Mexico Summer Project: Semilleros de Futuros!
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is seeking motivated volunteers for the 2006 Mexico Summer Project, taking place from July 3 to August 18, 2006. The Mexico Summer Project will provide a safe place where youth from the Americas, Europe and Mexico can work together on community projects, share from their diverse cultures and experiences, and learn ways to address the political, social, ecological, and economic challenges of the present and the future. The Mexico Summer Project is run in collaboration with Servicio, Desarollo, y Paz, A.C. (SEDEPAC), a prominent Mexican non-governmental organization. In 1939, AFSC and Quakers in Mexico launched the program, which now in its 67th year, continues to provide positive life-changing experiences for diverse youth and local communities.
THE PROGRAM
In 2006, participants will live together in indigenous communities in the mountainous northeastern region of Puebla, Mexico, commonly called Sierra Norte de Puebla. In developing and implementing the 2006 Mexico Summer Project, SEDEPAC and AFSC will work closely with Unidad Indígena Totonaca Nahuatl (UNITONA) an indigenous development organization in the area.
After a week of orientation, including a 3-day home stay with a local host family (community immersion), participants are divided into five groups. Each group of about 10 to 14 spends the next seven weeks living as a family in an indigenous village where they engage with the local community in culture and recreational exchanges, assigned work projects, and workshops on various topics important to the local community and the group members.
QUALIFICATIONS
This is an intensive, challenging experience for mature young persons who are open-minded and eager to learn about the challenges of building sustainable communities in the midst of economic and ecological crisis. Participants must be 18-26 years old and able to communicate well in Spanish, the language of the project at all times. AFSC requires that participants undergo a pre-project physical exam. They must commit for the full seven weeks, July 3 - August 18, 2006, and should be willing and prepared to live with a small group of peers in a remote rural area of Mexico. AFSC seeks applicants who are interested in service, advocacy, and social justice—both in Latin America and their own communities.
APPLICATIONS
Application forms are available online at www.afsc.org/mexicosummer. Please call or email to request that the forms be mailed to you.
All applications must be submitted to AFSC by March 31(yes! We have extended our deadline!), 2006. You will be notified by April 21, 2006. We have space to accept up to 28 participants and 5 co-facilitators from the United Status, Canada, and Puerto Rico (applicants from other countries should contact SEDEPAC). Additional qualified applicants will be placed on a waiting list and contacted as space becomes available.
For additional information and application forms please visit our web site at www.afsc.org/mexicosummer.
Please spread the word! Share this information with anyone who might be interested.
For additional brochures and information:
American Friends Service Committee
IPLAC – Mexico Summer Project
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215)241-7295
(215)241-7026 (fax)
mexicosummer@afsc.org
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