The local organization “Jardìn de Epífitas” is working on the creation of a botanical garden, at the San Cristóbal Hill. The aim is to promote a environmental culture through the organization of workshops in the city, where examples of sustainable development such as: recycling, production of clean energy, responsible use of natural resources,etc, are shown.

This organization is also promoting the reproduction of local species in order to include local flora in reforestation, conservation and restoration projects in the urban and suburban areas of the city.

Volunteers will participate on different tasks:
•Rescue of various vegetable plants.
•Care, cultivation and exhibition of the recovered plants for educational purposes.
•Training on vegetable growing and educative projects.
•Development of artistic activities in the garden.
•Research projects on sustainable development.
•Work on the creation of the Botanical Garden at the San Cristobal Hill.

Volunteers will stay at a house in San Cristobal, sharing a room with up to 4 volunteers.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

3 months minimum

Basic level of Spanish to communicate with staff and locals.

At any time.

1500 Mexican pesos per month. Meals are not included.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.

San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.

Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.

The COTZALSELCH cooperative is a sustainable project for the Tzajalà, village. With its traditional jewelery workshops, experimental agro-ecological farm (horticulture, coffee, medicinal plants, compost, etc) the cooperative develops sustainable development projects sustainable with nature.

Volunteers will participate on agriculture activities, such as preparing the land for harvesting. They will also do construction tasks and will restore various cabins a the Ha O Mek Ka center.

Volunteers will have an opportunity to learn how to make jams, work with traditional and local crafts, textiles, produce honey and use regional medicinal plants. Occasionally, volunteers will support diverse workshops for some local women.

Volunteers will stay at the center facilities, in a shared space. Volunteers will stay in shared cabins at the Ha O Mek Ka center.

Tzajalá, is located on the municipality of Ocosingo, an hour away from San Cristóbal de las Casas.

From 2 month up to 1 year.

Interest on environmental issues. 3 international workcamps will take place during the year. Meals are prepared at the center and volunteers are welcome to help.
Number of volunteers. 5 volunteers.

At any time.

2500 Mexican pesos per month. Fee includes lodging and meals.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

IV. ACCOMMODATION &FOOD:
•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.
San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.

Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.

The local organization “Jardìn de Epífitas” is working on the creation of a botanical garden, at the San Cristóbal Hill. The aim is to promote a environmental culture through the organization of workshops in the city, where examples of sustainable development such as: recycling, production of clean energy, responsible use of natural resources,etc, are shown.

This organization is also promoting the reproduction of local species in order to include local flora in reforestation, conservation and restoration projects in the urban and suburban areas of the city.

Volunteers will participate on different tasks;-

•Rescue of various vegetable plants.
•Care, cultivation and exhibition of the recovered plants for educational purposes.
•Training on vegetable growing and educative projects.
•Development of artistic activities in the garden.
•Research projects on sustainable development.
•Work on the creation of the Botanical Garden at the San Cristobal Hill.

Volunteers will stay at a house in San Cristobal, sharing a room with up to 4 volunteers.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

3 months minimum

Basic level of Spanish to communicate with staff and locals.
Number of volunteers. 3 volunteers.

At any time.

1500 Mexican pesos per month. Meals are not included.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

IV. ACCOMMODATION &FOOD:
•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.
San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.
Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.

Tsomanotik is an educative agro-ecological center for sustainable development that works in two areas; an inter cultural project with youngsters from different places and projects that contribute to the local communities' development.

Tsomanotik allows participants to see different realities leading to reflection and motivation to take solidary local and global actions.

The vision of this association is to awaken a solidary of consciousness in the youth, so that from being aware of the causes of injustice and poverty, they can act for a more fair world, and accompany marginalized groups from Chiapas on their development process.

5 farmers, 1 engineer, 1 coordinator and 1 promoter. The center hosts groups and families willing visit it and they propose workshops on agro-ecological techniques.

The association also works in 2 schools at the village of Tzimol, and with youngsters aged 12 to 18, in matters of environmental culture. It also participates with an orphanage in Comitán, allowing the children to experience new educational and recreational activities.

