There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer to give back to the community, and one was recently presented to me by Sarah Maxwell of Enchanting Challenge, a social networking web-site that connects people who are driven to giving back to the community and the environment.
She explains:
Enchanting Challenge was started by the Enchanting Group, a family of companies that has founded EcoTulum, and has worked for the past decade to turn tourism into an ecological and holistic industry.
Right now at Enchanting
Challenge we are orchestrating a service trip in Mendoza that would take place in August. The service trip would entail spending a week working in the city with disadvantaged families and orphans. After the week is through, the volunteers would spend another week working in the Desierto Lavalle with indigenous people, helping to build schools, collect resources, etc. We are working with an organization in Mendoza that has been running these service trips for ten years. The organization is called “Fundación Vivencias Argentinas” and pictures of their work in Desierto Lavalle can be found here. For the past ten years, Fundación Vivencias Argentinas has worked with Argentines specifically from the Mendoza community. However, with Enchanting Challenge, they would like to expand their borders and open up the service opportunities to foreigners, specifically North Americans traveling or studying in South America. I think this would be an awesome experience for anyone, and especially for travelers who might want to leave a social mark on this temporary and beautiful home…Furthermore, if you haven’t seen Mendoza yet, this just might be the perfect opportunity!!!
Since Sarah was so charming (“I found your lovely blog on www.expat-blog.com! Thank you so much for writing and sharing your knowledge, and experiences!!”) I told her that I would post about her service trip to Mendoza to try and drum up some interest.
Details of the trip after the jump.
Here’s the deal: The trip to Mendoza is being organized by Enchanting Challenge & Fundacion Viviencias Argentinas based out of Mendoza. The two week service trip will be held in August.
The two week trip breaks down as such:
Week One:
Week One will be spent in the city of Mendoza, working with the disadvantaged children of this community. All English-speaking volunteers will stay with a Mendocino family for this week, learning about the Mendocino culture, sharing in the language experience, and eating meals with their host family. During the day, volunteers will work with the children, participating in the following activities:
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Organizing a donation drive for shoes, clothing, toys, and games
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Coordinating and participating in recreational activities
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Assisting children with their school work
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Addressing any health-care needs that are not being met
Week Two:
Week Two will be spent in the Desierto Lavalle, working with the indigenous Huarpes community on various community development projects. 20-25 Mendocino volunteers are expected to go—all school children between the ages of 15-18 from the Colegio San José de los Hermanos Maristas de la Provincia de Mendoza. English-speaking tourist/back-packing/study-abroad/ex-pat volunteers will work side-by-side with their Mendocino counter-parts, taking part in the following activities:
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Organizing a donation drive for shoes, clothing, toys, and games
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Teaching and demonstrating methods for sustainable living and farming practices, such as cooking in a solar-powered kitchen
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Coordinating a donation drive for items necessary in a rural region, such as electricity generators, vaccines, and medications
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Collecting items for school children, such as computers and clothing for uniforms
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Participating in community cultural events and festivities
Sarah Maxwell is the main contact for the trip, and she can be contacted via e-mail. Adding a service trip to your stay in Argentina is the way to transform it into more than just a vacation. And for expats living in Buenos Aires, or other parts of Argentina, why not give back to your country of residence? You will make your mark on Mendoza, and even more amazingly, it will leave its mark on you.
To see pictures of past service trips click here, and to read about what the Fundacion Viviencias Argentinas is up to click here.
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