Tecnico Chixot Students and Staff outside the schooll
Adventure Life provided a grant Long Way Home for completion of the first four primary school bathrooms. These bathrooms will use an “outlaw” septic system (similar to that used by Earthship Biotecture) that processes solid waste and black water through a filtration system and into black water cell sewn with cleansing plants. These four bathrooms serve over 60 students and three teachers. The use of gray and black water cells, sand and gravel filtration, and cleansing plants will remove the need to rely on an inadequate municipal infrastructure by safely assimilating the waste stream on-site.
In 2009 LWH began construction on a 17 building educational/vocational school complex. The Técnico Maya School was initiated in partnership with and in response to a request from the faculty of the Escuela Técnico Maya, a severely under-resourced local elementary school. The new educational complex will be a K-12 facility and is being constructed on 1.75 acres less than a mile from Comalapa’s town center. The curriculum will have a strong vocational and environmental education emphasis and will include lessons in Mayan language and culture. The school is unique in that it is being built with locally available, repurposed materials such as rammed-earth tires, inorganic trash-filled plastic bottles and rammed-earth polypropylene grain sacks. It is integrating passive solar principles, composting toilets and rainwater harvesting systems into its design for sustainability.
The goals of the vocational school are to model and teach alternative construction techniques that provide an environmentally friendly use for waste materials and integrate traditional technical and entrepreneurial skill sets. We began holding classes with 21 students in grades 2nd-5th in the 2012 academic year. This year we were able to add Kindergarten and 1st grade and double our student population. In academic year 2014, we hope to add the sixth grade and therefore offer full primary school. At this time, students attend classes in the workshops that will eventually serve as the vocational rooms and we are constructing the primary classrooms.
Exterior Finish on Southeast Bathroom (Elizabeth Rose)
Adventure Life donated $2500 in grant funds for our first four primary school bathrooms. These bathrooms will use an “outlaw” septic system that processes solid waste and black water through a filtration system and into black water cell sewn with cleansing plants. These four bathrooms will serve 60 students and three teachers. The use of gray and black water cells, sand and gravel filtration, and cleansing plants will remove the need to rely on an inadequate municipal infrastructure by safely assimilating the waste stream on-site.
Wall Construction Between West Bathrooms (Elizabeth Rose)
Pipes in Interior Wall of West Bathrooms (Elizabeth Rose)
ALL FINISHED! Thanks Adventure Life!
Tecnico Chixot Students and Staff outside the schooll (Elizabeth Rose)
The persons I spoke with knew the material. I wont know until I actually take the trip if it was all correct but at this point they were helpful in finding a trip that met my criteria
SS
5 days ago
Creating a checklist was very beneficial and meeting objectives on certain dates helped as well (to keep my trip organized). The Adventure Travel personnel helped keep me on track which is why my trip was so successful. Communication from both travel agencies (AT/MT) was vital.
Iziah Carthens
6 days ago
This is an amazing company to work with. I generally do not use tour companies as I am more of an independent traveller so I was slightly reticent. They were fantastic from the start - 10/10 - from lining up a phone call to discuss requirements, then their ongoing communication in the lead up to the tour and during it (thank you, Franny and Phen). They also explored cost-effective options (eg group transfers). The tour was in Patagonia so Adventure Life organised a pickup from the El Calafate airport to the El Chalten accommodation, two day hikes with a private guide and then to the El Calafate accommodation. A tour coordinator came to the hotel to explain, using the maps, what was involved in each day tour and what should be expected, and patiently answered all questions. The tour guide Marcos was excellent - very professional, knowledgable, communicative and at all times felt very safe with his navigational skills (important in the Patagonian wilderness). On the second day I forgot to take hiking poles so Marcos kindly gave me his. I honestly wouldn't have changed a thing and would happily recommend and book through them again.
Petrina Sta
1 week ago
Adventure Life has been great throughout my planning process for our up and coming Galapagos cruise. Kevin Moore, in particular, was very helpful in assisting me in making choices and providing me with options. He was also very patient, as I worked through figuring out what I really wanted in this vacation.
Lucy Greenway
1 week ago
Adventure Life was a pleasure to work with. They helped us find different options for our charter and answered a lot of questions with patience and clarity.
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