Volunteers will take care and maintain the agricultural areas: gardens, vegetables, organic compost, mushrooms. They will also take care of the animals: rabbits and chicken, help with the maintenance of the center (cleaning dry latrines, recycling of waste, etc). They will collaborate with the design and creation of the demonstration area and with environmental awareness raising activities with the local population.

Volunteers stay at the Tsomanotik center, in a shared room.

Tzimol community is located 10 minutes away from the city of Comitán, Chiapas

From 3 months to 1 year.

A good level of Spanish. 20+ yrs old.

Number of volunteers. 2 volunteers.

At any time.

2900 Mexican pesos per month. Meals are included.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

IV. ACCOMMODATION &FOOD:
•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.
San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.

Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.

Alianza Cívica Chiapas is a non-governmental organization formed in 1994 by the initiative of a group of citizens and other civic organizations interested in active participation in the construction of a collective consciousness of participation through civic education, civic activities and actions that promote citizen participation in public affairs. Their aim was to enable the full respect of human rights in its various aspects (Civil Rights, Political, Economic, Social, Cultural, Environmental).

•Promoting the reading habit in 400 children from a district La Garita in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, through the installation of a mobile library, which allows the formation of cultural identity, to promote Human Rights and children's rights, as well as the values for healthy community living.
•Generate meeting spaces that encourage youth organization to express concerns, to express their creative ideas, active participation, dissemination and exchange of proposals and projects for the recognition of this sector, the creation of public and youth policies and building a better society.

Volunteers will stay at a house in San Cristobal, sharing a room with up to 4 volunteers.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.

3 months minimum.

Basic level of Spanish to communicate with staff and locals and a lot of self-initiative.

Number of volunteers. 3 volunteers.

At any time.

1500 Mexican pesos per month. Meals are not included.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

IV. ACCOMMODATION &FOOD:
•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.
San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.

Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.

The cultural center Talentos y Vida A.C (Talents and Life) was founded on October 2007, to open a space for the community and offer a cultural alternative for the people of Yecapixtla. The aim was to promote an integral development for all people, focusing on children and youngsters, through workshops, conferences, cinema, field trips, promotion of cultural heritage and environment. The center works on 5 basic dimensions of human development; Physical, psychological, cognitive, artistic and spiritual.

Talentos y Vida’s aim is to encourage the local and universal cultural development, starting from the basic training, moving through different artistic expressions until the transcendental dimension and achieving a personal integral development for the local community.

The association organizes and participates on cultural festivals and workshops during the year: ecological festival (March), childhood day (April), Mother’s day (May), Father’s day (June), summer camps (July), independence day celebrations (September), local fair (October), day of the death (November), festival to promote the Yecapixtla ex-convent a cultural world heritage site (December).
Hosting from 150 to 300 people that participate in each event.
The activities are co-organized between the locals, the city hall and the church, working for all those actions that favor the cultural growth at the community.

Volunteers will stay at the cultural center in a shared space.

Yecapixtla, is located 20 minutes from Cuautla, Morelos.

From 3 months to 1 year.

Basic level of Spanish and a great sense of initiative.

Number of volunteers. 2 volunteers.

At any time.

1500 Mexican pesos per month. Meals are not included.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

IV. ACCOMMODATION &FOOD:
•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.

San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.

Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.

Jaguar de Madera (wooden jaguar) is a reference center on Eco-technologies, it was created in 2008, as a response to a series of processes of bio-construction, where some of its members participated. Since 2009, thanks to the collaboration of various organizations, Jaguar de Madera has been functioning as a training center. The mission is to teach and promote the use of adequate technologies, as an alternative to the conventional models that affect the quality of life of the population from the Usumasinta-Grijalva river.

• At the moment, the center is working on different proposals and workshops on: sustainable construction;
•environmental education;
•bike-machines (bike-blender, bike-washing machines, etc);
•vegetable growing;
•integral farming;
•bio-fertilizers;
•water caption systems;
•dry latrines;
•digestors for water treatment and carpentry;

These activities take place in and outside the center.

