Oaxaca, Mexico
Volunteer in: Oaxaca, Mexico
About the Center
The Project TEN - Cadena center in Oaxaca, Mexico opened in June 2013. Located in the remote natural settings of the Pluma-Hidalgo forests, the center opens its doors to groups of participants throughout the entire year.
Join our team of volunteers to support the local rural population's needs and take an active part in developing the region. You will be engaging with the community of Oaxaca, implementing much-needed educational, agricultural and public health projects, ranging from basic literacy, to sustainability and agricultural development, to natural disaster and emergency training.
The TEN Center in Mexico is maintained by a Center Director and Project Coordinators. The Coordinators are year-long volunteers at the center, many of whom are alumni from short and long-term program tracks. The center staff is available 24-7 for anything you need during your trip.
While living in the center, you will engage in unique volunteer projects and educational activities, giving you hands-on experience while developing skills and connections that will remain with you for a lifetime. You will have the opportunity for self-exploration while forming your identity on a personal and communal level.
Accommodation
Participants live in shared accommodation, 6 people per room, with basic facilities.
Men and women have separate dormitories.
Food
The food supplied by the center is strictly vegetarian, locally purchased to ensure freshness. While we maintain a kosher-style kitchen, there is no local kashrut authority and therefore products are not supervised.
In the TEN Center in Oaxaca, we have an on-site chef who prepares daily hot lunches. Breakfasts and dinners are prepared by participants.
Shabbat and Holidays
The program welcomes religious and non-religious participants. All of the activities organized on Shabbat or Jewish festivals are suitable for those who observe religious practices, however each participant is free to observe Shabbat in their own way.
Each week we arrange kabbalat Shabbat activities and share a festive meal.
Explore Mexico
Participants of the TEN Center in Mexico will have a unique opportunity to explore the local areas and attractions, including the beautiful shores alongside the jungles, the colorful city of Oaxaca and the swag vibe of the famous surfer's beach, Puerto Escondido. In addition to the daily volunteer projects and learning components, volunteers will get a chance to explore the flavours, music and unique local culture. Tour the country, experiencing sites of historical and cultural significance, and hiking the beautiful landscapes. Participants will have the opportunity for additional travel during free weekends.
Safety and Security
The safety and security of our participants is always our number one priority. Our centers are approved by the Jewish Agency’s Security Department and are regularly monitored by 24 hour security guards.
In addition, we ensure that all of our directors are first aid trained, with immediate access to a full first aid kit. Hospitals and medical centers are located in the city, and a car is always available for transportation.
Project TEN is committed to continually reviewing and updating our safety procedures in order to protect volunteers and staff from harm.
Volunteer Projects
The TEN Center in Oaxaca, Mexico operates projects in two main areas: informal education and public health.
HEALTH
- Increasing the access to safe drinking water
- Basic health care trainings
- Installing water filters in communities.
- Educate to hygiene, healthy and risk redacted way of life.
- Training a local persona to give basic health care in the communities.
- Provide progressive health care by expeditions of Doctors.
- Enable early dyagnosis of prevalant health issues such as breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and more.
- Operating a mobile clinic, that provides medical health care to remote communities.
- Establish a platform that provides progressive health solutions on a daily basis.
EDUCATION
- Establish a leadership youth movement that educate to young leadership in the communities.
- Creating educational programs in relevant subjects to complement the communities’ educational system.
- Engage the leadership movement in our educational programs in the communities and capacitate them with the abilities to lead it.
- Organizing book campaigns and fairs to increase the accesibiliy to books and to raise awareness for the bennefits of reading.
- Vocational trainings and courses for adults in relevant topics
- Provides access to information (computers & internet) in the communities.
- Establish management in the leadership movement for autonomy continuity.
AGRICULTURE
- Coming Soon...
Local Need
According to the Government of Mexico, 42% of the population lives below the national poverty line and lack basic nutrition, education, and utilities such as water. 7.4 million live in “extreme” poverty with even worse conditions. Despite changes in government economic policy and growth of the Mexican economy, there are extreme gaps between rich and poor, and lack of opportunities for those living in poor rural areas.
Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico, suffers from the highest levels of illiteracy, unemployment, and lack of basic services such as running water, sanitation and infrastructure in the country. The state of Oaxaca suffers from a negative reciprocal relationship between poverty and frequent natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. The disasters hamper economic progress; simultaneously, poverty prevents residents from anticipating, surviving, and recovering from the impact of emergencies.
Local Partners
- Cadena: Mexico’s Committee for Natural Disasters and Emergencies
Cadena is a non-profit organization founded in 2008 by the Jewish Community of Mexico to provide a proactive response to the consequences of natural disasters in Mexico. Since 2008, Cadena has made 33 deliveries of humanitarian aid throughout the country, helping victims of hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and frosts, among other disasters. They have delivered more than 800 tons of food and 20,000 pieces of clothing. "Mano a Mano" (“Hand to Hand”) deliveries are accompanied by doctors and dentists to provide emergency medical attention. Cadena’s mission is to reduce the vulnerability of the population living in constant risk of natural disasters with the goal of creating a culture of prevention and inclusion. For more information see: www.cadena.org.mx