Opportunities in Mexico
1. Patronato Pro
Casa
Description: An orphanage
for abandoned or mistreated boys between the ages of 5 and 16.
Patronato Pro Casa provides schooling, lodging, clothing and meals
to these youngsters. As they meet with a psychologist in the mornings
and attend school from 2pm to 6pm, the schedule when the orphanage
most needs our help is from 11am to 12:30pm and from 6pm to 9:30pm
for a total of 5 hours each day.
Activities: Organize and help
with art classes (Mondays and Wednesdays) and Physical Education
classes (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) from 11am to 12:30pm.
Help with homework, organize games and activities and help out
with the nighttime meal. The orphanage is also in need of a great
deal of maintenance and organization.
Location: Oaxaca
2. Milpas de Oaxaca
Description: A non-governmental
agency that works with rural and indigenous youth to offer positive
and educational activities, encouraging participation between
youth and adults in their communities.
Activities: Volunteers would
assist in organizing and presenting workshops on topics such as
the following: agriculture, health, sports, education, ecology,
reforestation, conservation of natural resources, human rights,
carpentry, nursing, medicine, art, cooking, recycling, politics
or social organizations. Milpas is also restructuring its website,
so those volunteers who know about graphic design or web design
may prefer to help in that area.
Location:
Oaxaca
3. CANICA (Centro
de Apoyo al Niño de la Calle de Oaxaca)
CANICA is a large organization and offers many activities for
volunteers. Each activity has a different set of requirements
(professional requirements or minimum time limits) for the volunteers.
Except in the case of workshops, any activity in which the volunteer
is in direct contact with the youth has a minimum time requirement.
As many of these children have been abandoned by their families
or taken from their families due to abuse, CANICA does not want
the children to feel emotions of abandonment by changing volunteer
workers any more than necessary; however, they are very excited
to receive volunteers and will do their best to find a role acceptable
to both parties. Please contact us, giving a description of how
you would like to help and how long you will be able to volunteer,
and we will tell you what activities are available through CANICA.
Location:
Oaxaca
4. Patronato Estancia
Fraternidad
Description: A home shelter
for families of those who are ill and being treated in the General
Hospital of Oaxaca. The shelter receives an average of 110 people
each day and provides food and lodging to all in need.
Activities: This home provides
food and lodging for up to 150 people, so there is always cooking,
cleaning and distribution of food to be done. However, as many
of those lodged here are suffering from depression, Patronato
Estancia Fraternidad tries to create activities–games, songs,
dance, arts and crafts, etc for them. These volunteers would need
to be self-motivators to come up with activities to lift the spirits
of those suffering. It is probably better that the volunteers
work in pairs to create activities.
Location:
Oaxaca
5. Mundo Nuevo
Description: A non-governmental,
non-profit organization that promotes environmental conservation.
Mundo Nuevo finds the most adequate ways to treat all types of
pollution (pollution of the water, air pollution, trash, etc).
The organization's only form of income is by selling the paper
it recycles.
Activities: Volunteers would
collect and separate the products to be recycled; actually recycle
paper goods, market and sell the recycled paper; and explore other
uses for aluminum, plastics, glass and organic goods. Those who
have experience with computer programming or graphic design can
also help with the website.
Location:
Oaxaca
6. Tierraventura
Description: A small, ecological
tour company providing trips throughout the state of Oaxaca. Their
goal is to show visitors the "real" Oaxaca, and create
a sustainable tourism by helping the communities. They specialize
in tours in the mountains, along the pacific coast, the Sierra
Mixteca and the northern and southern Sierra, and take a maximum
of six people, so they are able to personalize trips and gear
them more to their client's needs.
Activities: Volunteers will
help with the organization and promotion of the tours, join the
guides on several tours until they feel comfortable beginning
to give tours on their own. Tierraventura works with some of the
larger ecological companies, such as Bioplanet, so the volunteer
will also do some administrative and sales work with these companies.
Location:
Oaxaca
7. Casa Hogar Nueva
Vida
Description: An orphanage
for children living on the streets between the ages of 1 and 18.
They provide lodging, meals, clothing, medical services and education.
The children attend school in the mornings, so the volunteers
are needed in the afternoon hours.
Activities: Help with homework,
organize games and sports activities, read to and with the children
(they can not watch television on school nights), help prepare
the nighttime meal and clean up afterwards.
Location:
Oaxaca
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