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Orphanages
Our volunteers work with 2 local orphanages in the Xalapa area. One (MECED) is actually a halfway house for runaways or child workers and it houses around 15 young boys. Casa de la Madre Angelica is an orphanage that currently houses 21 young girls from ages 2-18. We also work with a boys and girls orphanage that houses children that have suffered some sort of abuse, neglect, or malnutrition at home. Our volunteers teach English, painting, dancing or any other recreational activity that they feel they can organize during the afternoons. We strongly encourage volunteers to help with tutoring in different school subjects.

Schools
T2T volunteers teach English in various primary and secondary schools around Xalapa and at rural areas in the outskirts of the city. English has been part of the public education program for many years but only at the secondary and preparatory levels, the English that is taught is quite basic. Through these programs Travel to Teach hopes to be able to give kids a head start with their future education and also an open door for future employment.

Troubled Kids and Teens
T2T works with several organizations that are currently working with Xalapa’s Street Children and minors with addictions or in vulnerable family situation. Volunteers are welcome to teach English but they can also help around or set up a shop for the kids (painting, dance, sports, etc). These organizations offer not only psychological support but also give these kids a place to go to instead of the streets. They also help the families to find ways of reintegrating themselves.

Special Needs Children
This is Travel to teach´s newest project. Meced is an art school for children with special needs. Our volunteers work with the teachers in various art classes: painting, ceramic, photography, theatre and IT. These types of schools are not common for children with special needs, so they need all the support they can get in order to keep things running. All of our volunteers are welcome to join in these classes.

Womans Groups
More and more women are finding different ways of bringing in some much needed “extra” money into their households, some of them abandoned by there husbands, others single mothers and some are just trying to help there husbands support the family since their salaries are only enough to get by with. They do this by learning different crafts like embroidery, crochet, and knitting or by furthering their own education. T2T gives them a hand by teaching them or their children (while the moms are doing their shops) English, and if we have the opportunity…computers.
Some of these groups also give violence awareness shops and sometimes provide medicines to rural communities; volunteers are welcome to get involved in any of these projects.

Outskirts of Xalapa
We work in various communities in the outskirts of Jalapa during the week giving children and women English classes. These rural communities mostly consist of farmers and brick makers and their families, so if it was not for these projects kids form these areas would not be able to take any English classes on their own. Volunteers are also welcome to teach any other type of recreational activities that they feel comfortable giving or support us in Home Violence awareness shops.

Medical
Volunteers can befriend patients or assist medical staff at Homes for the Elderly or a Clinic for the terminally ill. We also have an open invitation for any volunteers that have good knowledge in the nursing or medical area to help us give First Aid Classes in the outskirts of Xalapa, where it is very much needed since medical services are not close by.

The Elderly
Elders are very well respected in Mexican culture, however with the recent high migration rates and the influence of western culture more and more of them are being taken to Homes and many of them don’t have any relatives in the area. Travel to Teach volunteers are welcome to help out at various Homes for the Elderly were they can help out in the English Class that is given by one of these retired English teachers, give them some yoga or stretching seminars, help out with the cooking, help the staff take care of them or just spend some much appreciated time with them reading or listening.

Tortuga
Is an environmental community that is setting up its head quarters in the Mist Forest of Xalapa, you can visit them during the weeks or weekends and learn and practice environmental living, natural building, and organic farming. You are also welcome to work in the Rancho Viejo community teaching English to the kids or the adults, setting up a sports team with teenagers, or just helping out with building the community.

Vovamos Mejor Veracruz
Vovamos Mejor Veracruz Is an organization that works with different rural communities around Jalapa, our volunteers are invited to join them during the weekends giving English, painting, or dance shops to the children.

Animals
One of our newest projects in Xalapa involves mans best friend, Amigos de los animals A.C. is a non profit local organization that shelters, protects, and defend animals in general, en specially cats and dogs, they take in animals that have been run over, mistreated, sick, or abandoned. They also offer medical attention to pets with low income owners. Volunteers can donate their time to bathe or cure the animals, help clean the installations, supervise the newly adopted animals or help out at charity events.

For more information please visit our website http://www.travel-to-teach.org or Email kerstin@travel-to-teach.org

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