Environment

Conservation work at a Nature Park.

25 kilometers outside Santiago de Chile in the cordillera of the central Andes, near world class ski resorts, lies a park, a region destined by the local government to be preserved as a nature Sanctuary. The park ranges from 900 to 5500 meters above sea level and comprises a protected area of 11.575 hectares. Glaciers, small waterfalls, springs and panoramic footpaths are part of the things that can be found there and the visitor can enjoy. Despite being the nearest park to Santiago, the park does not receive many visitors but constitutes an important land for the local "arrieros" to manage their cattle and horses. Today the park does not count with enough resources to maintain the infraestructure and support the different initiatives planned by the local administration for the its conservation.

Work on a reforestation project, to decrease the effect of erosion in dry land.

Located in Rauco, a small chilean town and commune in Curicó Province, Maule Region, deep inside the hills of the Chilean Coast Range, is a little community called El Parrón. Every year the community´s land works to prevent erosion caused by heay rain fall during the months of April till August and a lack of plantation. Together with CONAF, National Forestry Corporation, this tiny local community organizes itself to work on the reforestation of the hills sorrounding it.

Social Work

Work on sustainable tourism at indigenous communities

Around Puerto Iguazú, Misiones,  Argentina, many Mbyá Guarani Communities remain nowadays trying to keep their ancestors traditions while dealing with the modern life and the many new enterprises that are investing around their grounds to build tourism hotels and resorts.
 In one of this communities, a project has been started to help their inhabitants to maintain control of and self administrate their natural, touristic and cultural resources. This project’s goal is to increase the employment opportunities of young inhabitants of neighborhoods in extreme poverty. It also encourages development of the indigenous communities near the Iguazú Falls through the teaching of cultural activities, and socially responsible and sustainable tourism. Through this project, an informal school for the indigenous has recently been built in the community to teach and share different activities with the community’s inhabitants. This school will allow adults and children to appreciate their culture and learn how to earn an income from the many tourists visiting the area in a responsible way.

Another community 30 km from Puerto Iguazú is also following this example. By helping them to prepare themselves for receiving tourists in a socially responsible and sustainable manner, community members will be able to self-sustain by showing visitors an insight into their culture and the natural habitat around them.

Help northern communities to self-sustain and maintain their cultural heritage.

The north of Chile is a very distinctive from other places in the world, attracting visitors from all over: some have said this region resembles the surface of Mars. The region´s main touristy spot, San Pedro de Atacama, receives many foreign visitors all year round, though sorrounding it, some unnoticed little villages belonging to different indigenous and rural communities do not still profit from this activity and struggle to self-sustain. A project has been started to create a network between this communities. Maintaning their cultural and historical heritage is very important to encourage visitors to get to this towns and create an income for many families living there. Some of this heritage exists in the form of ancient ruins and petroglyphs which are images created by removing part of rock surfaces. Some petroglyphs are thought to be astronomical markers, maps and other forms of symbolic communicating or a by-product of other rituals. Part of the project´s objective is the maintenance and conservation, together with the local community, of those images and ruins and designing foot paths for the visitors around those areas.



Help put up a sustainable garden for a rural school.

In the South of Chile, near Los Angeles, many rural communities work hard daily to provide for their families. In this region some non-profit organizations support small wild-fruit collectors, a job that for some families represent their only income. In this region a small rural school of 23 children together with this organization plans to creat a sustainable garden so that children of these families can benefit from. English teaching is also required at the school, so that kids won´t be at a disadvantage when moving to secondary school.

Construction work at a school of non-formal education

An ONG dedicated to non formal education promoting the arts and culture of the aboriginal people of Amaicha, a city near Tucumán city, Argentina has been working at this community for ten years helping them to reenergize their native identities. This foundation has developed projects dedicated to sustainable tourism and has also developed a net for commercialization of ethnic furniture and handcrafts of this and nearby communities. The goal of the non-formal education school is to try to get kids to participate in its activities so they can help their families who live in extreme poverty through education. One of the projects in mind for the foundation is the construction of a cafeteria for the school. This will bring the kids together in a common area to share their learning experience together. The objectives of this project is to improve the school for the children while helping the families, improve the quality of life and promote cultural exchange.

Help at a community centre for families at social risk

In Buenos Aires city, a small non-profit association is working in impoverished districts and shanty towns to improve their inhabitants´ quality of life. The objective of this work is to offer these families short term solutions to their immediate needs, through education, health aid and employment programs, and promoting intercultural exchange and integration into society. At the moment, a few community centres where these programs are undertaken are in need of volunteers willing to help either through building repair and painting, participating in workshops and organizing activities with local children and youth.

Building a Sustainable Garden in an indigenous community school.

Eastern Salta, Argentina is part of the region of the Great Chaco, a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region, that comprises part of Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Brazil. Many Wichi communities, the original inhabitants of this region, live today in this area, some of them 2 to 3  hours far from the nearest town. Most of this communities live now in indistress due to the fact that their natural source for food and shelter, the "monte" (dry forest) is being devastated by the implementation of new hundreds of acres of soy plantations. Also, there are no local policies to integrate them to the "modern" society. Though not their original activity, many communities survive today on small scale gardens and the sales of artesanias (handcrafts).

In one of this communities, a group of students worked on a Wichi village school, together with the local school kids. Together they cleared 3 areas of approx half a football field in size of shoulder high weeds and turned the area into three sustainable gardens, including new seedlings and seeds. Then had many community members join them in picking up all the trash surrounding the school and big community areas.

Fair Trade

Volunteer with a Fair Trade Organisation

In Temuco, a Fair Trade Foundation works to help and support 230 local Indigenous Mapuches, indigenous land protection, and forestation projects.  The Mapuche are an indigenous population, originally living in the South of Chile and Argentina. Their name means “people of the earth”, the language spoken is Mapudungun. Some of the Mapuches in the South of the country managed to resist the Spanish conquerors for 300 years. Today they only represent 4% of the Chilean population. Many of them live in cities, but keep in strong connection with their original communities and still fight for the acknowledgement of their territories and culture.