INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY CONSERVATION 2017

This program will take the volunteers to an indigenous community located in the Amazon Rain Forest, where they will live with local families, totally immersed in their native culture. They join the efforts of the community to conserve a growing piece of rainforest and establishing a sustainable lifestyle that encourages young people to stay in the countryside instead of moving into cities and giving up their land and traditions. This program gives volunteers plenty of possibilities to engage for the community as well as to develop their own ideas. All paired with a flavor of adventure in a unique environment. Volunteers might trek through the jungle with a machete, bath in waterfalls, get to know the process of growing bananas on the various plantations around, and help adding new plants to the family's medical garden, while learning about seemingly mysterious medical powers of nature. They will watch the sun rise over the dusty rainforest, overview the breath­taking moment from a cliff high above the treetops, fade into sleep listening to the melodies of traditional flutes chiming through the night long after everybody went to bed. A thrilling way to support a community and practice your Spanish whilst collecting unforgettable impressions in this definitely not tourist program. This extraordinary time in the Amazon will contain countless opportunities to explore the area and experience the rich and traditional culture of the indigenous people. Volunteers should be prepared to be surprised not only by being stuck knee­deep in rainy mud, but also by being up to their neck in a different worldview and an unexpected perspective of life full of tranquility, peace and harmony with nature, making all of it an unforgettable cultural experience. Aims & Objectives The community altogether holds about 2500 acres of land of which 2100 acres are treated as a natural reserve. Thanks to the help of past volunteers, the community could develop a self sustaining, environmentally aware lifestyle. Cattle farming belongs to the past and active reforestation helps undo past mistakes. Every single volunteer who came left behind a few modern thoughts or ideas, that helped the community to think in a more long term and global way. And still there is much left to do.