la Selva Institute in the El Coyolar neighborhood of León. I never imagined that my job would take me to Costa Rica.
Finding a New Path in Guanacaste
It was a friend who worked in Nicoya, who sent me a message telling me that a Mr. Gamaliel was interested in starting the production and sale of fine furniture. And although I was not very interested in traveling there, I ended up doing it, because Gamaliel came to my house to look for me and ended up convincing me. That is how I arrived in Guanacaste, where popular culture, with its patron saint festivities, its bulls, music and typical dishes, keeps me from missing home, since it is a culture so similar to my own. Once in Nicoya I found out that Gamaliel did not have any workshop. The only thing he had was a forestry farm in Juan Díaz de Nicoya. But he had no idea about furniture production. When I explained everything to him about it, he saw that it was not a project that was within his reach and he chose to let me work in one of his hardware stores in Nicoya and later, in the hardware store he had in Colorado de Abangares in the canton of Las Juntas. His businesses began to decline until he went bankrupt, and a sister of his saved me from being out of work.
A Chance Encounter with Intercultura
It was Mrs. Luzmilda Paniagua, who at that time was the administrator of the Isla Chora hotel, who took me to this hotel in Sámara. And there I met a large part of the staff at Intercultura, the language school that was establishing itself in that town. I resigned from this job in mid-2004 and was contacted by Professor Victor Estevanovich, who, at that time, served as a teacher and coordinator of the Spanish classes at the Intercultura school, which taught part of the classes in the hotel area.
It was him who let me know about the construction of the new school building and about the possibility of a job opening for me there. And so it happened that in December 2004 I started working as a security guard, just on the day of the inauguration of this new location.
From Security Guard to Essential Team Member
Although I started as a guard at the school, over time I moved to maintenance, being useful and functional in whatever is needed. This has allowed me to continue practicing, from time to time, my old craft as a cabinetmaker. And on my guard nights, I practice old guitar chords, because at school there is an old guitar that survived the earthquake. I say this literally, since it is true that the guitar was damaged when it fell from the nail from which it was hanging. But given my experience as a cabinetmaker, I managed to repair it and it still sounds pretty good.
A Workplace That Feels Like Home
At school I have found the best environment to work, because there is always something to do. There are always new challenges that test my ability to solve practical day-to-day issues. There is also the opportunity to learn a new language, given the number of foreign students. The relationship with my classmates and school directors has always been respectful. Proof of this is that after 18 years of work, I have never been reprimanded for conduct or any other issues!
Looking Ahead with Gratitude and Hope
I really appreciate my work, and I hope that Intercultura always remains this way, strong and resilient in cases of difficulties, as has already been demonstrated through situations that it has emerged from successfully and that I myself have witnessed directly: The international financial crisis of 2008, the great earthquake in Nicoya and the Covid epidemic. I hope to have enough energy to keep contributing my little grain of sand each new day at the Intercultura School.
Lázaro Rocha.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
Throwback Moments to his early years with Intercultura




Carpenter, Folklorist, Maintenance, and Friend
What Intercultura staff says about Lázaro!
Claudia, Student Enrollment Coordinator
"Lázaro is patience and tranquility personified. His aura of tranquility surrounds him, and if you are ever stressed, after talking to him you will feel better and more relaxed. He never says no if you need something, and he does everything with love and dedication."
Marianela, Receptionist & Student Services
"Lázaro is cultivated and educated, and you can talk to him about many topics. He always has something
logical to say; I love talking to him and listening to him because he always teaches me something new."
Estefania, General Manager
"Lázaro is wise, a friend, fair, upstanding, loyal, a dreamer, creative, and helpful. He is like a golden gemstone that makes the school shine brighter."
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