Announcing our 2024 Spring Break Family Service Trip in the Mayan highlands region of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. The 7-day program is for families to introduce their children to service and global citizenship while immersed in a new place, language, people and culture.
Since 2006, ViviendasLeon has operated a service learning travel program, bringing more than 2,000 volunteers to Central America.. Our family service program supports our organization’s mission: Alleviating poverty by empowering and equipping rural communities to become the agents of their own development. The program is well structured, combining cultural and language learning with hands-on experiences in community projects, and returning home with a deeper understanding of the complex world beyond our borders.
Our program is rigorous and organized. Families spend mornings and evenings together with a local host family in Panajachel or San Juan la Laguna, then spend each day working in rural communities to support the progress of projects, and learning about development first hand.
In 2024, we will begin our food security farming program in rural communities. We will be working with 20 families to build their first farms. These farms will produce as many as 30 types of fruits and vegetables, diversify their diet, improve their nutrition and increase their family income.
“It’s hard to put into words the experiences my family and I have had on our immersion trips with ViviendasLeón. Each one has been truly amazing. Family immersion trips are an incredibly special way to travel.”
Will Robbins, Family program parent
Program details:
Dates: April 6-13, 2024
Cost: $1,900 per person, all expenses included except airfare.
What is a typical day like:
Wake up and have a typical breakfast with your host family.
Head to the rural community to work side-by-side with community members on their project.
Lunch in the community
Continuing work with families and community activities,, then return to the Lake.
Evenings are spent over dinner with host families
Occasional visits to nearby places of cultural and historic interest
Learn more:
Read our trip update: "School and Family Travel in Guatemala 2019"
Register:
If this sounds like a great way to spend a week with your family next spring, volunteering and learning about a new community and culture, submit your interest form here.
“ViviendasLeon has supported us throughout our process. Without their help, we would not have been able to overcome the barriers of poverty. They continue to help families like our own, and I hope their impact benefits other people in rural communities who need it.”
Oralia Ramirez - mother, farmer, beekeeper
We introduce participants to new ways of seeing the world as they embark on a service-learning experience that expands their awareness of local history and culture while participating in our international service program.
Continue reading >The latest report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on undernourishment in Latin America and the Caribbean, shows an increase between 2014 to 2018, from 38 million people to 42.5 million people suffering from hunger.
Continue reading >
