Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
Guatemala: The Indigenous Maya in Guatemala make up a huge percentage of the population, many living off just US $1 a day. We have established our own schools in two Indigenous communities, these being San Andrés Itzapa and Santa Maria de Jesus; both providing local children with the opportunity to learn Spanish and receive an education.
Honduras: We have committed ourselves to helping and assisting the Maya Chortí villages around Copán Ruinas. These areas of Honduras are the poorest in the country and, as so often happens, rural communities are forgotten and ignored, with more emphasis given to urban schools and communities. The Maya Chortí community of San Rafael has a population of approximately 300 and a family income is about 25 Lempira (just over a dollar) a day. With this money, up to ten children must be fed, clothed and educated.
Ecuador: We are currently working to encourage and improve levels of education in several of the communities around Otavalo, these being Urcusiqui, Huayrapungo, Julien Juez school above San Pablo and Larcacunga.
Peru: Each year, thousands of people migrate from the Sierra and the Altiplano to try to find work in Arequipa, though due to language barriers (they are Quechua-speaking as opposed to Spanish-speaking), cultural differences and illiteracy, they find it very hard to integrate themselves in local life. Therefore, “pueblos jovenes”, or new villages or towns, are springing up outside Arequipa. Most of the housing doesn’t have electricity, running water or other amenities, but with the US $3 a day they earn from agriculture, they are slowly but surely building up a new life in these towns, learning Spanish and receiving education in the under-staffed local schools through taking classes and the 'open classrooms'.
The owner of this company did a gap year trip in the early 90s which involved building a bandstand for a small village in Patagonia. While he was there, he realised the project was only helpful in developing the Western traveller as the village didn’t want a bandstand and only argued about who owned it. And so he set up a volunteer organisation which is useful to communities and provides them with resources and help with funding. Today, his projects offer travellers an opportunity to fully integrate into communities and to make a real long-term difference to the local people’s lifestyles.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
