Trip #92 Corn and Coffee Harvest
When:
Sunday November 21 - Saturday November 27, 2010
What:
This intensive, rural delegation will bring participants "up close and personal" with the realities of corn and coffee harvest in the life of a Mayan peasant in Chiapas, Mexico. Specific details still to be announced so come prepared for anything!
Delegation 92 summary description:
No special linguistic skills, construction, or artistic experience are required. Basketball, rural cooking, and dancing skills ~ and especially, a sense of humor ~ are very useful; patience and resilience are required! Respect for Mayan community authorities and processes are vital. An experienced, fulltime translator/guide will live and travel along with the delegation. Delegates will sleep and eat in rustic buildings or tents in isolated rural, Zapatista civilian centers and communities. Successful participants may be able to arrange extended volunteer work in Chiapas after participating in this delegation.
Who:
Students, farmers, educators, artists, gardeners, builders, musicians, women, faith-based activists, and people-of-conscience interested in sustainable community development from the bottom up. This delegation will be multifaceted, work-based, and will offer an amazing opportunity to understand the many ways in which the Zapatista communities are growing their resistance into the 21st century.
Where:
This is still to be announced but basically, if you want to make travel arrangements, you have only two choices: Villa Hermosa, Tabasco which is the point of entry for a Palenque launch or Tuxtla Gutierrez, the airport of choice if your destination is San Cristobal de las Casas. If you end up at one place (say Palenque) the other (in this example San Cristobal) is only a short bus trip away. If you have a couple of extra days, you are going to want to visit both so, play it safe; with a couple days of padding on either end, you can fly into one place and leave from the other. Two beautiful and completely different tourist destintions within easy reach of the other.
Otherwise, check back here often. We'll update this page as soon as we finalize our plans for the delegation.
Cost for Delegation 91:
Two weeks of the minimum weekly wage of each participants home. For example U.S. residents pay $7.50 X 40 hours = $300 X 2 weeks = $600 USD. (Airfare not included.) Note: Cost varies by country of residence because the price is equal to two weeks of the minimum wage of the resident country. Price includes ground transportation after arriving in San Cristobal, two meals a day, sleeping in rustic buildings or tents, six days with full time guide/translator, coordination of delegation, and donation to an autonomous Mayan educational project.
Getting there and getting away:
Delegation 92 will begin at 5pm, Sunday, November 21, 2010 and end at noon on Saturday, November 27, 2010. We typically spend the first night in comfortable hotel in either San Cristobal or Palenque and head into Zapatista territory the following morning. As noted in the previous section, the airport nearest to San Cristobal de las Casas is Tuxla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico at airport Llano San Juan (TGZ) and participants should allow two hours for travel between Tuxla Gutierrez and San Cristobal. The airport nearest to Palenque is Villa Hermosa (VSA), Tabasco, and participants should allow three hours for travel between Villa hermosa and Palenque. Long distance buses between Mexico City or Cancun and San Cristobal de las Casas are also available. Much more information available from our travel FAQs.
Cost for Delegation 91:
Two weeks of the minimum weekly wage of each participants home. For example U.S. residents pay $7.50 X 40 hours = $300 X 2 weeks = $600 USD. (Airfare not included.) Note: Cost varies by country of residence because the price is equal to two weeks of the minimum wage of the resident country. Price includes ground transportation after arriving in point of departure city, two meals a day, sleeping in rustic buildings or tents, six days with full time guide/translator, coordination of delegation, and donation to an autonomous Mayan educational project. Keep in mind that 20% of your delegation fee is considered a tax-deductable donation and will be incorporated into cash grants that go to support Zapatista projects.
Schools for Chiapas Travel Refund Policy
Schools for Chiapas does not provide medical, travel, or any other type of insurance for individuals visiting Chiapas. Delegation participants might consider purchasing insurance from a third party if that is appropriate to their situation. Schools for Chiapas will provide 100% refund of all trip fees upon receiving written notification of cancellation at least two weeks before trip begins. Schools for Chiapas will refund 50% of fees upon receiving written notification of cancellation during the last two weeks (less 24 hours) before the trip is to begin. No refunds for any reason will be made to participants who cancel their trip less than 24 hours before the tripbegins or leave at any time after trip begins.
Travel FAQ | Application for Travel
Trip Price Calculator:
We set the prices of most of our delegations according to the approximate weekly minimum wage in your country. This trip costs the equivalent of 2 weeks' minimum wage. To find out how much you should pay for this trip, select your country from the list below. If your country is not in this list or you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
