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Program Description
Projects Abroad - Volunteer Programs in Mexico
Description
Mexico is a beautiful country, and a great place to spend time on a volunteer program or internship. Mexico is a real meeting-place of cultures: a modern, industrialized and well-educated country thats full of history. American, Spanish and Indian influences all come together to make it a fascinating place that mixes developed and developing worlds. Mexico is a stimulating mixture of wealth and poverty, and offers amazing opportunities for volunteers to learn and travel within its expansive borders.
Highlights
Mexico is a real mix of cultures. American, Spanish and Indian influences all come together to make a fascinating country. There is also a great contrast in country between the developed and developing world - a stimulating cocktail of wealth, poverty, and Microsoft. Mexico is definitely a colorful place.
Guadalajara, where we are based, is part of the West Central Highlands and has one of the most pleasant climates the country offers. The winters are moderately warm and the summers hot, although not unbearably. With this wonderful climate, you will be able to explore all the beauty Mexico has to offer anytime of the year!
Tequila, sombreros, mariachi music and rodeo riders all came from Guadalajara. Our office is right next to the magnificent Expiatory Cathedral in the center of the city. We also have some projects in Ciudad Guzman which allow volunteers to see life in a small town in Mexico under the shadow of the great Colima volcano.
Ratings and Reviews
0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sea Turtle Conservation in Tecoman, Mexico
100%Overall
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1 of 3 people found this review helpful
Animal Care In Mexico
100%Overall
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Staying with a host family, work starts at 9:30 at the animal centre in the city. Day to day, you clean and feed the animals there, which range from exotic birds to crocodiles. There may be more specific tasks varying on the needs of the animals, but lunch is around 1pm. The staff are very friendly, and are looking for you to enjoy yourself and have an amazing experience, but in a safe way since the animals can be unpredictable. At the beginning of your stay you are given a falcon, or an owl, to train. You are taught the basics of falconry, which is a little difficult to begin with, but the birds you work with are beautiful. If you don't like the falcons and take a special interest in something else, such as snakes, discuss it with the project leader so that they can try to sort something out for you. Occasionally you take some animals and go and educate children about them at a library or school, and go to the animal centre in the forrest. this centre has monkeys and even a jaguar. This project is great to get work experience for a current/ prospective vet student. You can ask to sit in on surgeries and be shown how to give medication.
The centre can be hard work, but it's a friendly environment, and the staff have a great sense of humour. It is by far one of the most interesting experiences I've done.
10 of 23 people found this review helpful
Projects Abroad México
100%Overall
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Releasing baby turtles into the pacific ocean is probably one of the greatest moments of my life. Spending the days doing hard work at the turtle camp, doing beach clean ups, birdwatching and crocodile conservation, and the nights on patrol looking for turtle nests now sounds like absolute perfection to me. I would have done this everyday for the rest of my life if I could. The staff are supportive and caring, and really do want you to have the experience of a lifetime.
I also took part in the animal care programme, helping to clean and care for animals in the city, and at the centre at Centinella. The animal centre is somewhere that I would say that the more proactive you are, the more you will get from your experience. My work there ranged from cleaning cages in the morning, feeding early afternoon (including a pelican who couldn't eat by himself) and then training the falcons in the afternoon. It was important to build a relationship with your falcon, and spend time with it everyday. The social life is great, the staff help organise things for weekdays, but your weekends could be left free for travelling, such as a trip to Puerto Vallarta.
I have returned twice already to México, and if I had my way, I would be on a plane back there tomorrow!!
14 of 32 people found this review helpful
Medicine in Guadalajara
80%Overall
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This experience gave me an awesome idea of how medicine is practiced in Guadalajara, Mexico. I stayed with a warm and welcoming family who treated me well, and included me in everything! I worked in a hospital with amazing staff who took me out and showed me around. I had to be proactive to get the experience that I wanted, but the staff was available to help me plan or alter my experience in any way that I wanted!
Turtle Camp has the best of both worlds, the excitement of seeing the turtles and crocodiles, to complete relaxation in idyllic surroundings. Day to day, mornings start with corral. This means that the turtle eggs collected the night before are placed into nests the volunteers make in the sand to incubate them in a safe place away from poachers and predators. After this there is morning chores, just something simple to do to help keep the camp clean, such as sweeping sand. Once chores are done, there is a specific activity for the day, such as helping the locals at the lagoon build something, collecting rubbish on the beach (its harmful to the wildlife), or even going to help at the crocodile farm.
Dinner is prepared for you at around 4, this is the biggest meal of the day in Mexico. Everyone Socialises around dinner, and after washing dishes and cleaning up, everyone gets some downtime. During the day you can join the staff members going into town so you can check your emails and Facebook, or go shopping. At night there are patrols along the beach using quad bikes to search for turtle nests. The eggs are collected and brought safely back to camp. This is an all together amazing experience, if you're lucky you'll find the turtles laying the eggs. I've always found that going on patrol when its rainy and windy are the best times to find turtles. I fell in love with turtle camp, so much so I've been three times. There are too many highlights to list, such as seeing the baby turtles hatch and releasing them into the sea. It also helps that everyone bonds together, making turtle camp one big family. The staff also genuinely care about everything, so you're always in safe hands. The biggest difficulty will always be having to go home.Turtle camp is the most amazing experience of my life, and I wouldn't change a second of it. GO! I promise you won't regret it.