Host Organization Description: The Club Andino Cholila (Cholila Andean Club, or CACH) is a young non-profit born out of its founding members´ commitment to protecting the natural wonders of the Patagonian region. The organization’s objectives are the following:

- To promote and spread knowledge about nature and the environment
- To promote flora and fauna conservation
- To promote safe mountaineering, hiking, and climbing activities
- To encourage the community to participate in outdoor activities
- To clear new hiking trails and paths, and create new mountain shelters

Volunteering Placement Description: Cholila is a small town in the Andean mountain range with a population of 2500 located 120 Km from Esquel (where MAPU Association is based).

Most of CACH´s activities and outings originate from the mountain shelter “El Kaleuche”, located about 3 Km from Cholila next to lake “El Mosquito”. The shelter was built by two founding members of CACH, Darío and Laura, who also run a responsible-tourism small enterprise (“Cholila Explorers”) which offers mountain guides and camp-sites. The goal of this enterprise is to preserve the natural beauty of the pristine Patagonian landscape while promoting a sustainable lifestyle in harmony with the natural surroundings.

Darío and Laura coordinate all activities, which vary greatly depending on the experience and knowledge of each volunteer.

- Environmental Education: creating trail/topography maps of the region, designing a brochure (with basic tourist information and maps), recording the songs of singing birds, putting together a brochure about native species, drawing/designing a constellation sky map, running environmental education workshops and outdoor activities for kids and teenagers, etc.

- Maintenance and Recovery of the Region: removing trash from the shores of the nearby river and lake; cutting away bushes and roots to eliminate a certain species of “Rose Hip”, a non-native plant that overtakes native flora and has rendered large swathes of land useless; clearing and marking new hiking trails; etc.

- Organic Farming: creating an herb garden, gardening, harvesting and picking fruits/vegetables, etc.

- Construction: gathering and placing stones, gravel, and sand for construction purposes; completing masonry and carpentry projects; etc.

- Other Activities: gathering firewood for heating; making and dispersing yellow-jacket traps (to combat a non-native species of yellow jackets whose voraciousness and carnivorousness have inspired their nickname, “meat-eating bees”); installing water filters; exploring; cooking; etc.

Objectives: The objective of this volunteering placement is for each volunteer to contribute his/her experience, knowledge, and energy to help the Cholila Andean Club achieve its goals.

Requirements: For this volunteering placement you need to be very interested in outdoor activities, the mountains, being in nature, protecting the environment, educating others about the environment, etc. Although specific experience doing any of the above is a great benefit to you and to the organization, no specific experience is required.

You also need to enjoy outdoor life; you will be living in a tent, using a sleeping bag at night, and spending most of your days doing activities outside (note that the shelter provides necessary comforts such as hot water, bathrooms, and a fully-equipped kitchen). Furthermore, you need to be energetic, proactive, in decent physical shape, and eager to help out.

Languages: Intermediate Spanish

Minimum and Maximum Length: 1 month minimum, flexible maximum

Ideal Start Date: Each year between October and March (spring and summer months). Within this timeframe the start date is flexible.

Timetable: 20 to 25 weekly hours; exact times to be determined upon your arrival

Notes: This volunteer placement is perfect for people who enjoy outdoor activities, mountaineering, rowing, being in nature, and engaging in physical activity. Furthermore, this volunteering placement offers not only the possibility of seeing first-hand the native Mapuche population’s social problems, but also the ability to actively contribute to their fight for their rights.

Last Update: June 2008