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Climate change in Latin America and environmental protection volunteers

It’s a fact. Global warming is not an if, but a when . The scientific community knows that the tipping point of no return is coming soon, how soon depends on the choices we as global community take.

Environmental conservation is key to slowing or hopefully reversing some of the effects.

 

Global warming not only affects rising ocean lines, whole ecosystems and temperatures, but it also has dire social consequences, specially on poorer countries that are ill-equipped to handle natural disasters, economic instability and resource shortages. Volunteers in our environmental program see first-hand how climate change is changing the region and are part of the change to slow it down. But how exactly does it affect Latin America?

  1. Natural disasters: Climate is becoming more and more extreme .Hurricanes, floods, droughts, and more. This is not exclusive to Latin America, but most countries in the region don’t have effective plans on how to deal with these disasters and in turn this causes food shortages, displaced populations, water related illnesses and rise in vermin.

  2. The seasons: A lot of small traditional farmers rely on the predictability of seasons to time their crops. Global warming is creating more unpredictable weather, causing a myriad of problems for small farmers that don’t have irrigation systems or any tools of industrialized farming. Volunteers working with small farmers are working on ways to protect small farmers against this.

  3. Extreme temperatures: Some areas that are already very hot during the summer are becoming dangerously hot. This becomes a bigger issue when a lot of the people in those areas work as farmers and spend most of their day outdoors. Also this contributes to destroying their crops.

  4. Deepening the wealth gap: Because the already poor people get the worse consequences of climate change, the wealth gap gets bigger, causing more social instability.

  5. Migration: Because of this rising wealth gap , climate change is creating massive immigration of people looking for better opportunities in other countries, in turn creating refugees of a sort.

Climate change is the hands of everyone and only a coordinated effort can help mitigate the problem.

Climate change is the hands of everyone and only a coordinated effort can help mitigate the problem.

Volunteers working in the environmental conservation.

program work towards more sustainable forestry practices, sustainable tourism and environmental education. The education aspect has the longest lasting impact on the population, as it teaches them how manage their resources in a more responsible way.

Also, at home there are many ways to reduce your footprint on the earth like buying less, repairing more, re-using, supporting environmentally friendly companies , eating less meat and making small conscious decisions. We realize the act of air travel does also create a carbon footprint, so try to keep air travel meaningful.

Want to learn more about sustainable travel? Check out one of our former volunteer´s blog

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How to make Guacamole, The Guatemalan way.


A big part of traveling abroad is eating the local food. Eating local, is a great way to get to know the culture as well. One of the favorite recipes of volunteers that come to Guatemala is Guacamole A.K.A “GUAC” , to make some good old finger-lickin’ Guatemalan style Guacamole all you have to do is this:

The ingredients:

8 ripe avocados. How to know if they are ripe? Check this guide out.

1 white onion

3 lemons

1 teaspoon of Salt

1 spoon of oregano

1 spoon of pepper

¼ cup of parsley

This makes a bowl for four

  1. Cut the avocados and put them in a bowl.Keep one of the seeds!
  2. Smash all the avocados with a fork until the textures is nice and creamy
  3. Dice onions and add to the bowl.
  4. Cut lemons and mix in juice.
  5. Dice parsley leaves and add in to the bowl.
  6. Add oregano ,pepper and salt.

Tip: add in one of the seeds (whole)of the avocados to help the Guacamole stay fresh , this is because the seed releases essentials oils that prevent the Guacamole turning brown.

Other ingredients you can try with your Guac:

-Mayonnaise to make it creamier

-Cayenne pepper

-Garlic Salt

-Diced tomato

Volunteer approved recipe!

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Managing Culture Shock during your Volunteer Abroad Program

From the time I was 14 through 23 I was fortunate enough to participate in 11 international volunteer and intern abroad programs. Although each of these volunteer programs were in a different country (and yes, I absolutely have my favorites) the adaptation to a new daily schedule, host families, co-volunteers, local supermarkets and volunteer program sites was always very similar. Between 3 days and 3 weeks, I always called my mother in tears, told her I needed to go home, and told her any version of “I shouldn’t have come” that you can think.

Throughout each of those 11 conversations where my mother listened to my fears, reassured me that I would have a great time if I gave myself a bit of grace and opened up the next few days, then told me to send lots of photos, I was always reminded of why I chose to participate in the volunteer program in the first place. Bringing myself back to my initial goal, then slowing down for long enough to enjoy the new world around me, I realized that I was scared. I was scared of not making new friends in Argentina, of not understanding my Peruvian host family’s Spanish, scared to let Costa Rican my volunteer project coordinators down, scared I wasn’t going to be able to have as large of an impact in Guatemala that I wished.

The lesson that I learned through these experiences, and that I hope will help you have the best volunteer abroad experience is

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Volunteering over 50

Volunteering over 50

Volunteering abroad is a rewarding and life-changing experience at any age. We would like to invite you to get to know Inlexca and the number of volunteer placements which are ideal for the over 50s we offer. These include English teaching, medical and health volunteering, women’s empowerment, wildlife or marine conservation and many more.

If you are looking to take part in a responsible holiday, travel some new countries, cross off some items from your bucket list, learn a new skill or simply want to help others, we can assist you to find the perfect project for your time abroad.

During the past 10 years, our organization has placed over 1000 volunteers among which many have been over 50. INLEXCA places a great deal of value on our older volunteers, for with age comes a mixture of experience, skills, and patience that younger volunteers often cannot offer. We understand that at any age, at any stage in life, every volunteer has his / her own personal needs and requirements, this is why we design each volunteer placement in direct communication with your volunteers taking into consideration their desires and needs.

Our over 50s volunteering placements are designed to broaden your horizons, expand your mind and heart and create life-enhancing experiences. If you’re inspired by traveling around the world and doing great things to give back to communities as you set your own path, we invite you to get in contact with us.

We are also happy to accommodate you with your family if you want to bring someone along – children, grandchildren or friends!

Remember, it is never too late to make a difference in the world.