Filed under: Environment, Service, Service Abroad, Spring Break, Tulum Eco Spring Break Service Trip | Tags: Akumal, bioregion, Cancun, cenotes, Centro Ecological Akumal, college students, Copal Cabanas, eco-serve, Ecotulum, Educational Ecological Service Trip, Enchanting Challenge, library, Mayan ruins, Mexico, serve, Service, Spring Break, Tulum, turtles, Volunteer, Volunteering
The Ecological Educational Service Trip is just about one week away!!! I can not believe that in this whirlwind couple of months in getting Enchanting Challenge on its feet, we are about to embark upon the first ever Enchanting Challenge-sponsored service trip! I am really excited. I am also really excited to share the results with our readers, through written reflections, videos, pictures, and more!! That way, all of our readers can see more clearly what an Enchanting Challenge-sponsored service trip really means…And hopefully be a part of one in the future!!
Meet Gabriela:
She will lead the service-breakers through their ecological volunteer activities in Tulum, Mexico this March!! Here is what the final schedule looks like:
- Monday, March 16th: Arrival to Tulum, via a flight landing in Cancun and a quick trip on the ADO bus!
- Tuesday, March 17th: Visit the Tulum Ruins
(photo taken from this website) - Wednesday, March 18th: Visit and eco-serve in the beautiful BIOREGION, concluded by snorkeling in the bioregion’s CENOTES (holes with a rocky edge containing groundwater)!! Check out this awesome YouTube about scuba-diving in Tulum’s cenotes:
- Thursday, March 19th: Visit Akumal and eco-serve with the Centro Ecologico Akumal!!
- Friday, March 20th: Visit Akumal and volunteer at the library, donating books and reading stories outloud to the patrons!
- Saturday, March 21st: Free day, to celebrate your hard work in the waves of the Caribbean Sea!!
- Sunday, March 22nd: Depart for home…Think about coming back for the Summer Educational Ecological Service Trip or again for next year’s Spring Break!!
Price Recap:
- For lodging: $35/night/person
- For food: $16/day/person
- For transportation to-and-from the airport: $54/per person/total for both-ways (Includes:$10/per person for the ADO bus upon arrival into Cancun; the $4 cab-ride from the Tulum ADO terminal to the Copal Cabanas; the $40 bus charge to bring you from Tulum to the airport in Cancun for your return flight (if you have to be at the airport before ADO bus hours (normal business hours)))
- For transportation daily: $4/person/day
- For activities: $40/person/week (INCLUDES: $10 entrance fee into Tulum ruins and $30 snorkeling fee)
As the service-breakers embark upon their journey in just a little over one week, I will be blogging away, updating you on their journey as it happens. If you are interested in embarking upon this same journey this coming summer, please let me know!!! Good luck to everyone on their spring breaks! If anyone is interested, I am collecting videos, photos, and reflections on service trips happening across the US and across the world in order to compile it all into a service collage for the blog!! If you want to be involved, send me your videos, your pics, and your reflections to be a part of the project!
Filed under: Environment, Family Volunteering, Service, Service Abroad, Summer Break | Tags: community supported agriculture, CSA, Local Harvest, organic, Organic farming, serve, serving, Volunteer, Volunteering, work-for-share, WWOOF
As mentioned on Friday’s post, perhaps the healthiest way to serve the world (and yourself!) is through eating locally. This can be, of course, accomplished through farmers’ markets and growing a small (or large!) amount of your own produce right at home. However, there are also some other pretty cool ways to become even more involved in the local food movement. If you have an itch to more deeply understand the journey of our food from seed to meal, then you might want to consider becoming involved in Community Supported Agriculture or volunteering on an organic farm.
Community Supported Agriculture
Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a process by which a patron buys a share of the farm, thereby becoming farm members or shareholders. The members/shareholders then receive a weekly share of the farm’s in-season produce. Shares typically cost around $500 for a seasonal membership (depending upon your agricultural region, usually somewhere around 20 weeks), and can usually provide enough produce weekly for about two people. Check out this YouTube video about CSA to learn more!
Work-for-Share
A $500 membership fee is quite a steal for a duo. However, if you are a struggling college student, the work-for-share program is probably a better option for you. As its name suggests, this set-up involves paying for your share of the farm by working. Generally, farms will probably ask for an 8-10 hour/week commitment from you in exchange for your weekly produce (perhaps the perfect part-time summer job!). To find a list of CSA farms near your home, click here.
(photo taken from the Local Harvest website)
Organic Farm Service Heaven
Another way to get involved in the local food movement is by volunteering on an organic farm. WWOOF, the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, is an amazing network of organic farms spanning 6 continents. By signing up to become a WWOOF member, you can apply for placement on an organic farm in your preferred region, whether that be the sandy farms of the Middle East, or the foresty greens of Germany, or the savannas of Africa–it’s up to you! Programs are generally set up as a home-stay, with the volunteers living with and as part of their host family. Volunteers are expected to help in the daily farm work, and in return are well-fed and provided with clean, safe, and dry living quarters. There is no cost besides a small contribution to WWOOF to help them maintain their organization. If you are interested in learning the ins-and-outs of organic farming, WWOOF may be the perfect opportunity for you.
(photo taken from the WWOOF website)
The local food movement is healthy for our world and for our own bodies. It is a wonderful way to help move our world into the hopeful and healthy direction we are now moving. CSA and WWOOF are just two ways to get involved. There are many more options out there, so don’t hesitate to email me with any questions you may have on this topic!!
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