Short-term (2 to 4 weeks) "construction" projects in Mexico

The Educational Eco-park San José is a natural reserve of mild forest (oak and pine trees forest) and an educational park; it is part of the Natural History Institute in Chiapas. Its mission is to protect, conserve, and exhibit the flora and fauna from the region Los Altos de Chiapas. They are planning a variety of responsible eco tourism activities such as bird watching, mountain biking and ecosystem watching from a series of suspension bridges, that will be ready by the end of 2011. Surely some activities carried out by volunteers will help to achieve these goals.

Some of the activities in which volunteers will be involved are the and maintenance of paths around the medical plant garden; preparing signs with information about the different plants; night rounds in the park, attention to animals and locking them. Volunteers will collaborate building a plant nursery to produce and transplant, besides, supporting the renovation and maintenance of some of the park facilities.

In a house in the park

The San José Park is in Zinacantán, 10 kms from San Cristobal, in Chiapas

San Cristóbal de las Casas

2,700 mexican pesos

CAMADDS Training, Consultant, Environmental and Health Right Defense Center (Centro de Capacitación, Asesoría, Medio Ambiente y Defensa del Derecho a la Salud), the Cooperative Society Cascadas Brisas de la Nubes and the group of volunteers will continue working in the agritourism program to receive tourists in the next holidays. CAMADDS is an association with activities in the border region in Chiapas with three areas of interest: health, ecological agriculture, health rights defense, all this in a community-active scheme. The agritourism reflects the awareness and consciousness of responsible exploitation and care of
the land where this tselatales cooperative live. Resulting in an ecological and responsible tourism.

Volunteers will have the opportunity to contribute in activities regarding maintenance and development of the agritouristic site, as well as in the daily activities that families carry out in the cooperative. The aims of the volunteering work will be, building facilities
like cabins, paths and repairing those damaged by strong rains last summer to be prepared to receive tourist in the next holiday season. Volunteers will also accomplish other activities such as planting and harvesting in the vegetable and fruit garden to collaborate with food production. The volunteers and leaders will organize activities to promote an exchange with the local communities.

Agrotouristic site

Cascadas Brisas de Las Nubes, in Maravilla Tenejapa, Chiapas

2 hours from Comitán

2,700 mexican pesos

Igloo Kokolo is a environmental developing centre at the moment based on viability principles that tries to experiment and to spread techniques for a coexistence in balance with the ecosystem and the beings that live in it, creating the smallest possible negative environmental impact.

The volunteers will carry out tasks such as the projection of the orchard of organic vegetables and the construction of two igloos that will serve as dormitories for future volunteers. For this the 'earthbag' or super adobe bio-construction technique will be used, technique that consists of filling to earth coats forming circles decreasing the diametre until creating a earth igloo. The volunteers will participate in cultural activities with children and young people of the neighboring community.

In the built igloos and camping.

This centre is located in an extension of 160 hectares by the greater natural lake of Mexico, "Chapala".

Tuxcueca, Jalisco.

Ajijic, Mazamitla, Isla del Alacrán (the Scorpion Island), Isla de Mezcala.

The weekend is foreseen to visit Mazamitla, a small town situated in the Sierra del Tigre.

2700 Pesos (about 150 euros) tobe paid upon arrival.

The Museum of Mayan Medicine and the Organization of Indigenous Doctors of the State of Chiapas A.C. (OMIECH, A.C.) are jointly responsible for an area that presents different aspects of Mayan traditional medicine. This center houses different areas of the Association: the Museum of Mayan Medicine, Women and Midwives, Herbalism, Communication, Administration, and General Counseling. The small museum is very illustrative and the pharmacy where traditional medicines are sold, occupy the main buildings. The OMIECH is an organization, that has been working on the defense of the indigenous knowledge and traditions, and against the biopiracy.

There are many different kinds of maintenance works that need to be done at the museum. However the specific activities that will take place during the workcamp, will depend on weather conditions, budget and priorities form the museum staff. Some of this activities are: cleaning the
weed in the gardens, painting and preparing a green house. Preparing the soil for cultuvation in the green house, and even begin ing with the work for the vegetable cultivation. An other of the works that needs to be done, is the restauration of the temazcal (an ancient steem bath, that represents the womb, and the ritual of going in accompanied by music, and prayers is seen as a rebirth) For this work, only local and natural materials will be used such as: bambu, soil, and stones. Another of the planned tasks is the construction of a pirate ship, for the biopiracy area, in order to represent the plunder and illegal use of plants and ancestral knowledge from indigenous communities, from the pharmaceutical industries that register and uses them. It is possible that volunteers can observe some traditional indigenous rituals.