•Help with the maintenance of the workshop and agro-ecological practices areas.
•Collaborate with the design and creation of the demonstrative area.
•Help with the farm and compost area.
•Continue with the construction of gardens, greenhouses and ecological paths in the center.
•Help during the implementation process of adequate technologies that will be structured during the first weeks.
•Search and contact local producers and co-operatives that need the products from the center (organic fertilizers, compost, animals, vegetables, mushrooms, etc.)
•Construction of demonstrative houses at the center and in various communities in the surrounding areas of San Cristobal de las Casas.
•An awareness raising campaign on the use of sustainable practices will be taking place permanently.

Volunteers will stay at a house in San Cristòbal de las Casas, sharing a room with up to 4 volunteers.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.

From 3 months to 1 year.

Interest on environmental construction.
Good level of Spanish. Motivation, capabilities of proposing solutions and actions for the center.
Interest and capabilities for team work, to encourage the local commerce, learn and exchange knowledge with others.

Number of volunteers. 3 volunteers.

At any time.

1500 Mexican pesos per month. Meals are not included.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

IV. ACCOMMODATION &FOOD:
•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.

San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.

Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.

Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste A.C. is an environmental NGO that supports indigenous and peasant communities, contributing to their sustainable development, socially fair and equitable in harmony with nature. They promote technical strengthening of these communities and their processes of self-organization and management as well as the defense and management of its territory and its natural assets, all through research, communication, discussion, dissemination, general support, trainings, technical and legal assistance.

Volunteers will help with;
•Translation of documents
•Update website and blogs
•networking (Facebook, twitter)
•Maintaining the rural Demonstration Center in Environmental Technologies
•Support in conducting fortnightly videodebate and weekly radio programs
•Those specific activities which are related to the professional development and skills of the volunteer.

Volunteers will stay at a house in San Cristóbal de las Casas, sharing room with up to 4 volunteers.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.

From 6 months up to 1 year.

Interest in agricultural activities, craft, technical and social work services.

Number of volunteers. 2 volunteers.

Any time.

1500 Mexican pesos per month. Meals are not included.

Founded in 2006, Natate –the House in the Tree in Tsotsil, one of the Mayan dialects, is an independent civil association which works in the promotion of the international volunteering, for the solidarity and the comprehensive education for everyone, without a profitable objective, nongovernmental and non-religious.

»To develop the volunteering service and promote the international solidarity under an intercultural and peaceful spirit.
»To promote and develop the comprehensive education for young people.
»To promote programs for the development of sustainable lifestyles.
»To back and support groups of marginalized people and vulnerable minorities.
»To promote the respect to human rights and dignity

International Camping
Training Courses and Seminars
Information and Awareness Campaigns
National and International Volunteering

Natate is a member of the Coordinating Committee for the International Volunteer Service (CCIVS) and this lets it have access to programs and collaboration with more than 200 organizations in more than 80 countries. For more information visit www.unesco.org/ccivs

Through projects organized jointly with civil organizations, municipalities, groups and international and local organizations, Natate encourages the participation of young people in the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage, the protection of the environment, the construction of houses for the poorest, the improvement of social-educational structures, the utilization of alternative techniques of construction and sustainable technologies in several communities of the region of Chiapas.

Natate considers the volunteering as a mutual exchange between a person or a group that offers his/her time, work and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a community which offers to the volunteers a learning, experimentation, personal and collective development opportunity. The volunteering is also considered as a social tool which collaborates to the promotion of the inter-cultural dialogue to create Peace, and creates a relationship between the local action and the global reflection.

Volunteering is not an activity, is a way of life, a way of acting!

In all the projects proposed by Natate, the citizen participation and specially that one of the young people is really important.

•Environmental activities: cleaning, construction, recycling, awareness raising, reforestation
•Education: Work with children, artistic workshops, protection of the environment, recreational.
•Health: Support on the creation of workshops and translation of documents on sexual and reproductive health.
•Office work: Translation, promotion of volunteering, presentations, preparation of activities, camp leader, updating the web page, contact with international organizations.
•World heritage: restoration, renovation, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage.
•Construction: Support to low income families in the construction and improvement of their houses.

