Volunteer and Internship Program
Make a difference in Chiapas and Guatemala
Diane Lees, England, painting fantastic illustrations on benches for indigenous schools. Miriam Stein, Canada, providing a treatment for PTSD to survivor of Hurricane Stan.
- Help needed with the permaculture and gardening work
- Do you have experience with ROCKET STOVES? We need help to heat very cold schools
- Help us install bottle lights in dark schools - check these out on YouTube
- There are other ways you can help, please write for more details
Come join the adventure of applying your hands, heart, and mind to the task of creating economic justice, helping people to grow food sustainably, teaching permaculture, reforesting a mountain, and more.
Part of the Sexto Sol Mission is to provide opportunities for people to do service for the greater good in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas and in the repatriated refugee communities we assist in Guatemala.
We offer two types of opportunities in the field; volunteer situations and internships. Volunteers are people who come to live and work at Tierra Linda for a week to a couple of months. People with permaculture knowledge are especially needed. We offer a limited number of internship opportunites to people who are interested in developing themselves for future careers in sustainable development through NGO work. Interns make a commmitment for longer time. We provide training over this time and opporunities in the field that help interns gain an insight into how NGOs can impact poverty and environmental challenges. Anyone can apply though we generally can not accomodate people who are in high school.
Become part of the Sexto Sol Family!
Come apply your skills and compassion to make a difference in the lives of the people we serve. For more information and to apply, write to tamara@sextosol.org. Put VOLUNTEER in the subject line. Housing is available at Tierra Linda farm for a modest rent. Volunteers purchase and make their own meals. Tierra Linda is located on the edge of the city of Motozintla in the Sierra Madre region of Chiapas.
Current Volunteer Opportunities
Needs change depending on what we are focusing on at the time. Please write to tamara@sextosol.org for more information. Send us an introduction including when you'd be available, relevant skills, your level of Spanish, your interests, level of education or relevant training and anything else you'd like to mention. It helps for us to know where else you've traveled.
We are a small organization so volunteers are an integral part of our success. We do our best to organize projects so that you feel you are making a difference. We also like to share our knowledge so that volunteers can gain a larger understanding of the region and of the challenges and joys of doing this kind of work.
ECOVILLAGE PROJECT IN GUATEMALA: Volunteers with experience in permaculture, organic gardening, appropriate technology or building skills. The ecovillage project will take place at the community of Nuevo Bullaj where former refugees are farming fair trade coffee collectively. This project will have big impact in the region. People already in the region are encouraged to apply. We are still working out the details of lodging. You will most likely live in the small ecolodge (still a work in progress) and will have some meals with families. Transportation costs are the responsiblity of volunteers. This is the next phase of an on going project that will most likely grow to include a nearby community.ALSO AT NUEVO BULLAJ, people with hospitality industry (hotel/ restaurant) experience - Nuevo Bullaj is creating an eco-lodge for eco-tourism and agro-tourism. We are looking for people with relevant management experience to help them set up the kitchen and other aspects of the hotel. We'd love help from people who are creative natural food cooks, bakers to train people to prepare what will become the "world-famous" gourmet natural food cuisine! You must have good spanish to be able to teach cooking.
Volunteer teachers needed for alternative middle school in the scenic high country town of Porviner, Chiapas. The school received no financial support and depends on small contributions that parents can provide. The principal is working to make this school a model of sustainable living technologies and to provide an exemplary education. The effort is intended to help indigenous children from one of the poorest communities in Mexico reach their potential and contribute to the betterment of the community. Must have excellent Spanish and university education. A family will provide food and board. Volunteer position.
Winter: SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY, COME PICK COFFEE IN GUATEMALA at Nuevo Bullaj collective coffee farm. This community of repatriated refugees needs help to harvest their coffee. It is their chance to sell this year to a socially responsible coffee company. Help is urgently needed. Live in the community. Harvest begins in November and continues through Feb.
Volunteer from your home
Sol is able to do the work in the field thanks to the help of volunteers who help promote projects, do fundraisers, do research, mail letters, send us books and much more. In the aftermath of Hurricane Stan, dozens of caring people knited hats for children who lost their homes. We owe much of our success to the participation of volunteers.
Photo: Cheryl Shimanskey, volunteer firefighter and ranger in Rocky Mountain Park organizes fund-raising for Sexto Sol in Gilpin County, Colorado.
Thanks to MaryAnn Beverly, Tony and Mary Campbell, Luis Manriquez, Greg Willson, Evan Ravitz, Miriam Stein, Amanda Mortl who have helped from their homes in the U.S. and Canada.
People from 17 countries have participated!
Australia, Japan, Germany, England, Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.A., Canada, Spain, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Ireland, Quebec, Chez Republic...
Volunteers from Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Honduras and the U.S.
Volunteers and interns in the field
Donita Crosby, Whidbey Island, WA, USA; Ang Uy, North Carolina, USA; David Kwing, Florida, USA; Heron, Hawaii, USA; Masuoka Akina, Japan; Kielly Dunn, Colorado, USA; Jason McClure and Giselle Flores, Jackson, WY; Tim Howard, New York, USA; Pamela Vining, Maury, Texas, USA; Tatiana Becker and Mike Gregory, Seattle, USA; Alison Feik and Giles Charles, Michigan, USA; Alec Keefer, Portland, USA; Miriam Stein, Canada; Francisco Alfonso Gordillo Melgoza, México; Mark Taylor, England; Rob Hellrigel, North Carolina, USA; Lange Eve, North Carolina, USA; Diane Lees, England;, Josue Diaz, Texas, USA; Mary Lacques, Hawaii, USA; Camila Risenfeld, Sweden; Ale Hueler, Chez Republic; Lucienne Mueller, Switzerland; Cormac Lawler, Ireland; Jen Miller, CA, USA; Barbara and John Payne, England; Zac y Amy McMullen, CO, USA; Cory, Lael, Joshua, USA; Jonathan Jensen, Utah, USA; Marcel Van der Meer, Holland; Scotty Kellog, Texas, USA; Alejandra Mancela, Chile; Cleo Wolfe-Erskine, CA, USA; Jill Howdyshell, OR, USA, Mary Richardson, Quebec; Amanda Mortl, MA, USA; Jake McLean, AL, USA; Jed Loveday-Brown, CA, USA; Wendy Cortemancie, NM, USA; Michael McDermott, England; Melinda Matson y Arhen Lutz, USA; Margaret Raven, Austrailia, Karen Ageson, Canada
