Guatemala family volunteering holiday
| country: | Guatemala |
| departures: | Weekly departures on Saturdays throughout the year |
| price: | From £595 (1 week) - £1155 (4 weeks) per adult and from £220 (1 week) - £710 (4 weeks) per child excluding flights. There is an additional fee of £230 per family (regardless of number of children) to cover fixed ground costs. Children must be over 12 years old |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Family volunteers who join this programme have the unique opportunity of being immersed in one of several indigenous communities situated near Antigua Guatemala. We, along with leaders of the indigenous communities, have developed manual projects to improve the standard of living for hundreds of Indigenous families in rural Guatemala. Whilst learning Spanish and experiencing a new culture, families will be assisting building energy efficient stoves for cleaner air and less wood consumption, promoting agriculture and increasing harvests and livestock rearing.
20 hours of one-on-one Spanish classes (based on skill level) are included in the price to help all the family converse in their new environment. Included in the programme, is a half-day guided adventure, which could be biking, rock-climbing or hiking. Also included in your fee is the funding needed to successfully complete whichever project you choose to do within the week, whether this be bricks, cement, seeds, fertilizers, tools, extra local labour, wood, wire fencing, corrugated iron, livestock etc. The idea is that you will have funded, worked on and completed each individual project within a week, aimed to improve the standard of living of one family.
Parents and children will have their own bedrooms in semi basic, but comfortable accommodation living with a local family. All amenities will be included, such as washing facilities and 3 meals a day.
Families will work with their chosen individual project until it is finished, which will be within one week. For those Families staying for one week only, you will concentrate on the Spanish Classes for the first two day. The Spanish is both classroom based and exploration with the teacher, including visiting local coffee plantations, a Macadamia Nut farm, ruins and of course the colourful markets.
For those families working for more than one week, the first week will be dedicated to the Spanish classes, allowing for full week’s work on the projects. Days start early with eating breakfast with the host family before catching the bus to the relevant project site, arriving to start work at about 8am. You will then work with the family for whom you are funding and working on your project, until around midday when you will eat lunch, after which you will continue to work until 4pm when you return to Antigua.
Each project/task is designed to be started and finished within one week. We and leaders of the communities have conducted numerous surveys, investigations and meetings to find out what the community leaders and families really want and need. It should be noted that the following projects have been approved by members of the communities.
20 hours of one-on-one Spanish classes (based on skill level) are included in the price to help all the family converse in their new environment. Included in the programme, is a half-day guided adventure, which could be biking, rock-climbing or hiking. Also included in your fee is the funding needed to successfully complete whichever project you choose to do within the week, whether this be bricks, cement, seeds, fertilizers, tools, extra local labour, wood, wire fencing, corrugated iron, livestock etc. The idea is that you will have funded, worked on and completed each individual project within a week, aimed to improve the standard of living of one family.
Parents and children will have their own bedrooms in semi basic, but comfortable accommodation living with a local family. All amenities will be included, such as washing facilities and 3 meals a day.
a day in a life of a volunteer
This project is a great way for families to work together, a real bonding experience with a positive final goal of the completion of a much needed cooking stove. Language barriers seem to be of no concern to the younger members of the family as the universal language of ‘Play’ encourages a real sense of integration between family volunteers and the local community. This opportunity will be an exciting learning experience for the whole family with new friends made young and old. Children will be given responsibilities depending on age – maybe help Mum and Dad with the actual building or out in open helping local families look after the smaller children or babies, but always with an aspect of a relaxed environment and time to do the things they want, whether it’s a game of football or a bike ride into the country. Families will work with their chosen individual project until it is finished, which will be within one week. For those Families staying for one week only, you will concentrate on the Spanish Classes for the first two day. The Spanish is both classroom based and exploration with the teacher, including visiting local coffee plantations, a Macadamia Nut farm, ruins and of course the colourful markets.
For those families working for more than one week, the first week will be dedicated to the Spanish classes, allowing for full week’s work on the projects. Days start early with eating breakfast with the host family before catching the bus to the relevant project site, arriving to start work at about 8am. You will then work with the family for whom you are funding and working on your project, until around midday when you will eat lunch, after which you will continue to work until 4pm when you return to Antigua.
Each project/task is designed to be started and finished within one week. We and leaders of the communities have conducted numerous surveys, investigations and meetings to find out what the community leaders and families really want and need. It should be noted that the following projects have been approved by members of the communities.
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you are looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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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. The Indigenous Maya in Guatemala make up a huge percentage of the population, many living off just $1 a day. We are currently working with two Indigenous communities, these being San Andrés Itzapa and Santa Maria de Jesus. Our aims are first and foremost to improve the standard of living of 100’s of Indigenous families who live in often extreme poverty. We, with the full support of the Indigenous leaders of the communities, 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. Past Aid schemes in the area (San Andres Itzapa): In 2006, we introduced our short-term community construction projects, which include building energy efficient stoves, agriculture and livestock breeding. In 2007, we introduced the Plan Ancianos, a scheme to help and feed the older generation in the communities. Unfortunately, through economic constraints, they tend not to receive much food and care. We will regularly give out frijoles, maize, mosh powder, wheat powder, soap, shampoo, coffee, soups, sugar, milk powder and noodles to help them. Also in 2007, due to poor harvests in 2006, we introduced the Seed Scheme, which involves lending out sufficient seeds for a family to be able to grow up to 3 crops a year, harvesting enough to feed their own families, sell produce in the market and have enough to buy more seeds to become self-sufficient in years to come. After a year, the exact quantity of seeds will be returned and distributed to a new set of families to continue the process. All our children receive scholarships to attend National School now, including Primary, Secondary and college education. |
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