View photos from Mexico

The objective of this service trip was to enable Eckerd students to work alongside Peace Corps volunteers (PCV) stationed in Mexico so they could observe first-hand what is involved in the daily life of a PCV. We first took part in a building project in the national park “El Bosque La Primavera” outside the city of Guadalajara. This two day project was supervised by Peace Corps Volunteers who work in Guadalajara.

We built benches and an observation site to be used by visitors of the park as well as did trail maintenance. After this project, we relocated by bus to Ciudad Guzman, (State of Jalisco) a smaller town two hours away where Caitlin Aguero ‘09, an Eckerd grad who has been a PC volunteer for the last year and a half introduced us to the eco-technology construction projects (such as worm composting, organic gardening, water purifiers, etc) being developed by the national environmental agency CEFOFOR which is in charge of developing and disseminating eco- friendly projects in communities throughout the State of Jalisco.

For three days, we worked in the small community of Atacco, located outside of Tapalpa, and participated in the building of a community house made of hay, an efficient wood stove, and an oven. All these projects developed by CEFOFOR are environmentally friendly and will benefit the entire community.

Of course, after work and on our last day, we enjoyed the culture as well as the delicious food prepared for us by the community. We also visited warm volcanic springs and rivers or amazing waterfalls outside of the village of Atacco. In all, this was a wonderful introduction to life of a Peace Corps volunteer and to the beautiful Mexico not covered in the media.

View photos from Mexico