In the Museum premises in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

San Cristóbal de las Casas

San Cristobal de las Casas

2700 Mexican pesos

Habitat for Humanity Mexico is a civil society organization that develops projects aimed at solving the housing problem, particularly for low-income families. Housing construction is carried out in several indigenous rural communities located in the border area and in the region of the highlands in the state of Chiapas. Nowadays, Habitat has a presence in over 100 countries, and in Mexico it has about 20 programs in different states allover the country.

Volunteers will build and improve houses in the communities called “La Trinitaria” and “La Esperanza”, located in the state’s border with Guatemala. Activities include: detailed finishes, plastering, blacksmithing installation, concrete mixing and pouring, and secondary building jobs. Volunteers will organize activities with local youth to discover the lifestyle of this community. Depending on the conditions of these communities, there is the possibility of joining local families in their daily activities regarding handmade food production. If weather and other conditions allow it, we could also visit the archaeological site of Chinkultic and the lakes of Montebello.

In the communities.

Municipal head town of La Trinitaria and the community La Esperanza located in the Chiapas border with Guatemala.

Comitán, one hour away from San Cristobal de las Casas

2700 mexican pesos.

Visits to the touristic sites are optional and not necessarily included in the camp program and budget.

It is a collective project, that after years of planning and thanks to the support of national and international volunteers, and students from San Cristóbal de las Casas, is finally becoming a reality. The goal is to create a self-sufficient training center, where people can share and learn about permaculture. Permaculture, consists of a set of systems that allows human settlements to live in full balance with the local biodiversity. Therefore, locals, neighboring communities, and any person interested on adopting this life style will be welcome, under this moto: “Human-biodiverse settlement”

Volunteers work will be focused on creating and reinforcing the training center infrastructure, that will give the possibility of lodging future volunteers, in order to continue with the works needed for the center´s development. Among the works planned for this workcamp are: Training in Permaculture, Construction of a Water reservoir in Ferrocement, Visits and support in projects in families within the community, and organization of activities with the local community, specially children, youth and students.

In a cabin in the future demonstration center. Housing conditions are basic and rudimentary. It has a green bathroom, a shower that is improvised (for the moment in time is to make a more stable), has no electricity. Cooking with firewood-saving stove

Teopisca is an hour away from San Cristóbal de las Casas.

San Cristóbal de las Casas

2,700 Mexican pesos

PROJECT. Epiphytes Garden is a project aimed at creating a space that protects the flora and fauna of the region where the inhabitants of the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, and visitors can learn about the importance of maintain forests, to separate and recycle waste, and so on. Another aim is to provide a space for the reproduction of epiphytes such as orchids and bromeliads. The idea is to have a space rich in flora and fauna that can enjoy and engage people in the city, which is intended, can multiply the knowledge gained in this botanical garden. Epiphytes Garden is located on the hill of San Cristobal de las Casas.

The work will consist in the rehabilitation of a live fence (demarcation made ​​from native trees of the region), construction of a rainwater-harvesting tank, a greenhouse for plant production, building a gazebo, cleaning and sorting of trash. During the camp will hold workshops and/or awareness raising of the people in the surroundings of the place on the future care of the botanical garden. Other activities will restore and increase access stairs, improve certain parts of the future garden. Also be built using land adobes to be used in the infrastructure of the garden.

In the volunteer’s house located in the city center of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.

San Cristóbal de las Casas.

2700 pesos

The Community is made up of people from the Ricardo Flores Magon neighborhood. This community called Guadalupe Santa Cruz, is a group of men, women, children and youngters who are part of a religious group (Catholic).
Within the community they organize workshops related to human rights and expressed in a group of women, speaking about the social, economic and cultural difficulties suffered by women, the objectives of this work is that women get the importance of their role in the society and in the family. Other activities carried out by the Community are to visit the four neighborhoods that make up the district, so we can share experiences and biblical testimonies and create a close relationship among the villagers. As well there are activities with children and youth, which offer group dynamics, workshops about recycling, ecology, games, film and spiritual guidance.

The proposal is to strengthen support for young people and children, in the process of understanding the world. As well take care of the maintenance of the the temple and contribute to cultural events organized by the community.

1 .- As the camp will be developed in a celebration time, volunteers will participate in the arrangement of the spaces for the celebration which will allow them to be witness of thell the cultural, ceremonial and spiritual celebrations, as well to have direct contact with the population.
2 .- To carry out activities with children and young people, which will cover environmental issues, video projections and cultural exchange.
3 .- Put a barrier around the edges of the temple.

The sleeping room will be located on the premises of the Temple.

Santa Cruz Guadalupe Community is located in the neighborhood Ricardo Flores Magon, and belongs to the municipality of Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas, Mexico. It is an hour and a half from the capital of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez.

San Cristobal de las Casas

2,700 pesos MEX.