New Development Experience: Impact Travel Experiences

Are you interested in traveling throughout Guatemala learning about Mayan artisans and seeing their work while accompanied by a development professional?

Are you looking for a once-in-a-lifetime alternative spring break experience contributing to rural Guatemalan development initiatives?

Are you a church group interested in a unique mission trip where you can gain an in-depth perspective and add true value?

If your answer is “Yes!’ we have the experience for you……

Our Impact Travel Programs are unique opportunities for the socially conscious traveler to truly Experience Guatemala and all that it has to offer. Guatemala has traditionally attracted travelers because of its dramatic landscapes, award winning artisan products, amazing Maya culture, and broad diversity of adventurous opportunities. Our programs are designed specifically to provide the traveler with the opportunity to participate in all that Guatemala has to offer while learning about some of the incredible development work that is being achieved. Our programs promise adventure and fun but also leave the traveler with a true understanding of the country, its people and its place in our world. NDE has designed two outstanding and very economically priced trips that will provide the explorer in you with the Experience of a lifetime ...

Note: All profits from these programs are donated to the development work of Community Enterprise Solutions.

The Insight and Impact Experience(One Week)

Program Price
Number of Participants
Program Dates
Highlighted Sample Intinerary

Visit with and learn from local and international development organizations in four distinct regions of the country working in a variety of initiatives including health care, education and small business development. A unique experience where you will also be accompanied by an economic development professional who can help you better understand both the opportunities and challenges confronting development organizations in Guatemala today.

Program Price: $975
Includes all activities and travel. Does not include meals and accommodations (arranged by NDE based on participant specifications)
With regards to accommodations, both hotel and homestay options are available.

Number of Participants:
Minimum: Five
Maximum: Ten

2008 Program Dates:
Program One: February 9 to 16
Program Two: February 16 to 23
Program Three: March 1 to 8
Program Four: March 8 to 15
Program Five: March 15 to 22

Highlighted Sample Itinerary:

Day One, Saturday: Pick up at airport and arrive in Antigua Hike to the Cerro de La Cruz for a spectacular view of the town Check into homestay/hotels
Day Two, Sunday: Orientation and discussion about Guatemala and effect development work. Attend vision campaign with local vision entrepreneurs trained by Community Enterprise Solutions
Day Three, Monday: Morning tour with local historian Elizabeth Bell Visit and volunteer in Hermano Pedro social hospital Dinner in neighboring town, Santo Tomas, with a local social entrepreneur to discuss lives, challenges and opportunities of rural Guatemalans
Day Four, Tuesday: Travel to Nebaj Learn about and volunteer in Community Enterprise Solutions initiatives in Nebaj Check into homestay/hotels Group Dinner at El Descanso Restaurant
Day Five, Wednesday: Hike to La Pista, a small town outside of Nebaj Help out in the new Centro Explorativo, a lending library and after-school program Eat traditional boxboles for lunch with a local family
Day Six, Thursday: Return to Antigua passing through Chichicastenango to visit the largest artisan market in GuatemalaVisit the Maya ruins at Iximche
Day Seven, Friday: Hike Pacaya, an active volcano located outside of Antigua Return to Antigua to visit the artisan market
Day Eight, Saturday: Return Home

If you are interested in participating in The Insight and Impact Experience please contact us.

The Mayan Artisan Experience (Eight Days , Saturday to Sunday)

Program Price
Number of Participants
Program Dates
Highlighted Sample Intinerary

Visit with and learn from Maya artisans in four distinct regions of the country who create amazing hand-made works from shawls, to juipiles, to wood carvings to hand-blown recycled glass. A unique experiencewhere you will also be accompanied by an economic development professional who can help you better understand both the opportunities and challenges confronting artisans in Guatemala today.

Program Price: $1,100
Includes all activities and travel. Does not include meals and accommodations (arranged by NDE based on participant specifications)
With regards to accommodations, both hotel and homestay options are available.

