Volunteer and Internship Program

Make a difference in Chiapas and Guatemala

Diane Lees, England, painting fantastic illustrations on benches for indigenous schools. Miriam Stein, Canada, providing a treatment for PTSD to survivor of Hurricane Stan.

Come join the adventure of applying your hands, heart, and mind to the task of creating economic justice, helping people to grow food sustainably, teaching permaculture, reforesting a mountain, and more.

Part of the Sexto Sol Mission is to provide opportunities for people to do service for the greater good in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas and in the repatriated refugee communities we assist in Guatemala.

We offer two types of opportunities in the field; volunteer situations and internships. Volunteers are people who come to live and work at Tierra Linda for a week to a couple of months. Our needs change depending on what we are working on at any given time. Check the list of opportunities and write to inquire.

We offer a limited number of internship opportunities to people who are interested in developing themselves for future careers in sustainable development through NGO work. Interns make a commitment for longer time. We provide training over this time and opportunities in the field that help interns gain an insight into how NGOs can impact poverty and environmental challenges. Anyone can apply though we generally can not accommodate people who are in high school.

Become part of the Sexto Sol Family!

General information

How to apply: Please write to tamara@sextosol.org for more information. Send us an introduction including when you'd be available, relevant skills, your level of Spanish, your interests, level of education or relevant training and anything else you'd like to mention. It helps for us to know where else you've traveled. Put VOLUNTEER in caps in the subject line.

We are a small organization so volunteers are an integral part of our success. We do our best to organize projects so that you feel you are making a difference. We also like to share our knowledge so that volunteers can gain a larger understanding of the region and of the challenges and joys of doing this kind of work.

We do receive more requests to volunteer than we can accommodate. It is easier for us to plan for the next couple of months than far into the future. If you are in Mexico, give us an email to inquire what might be available. We frequently need short term help with the demo farm.

We are pleased to have been invited to partner with Omprakash.org, an service that matches volunteers and organizations. Occasionally they offer travel support to volunteers.

Housing is available at Tierra Linda farm for a modest rent. Volunteers purchase and make their own meals. Tierra Linda is located on the edge of the city of Motozintla in the Sierra Madre region of Chiapas.

Some things we've learned are best mentioned up front: Volunteers with the Sexto Sol Center represent the Field staff, Board of Directors and supporters of our work. We ask that volunteers be certain to have the resources they need to cover their expenses while volunteering. There is no smoking, drinking, or drugs allowed. We also ask all volunteers to be respectful of local people by keeping tidy and making sure to wear appropriate clothing.

Current Volunteer Opportunities

Short term positions to help needed with landscaping and gardening. If you like to work outside and get things done, this is a nice short term situation.

Immediate need for help with online tech support. It's not as hard as it sounds and actually is fun. Learn how to do the tech things that help non-profits reach out to supporters and also to create teaching tools for use in the field. Facebook, YouTube, Newsletter sending, that kind of thing. Work with us in Chiapas or from your computer at home somewhere on Gaia. I'll help guide you through tasks so if you are not tech phobic, it's a great opportunity to learn while helping. Really do need this help!!

**- Do you have experience with ROCKET STOVES? We need help to heat very cold schools

• Help us install bottle lights in dark schools - check these out on YouTube
• There are other ways you can help, please write for more details**

Volunteer opportunities in Guatemala Occasionally we can help you find volunteer situations in Guatemala. Most needed are people with experience in permaculture, organic gardening, appropriate technology or building skills. There may also be situations to help in schools.

Winter: Show your solidarity, come pick coffee in Guatemala at Magnolia Miramar collective coffee farm. This community of repatriated refugees needs help to harvest their coffee each year. Live in the community. Harvest begins in November and continues through Feb.

Volunteer from your home

Sexto Sol is able to do the work in the field thanks to the help of volunteers who help promote projects, do fundraisers, do research, mail letters, send us books and much more. In the aftermath of Hurricane Stan, dozens of caring people knited hats for children who lost their homes. We owe much of our success to the participation of volunteers.

Photo: Cheryl Shimanskey, volunteer firefighter and ranger in Rocky Mountain Park organizes fund-raising for Sexto Sol in Gilpin County, Colorado.

Thanks to Dawn Hickerson, MaryAnn Beverly, Tony and Mary Campbell, Luis Manriquez, Greg Willson, Evan Ravitz, Miriam Stein, Amanda Mortl, Jeanmarie Morelli, Melinda Matson, Joe Craven and others who have helped from their homes in the U.S. and Canada.

People from 19 countries have participated!

Australia, Belgium, Japan, Finland, Germany, England, Holland, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.A., Canada, Spain, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Ireland, Quebec, Denmark, Chech Republic...

Volunteers from Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Honduras and the U.S.

Volunteers and interns in the field

Benoit Dodd, Australia; Lucie Marlene Baltisbergek and Jane Elena Magri, Switzerland; Margarita Reyes, Campeche,Mexico; Caroline Metzler, Arizona and the Americas; Carolyn Barker, Tucson, AZ, USA; Bavo Vandenbroecke, Mathias Spelkens, Belgium; Hanna Navaro, Australia; Sara De Moitié, Belgium; Brittany Eaton, (Iowa, USA); Andrew Ages and Liz (USA); Amy Brunett, Michigan, USA Intern; Lauren Simpson y Phil Moore, England; Emma Avery, Canada y Lewis MacAulay, Australia; Laura Keyes, West Virginia, USA; Susan Ramsey, Denver, USA; Marie Lytken Laursen, Denmark; Teija Tarvainen, Finland; Andrew Cardella, Haines AK, USA; Donita Crosby, Whidbey Island, WA, USA; Ang Uy, North Carolina, USA; David King, Florida, USA; Heron, Hawaii, USA; Masuoka Akina, Japan; Kielly Dunn, Colorado, USA; Jason McClure and Giselle Flores, Jackson, WY; Tim Howard, New York, USA; Pamela Vining, Maury, Texas, USA; Tatiana Becker and Mike Gregory, Seattle, USA; Alison Feik and Giles Charles, Michigan, USA; Alec Keefer, Portland, USA; Miriam Stein, Canada (Intern); Francisco Alfonso Gordillo Melgoza, México; Mark Taylor, England; Rob Hellrigel, North Carolina, USA; Lange Eve, North Carolina, USA; Diane Lees, England (Intern); Josue Diaz, Texas, USA; Mary Lacques, Hawaii, USA (Intern); Camila Risenfeld, Sweden; Ale Hueler, Chez Republic; Lucienne Mueller, (Intern) Switzerland; Cormac Lawler, Ireland; Jen Miller, CA, USA; Barbara and John Payne, England; Zac y Amy McMullen, CO, USA; Cory, Lael, Joshua, USA; Jonathan Jensen, Utah, USA; Marcel Van der Meer, Holland; Scotty Kellog, Texas, USA; Alejandra Mancela, Chile; Cleo Wolfe-Erskine, CA, USA; Jill Howdyshell, OR, USA, Intern); Mary Richardson, Quebec; Amanda Mortl, MA, USA (Intern); Jake McLean, AL, USA (Intern); Jed Loveday-Brown, CA, USA; Wendy Cortemancie, NM, USA; Michael McDermott, England; Melinda Matson y Arhen Lutz, USA; Margaret Raven, Australia; Karen Ageson, Canada; Mary Laques, Hawaii, USA