Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
By living with a local family you really are making a difference to their life, not only in a financial aspect, but also in a learning experience. You can be guaranteed that the money for accommodation and food is going straight back into the local economy. Local families buy food produce from local providers, helping not only the host family but the whole community.
On the actual project you will be assisting the building of energy efficient stoves for cleaner air and less wood consumption for the local Mayan communities. Almost all Indigenous families use three-stone fires to cook. Due to the living conditions of the families, often in one room to cook, sleep and eat, wood burning is extremely detrimental to the health of the children and other family members. Also, burning wood on an open fire is a very inefficient way to cook and many trees are cut down each day. Our stoves are simple wood burning stoves made from cement, block and bricks that encase the fire and provide a chimney to vent smoke out of the home. They cut down the amount of smoke and carbon dioxide in the home by 70% and use 75% less firewood than three-stone fires thus saving resources and time used collecting firewood. Also, the use of less wood consumption promotes agriculture to provide bigger harvests and increased livestock rearing, whilst also reducing air pollution locally and globally. We have committed ourselves to helping and assisting the May Chortí villages around Copan 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 school and communities.
Our aims are first and foremost to improve the standard of living of 100’s of Indigenous families who live in often extreme poverty. With the full support of the Indigenous leaders of the communities, we aim to tackle these issues in many different ways through basic funding of simple but essential physical sustainable projects. Once the initial starting phase has been funded and completed, it can be continued for many years without further funding, helping the families become self-sustainable and even start micro-businesses to increase the family income.
We will begin work in the Maya Chortí community of San Rafael, with a population of approximately 300 and whose family income is about 25 Lempiras (just over a dollar) a day. With this money, up to ten children must be fed, clothed and educated. Education is free in Honduras; the materials are not, so this can force children not to attend school. Volunteer contributions are removing this financial constraint by supplying the children with the school materials they require. It is hoped with the extra income the family will receive with this burden removed that those children who have dropped out will return.
Living conditions for those in the community is exceptionally basic; their wooden and mud homes consist of one or two rooms, where the cooking, eating and sleeping is spent in the same room, shared also by animals. Running water is scarce, sanitation is almost non-existent. 40% of children do not reach the age of two due to malnutrition and dysentery.
As mentioned, we will be working in the community of San Rafael at first, with the aim to start work in more communities, including La Pintada, Santa Cruz, Sinaí, Boca del Monte and Rincon del Buey. It must be stressed that we have the full support of the local indigenous leaders and teachers. We are dedicated to responsible tourism, and all of the projects that we support directly benefit the environment, the local community, or both. All projects are carefully chosen to offer our volunteers sustainable and responsible travel, with specific attention being paid to their involvement in the sustainability of all their practices / project goals.
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.
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