Number of Participants:
Minimum: Five
Maximum: Ten

Program Dates:
Open – dependant on group reservations

Highlighted Sample Itinerary:

Day One, Sunday: Visit Jades S.A., a Jade factory and museum and hike to the Cerro de la Cruz for a spectacular view of Antigua
Day Two, Monday: Visit the paper-making entrepreneurs of New Life Cards and then pay a visit the diverse artisan market in Antigua
Day Three, Tuesday: Travel to Solola to visit Asociacion Maya and then travel to Panabaj, the town destroyed by Hurricane Stan in 2005 that is trying to re-build by selling artisan goods, spend the night in Panajachel a town located on Lake Atitlan
Day Four, Wednesday: Travel across breathtaking Lake Atitlan to visit the town of Santiago Atitlan and then take a boat to San Antonio Palopo, home of hand-made ceramics
Day Five, Thursday: Travel to Chichicastenango, the largest artisan market in Guatemala, on busy market day, then travel to Quetzaltenango to spend the night
Day Six, Friday: Visit Momostenango, a town known for its production of wool blankets, then travel to Cantel to visit CopaVic, a cooperative that specializes in blown glass
Day Seven, Saturday: Return to Antigua, Visit Nim Po’t, an artisan store located in the heart of Antigua
Day Eight, Sunday: Return Home

If you are interested in participating in The Mayan Artisan Experience please contact us.

During your experience you may visit or work with...

Scojo Foundation

An initiative of Community Enterprise Solutions, Scojo Foundation Guatemala has developed and continues to create permanent channels to deliver vision care to those in need at a by training local women entrepreneurs to give basic eye exams and sell reading glasses and other vision products at an appropriate price in villages throughout Guatemala. Our goals are threefold and are highly integrated -

• To increase the number of people in rural communities who have access to affordable reading glasses

• To create highly profitable income generating opportunities for local entrepreneurs

• To facilitate access to comprehensive eye care

There are currently over 50 women Vision Advisors trained and earning a living who have sold over 2000 pairs of reading glasses in the year and a half since CE Solutions implemented this program.

Nebaj Exploration Center hits the airwaves

The local radio station and the Exploration Center of Nebaj, a Community Enterprise Solutions initiative have teamed up to bring a first ever "children's story time" to the people of the Ixil Region. As of last week, the staff from the Exploration Center began adding to the radio station's daily children's program by reading a story in both Spanish and Ixil, the local Mayan language. One of the Exploration Center's main goals is to foster a love of reading. In Nebaj and the surrounding areas, the radio is an ideal medium for communication as the station has a reach of approximately 25 km and, given the high illiteracy rates in the Ixil villages, poor community members rely predominantly on the local radio for their news and entertainment.

During your experience you may visit or work with...

New Life Cards

An initiative of Community Enterprise Solutions , New Life Cards (www.newlifecards.com) was created in October 2005. Maria Rivera Peréz, an entrepreneur from AcTxumbal ("La Pista"), Guatemala, teamed up with CE Solutions to start a recycled paper business. Maria learned how to make the cards when she participated in a project with a local youth group and two Peace Corps Volunteers. She has turned this hobby into a business that will allow her to continue her studies as well as well as help support her family.

Team of Rural Entrepreneurs breaks national sales record

Juana Xoch (a 24 year old single woman who supports her mother and younger siblings since her father passed) and Dominga Ajalon (a 32 year old single mother of three who lives with her family) completed their CE Solutions -Scojo training in mid - July and by August had established themselves as the top selling team in Guatemala, selling over 102 pairs of glasses and establishing a new Guatemala team record.

Working as Vision Entrepreneurs has provided a considerable boost to their monthly income. In fact, their (part-time) CE Solutions -Scojo earnings in August surpassed their earnings from their full-time work with a weaving association. On an average four hour weekend campaign they sell anywhere between five and 20 pairs of glasses with typical net earnings of approximately $10 to $12 . Their hourly campaign profits often equal or exceed the average daily wage in Guatemala. Juana and Dominga's hard-work demonstrates that local, motivated entrepreneurs can provide one of the most effective mechanisms to deliver much needed health care.

New Development Experience 2006. Email: info@newdevelopmentexperience.com