Helping rural people create solutions for their families and communities
Celebrating 14 years of service to communities in the Sierra Madre
The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action contributes to the elimination of poverty and the restoration of the damaged environment by promoting cooperative enterprise, environmentally sound agriculture, appropriate technology and conservation. We work in the Sierra Madre region of Chiapas, Mexico and with repatriated refugee communities in Guatemala. We collaborate with others to bring the message of respect for all life into policy discussions. Through our internship program we train others to do this work elsewhere.
The world is our classroom for practicing compassion
The Sexto Sol Center for Community Action serves impoverished communities in Chiapas and Guatemala where a change of vision and technical assistance can help them create a better life. Since 1997 we have assisted people to create success with cooperative businesses, grow healthful food, improve neglected schools for their children, regain cultural pride, protect the watershed, create eco-villages and heal from the trauma of disaster and war. We advocate internationally for the respect of indigenous human rights and environmental and economic justice. We hope to inspire others to exercise their own compassion be they our supporters, volunteers or interns. We work in one corner of the world in a way we hope ripples out beyond.
View the Sexto Sol Story on YouTube!
According to the Mayan calendar, the world is entering the Sixth Sun,
El Sexto Sol, the time of Justice and of the emancipation of indigenous peoples.
We promote the ethic of "community action" whereby community members work together
to solve common problems and to reach common goals.
On a planet with abundant life, water and resources, poverty should
be viewed by everyone as an aberration. But we have yet to figure out
how to live in a way that affords every
member of the human family with the necessities for a healthful life.
Therefore most people accept the existence of poverty, of the loss
of 35,000 children to starvation every day, as "unavoidable."
It is possible to create a sustainable world in which all people live with dignity in harmony with nature. It starts with imagining a future for our world in which all Earth's creatures live in harmonious relationship. We are the solution. But changing the world is not a spectator sport. We encourage you to find ways to do your part.
The only obstacle to the realization of a world without poverty is the limit of our creativity.
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." -- Howard Thurman
In these times we encourage you to look to the power of collaboration for the inspiration to reinvent local commerce. By starting a community bartering system, for example, people can enjoy a cash-free way to do business. Such as system helps people who would not have the means to buy what they need to trade their services or goods. After all, money is just a means of exchange so why not find alternative ways to trade that level the disparities within a community? We thank you for caring about the people in the Sierra Madre and for collaborating with us as we work in the spirit of furthering the common good. For an article in Common Dreams on alternative economies by Sexto Sol Executive Director Tamara Brennan, Ph.D., see Looking Beyond Money, Living Beyond Fear
Success! Thanks to a grant from Water Charity, we have installed 260 meters of rain gutters on buildings at an elementary school located at 10K elevation. The school had suffered from flooding which made classrooms dark and wet. See Sexto Sol's Project featured on Water Charity's site!
Our work is made possible by the financial support of people like you
The Sexto Sol Center is honored to be featured on the official site of actor-activist Edward James Olmos, long time friend of the Sexto Sol Center. Our thanks to his fans for your contributions.
Creating a world that works for all is a team effort