Depending on the project, volunteers work up to 35 hours per week.

The volunteers are responsible for the organization of their trip, to look for the best prices, to deal with the visa, if it is necessary. These procedures can be done once you are accepted in a project. We suggest looking up the costs of the trip before the registration, to avoid the cancellation of your participation for economical reasons. We suggest to the volunteers coming from other continents, arriving one or several days before the beginning of the project, so they can adapt to their new schedules.
To travel to Mexico, it is advisable to verify the prices of the flights, since it can be really expensive. A lot of airlines fly to Mexico, including: Aeromexico, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, United Airlines, KLM, Alitalia, among others.

There are a lot of opportunities for the volunteers to enjoy and discover this part of the country. In San Cristobal de las Casas and in the rest of the state there are a lot of possibilities to discover the Mexican and Chiapas culture. Guatemala is also near and the volunteers can take advantage of this geographical situation. During the project, the recreational activities will be limited to the surrounding area where the project is located. These activities will be organized jointly with the hosting community.

The projects proposed by Nataté have a monthly participation fee that has to be covered by volunteers. This fee is: 1,500 Mexican pesos, volunteers should buy and prepare their own meals. This participation fee covers, administration costs, lodging, light and tab water. In projects where meal is included the participation fee is 2,500 and 2,900 depending of the project.

IV. ACCOMMODATION &FOOD:
•Nataté provides accommodation for the projects that take place in San Cristobal de las Casas. It is a house at the city center, with all facilities (kitchen, 3 toilets, a small patio) and 6 shared bedrooms.

•Volunteers buy their own food at their charge except in projects NAT11, NAT17 and NAT24 where the food is included in the participation fee.

•Volunteers can cook at home. Mexican food is good, and meat represents an important part of the diet. However vegetarians and vegans will not have any trouble finding what they need for their diets.

•In the case of projects outside of San Cristobal de las Casas, the lodging conditions are different. The information is written in each project description.

At the moment, Natate cannot propose a responsibility civil insurance, so we request the volunteers to have an accident and civil responsibility insurance and a trip insurance eventually.

The drug situation in Mexico is complicated. Even though the most part of the violence exists between the cartels and the dealers, the volunteers must be aware of the risks implied in the drugs’ use. Anyway, the drugs’ consume is strictly forbidden in the house where Natate accommodates its volunteers or in any of its projects. Natate will not tolerate to anyone the drugs’ use in the volunteers’ accommodation or in the projects. Breaking this rule will be enough reason for the volunteer to be asked to quit the project.

Nataté performs projects in the state of Chiapas, located in the Southeast of Mexico; it is known for its touristic sites, which include natural attractive areas, pre-hispanic archaeological sites, colonial cities and the direct contact with different cultural groups that cohabit in this state. It has the highest native population in the country and has natural marvels which cannot be compared like the archaeological zone of Palenque and the Agua Azul waterfalls. It adjoins to the East with Guatemala, to the West with Oaxaca, to the North with Tabasco, to the South with the Ocean Pacifica and to the Northwest with Veracruz. The dominating and official language is Spanish. The mayan dialects spoken in Chiapas are: chol, tojolabal, tzeltal, tzotzil, mam y lacandon, which are related to Mayan origin dialects from the Peninsula of Yucatan and Central America.

San Cristobal de las Casas is the largest city in terms of tourism. It is a city where people of different ethnics, races and cultures coexist. It is located in the Chiapas highlands.

Nowadays, San Cristobal de las Casas is one of the most beautiful and original cities from the region of the Altos of Chiapas (and America), and also it must be added the evocative colonial image that it has conserved along the centuries. Because besides that, it has also an everyday life that could be almost called traditional, with its market, its people and a lot of natives with their colorful dressings, coming from several communities and who arrive to the place to sell or exchange their products.