During the months of January through May of 2001, I have been an intern with Salvemos al Rio Laja, A.C. (Save the Laja), a non-profit organization working out of San Miguel de Allende helping to restore the Rio Laja watershed and improve the lives of local communities within the region.
Salvemos al Rio Laja provided technical and financial assistance to social service groups that have promoters working in the watershed. Another important component of the work is education of local communities and public outreach. The project deals with a multitude of natural resources issues including river restoration, community organizing, environmental education, community forestry, and administration of non-profit environmental organizations.
The Rio Laja is a spectacular region containing a variety of ecosystems.
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I have had the opportunity to work in lush oak forests in the headwaters of the Rio Laja, the Santa Rosa Mountains, the high mountain desert of the Picachos, and the mesquite desert scrublands surrounding the main channel of the Rio Laja. The scenery is at once beautiful and disturbing, as the area has undergone intense deforestation and intensive agriculture, leading to high erosion and desertification. Population density is one of the highest in Mexico, and small communities are scattered throughout the state with high natural resource demands.
I have been privileged to be involved in a wide variety of activities in the field and in the offices of Save the Laja. My projects have included assisting in writing grant proposals in Spanish and English, assisting with community organizing events and environmental education workshops, helping with river restoration workshops in local communities, designing river restoration work plans in the field, helping to strengthen and expand the network of organizations working on the Rio Laja, helping utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to locate future communities for restoration work, performing research about the region to expand the knowledge base of Save the Laja, and logging the location of restoration sites using hand-held GPS (Global Positioning System) units. Although the employees of Save the Laja are primarily English speaking, I have had many opportunities to practice my Spanish skills working with community members and our partner Mexican organizations.
My internship has provided a unique experience to live and work in Mexico, working with both Mexican and International organizations.
It has also been a pleasure to live and work in the city of San Miguel de Allende, a unique international community and a picturesque colonial city in the heart of Mexico. San Miguel is located about four hours from Mexico City, two hours from colonial jewel and regional center of Mexican culture Guanajuato, and just under two hours from the city of Queretaro, another colonial city full of culture and history.
Travel to these sites is easy by bus and recommended for any intern interested in Mexican history and culture.
Interns should be aware that Save the Laja is a small non-profit organization with limited resources so the intern should be flexible with respect to living conditions. Future interns should take into account that they will more than likely be living in a room in the home of Save the Laja President,/offices of Save the Laja, which in my experience can prove to be difficult as you live and breath your work almost 24 hours a day. Although generally private, my living area also doubles as an office with at times two or three people working in it.
If this is a concern, apartments are available for rent if the intern would prefer a more private space and Save the Laja can assist in locating an apartment prior to the interns arrival.
Prices range approximately from $150-300 U.S. depending on location and amenities. In general my experiences with Save the Laja have been rewarding, challenging, adventurous, and have greatly expanded my knowledge of international conservation/restoration issues.
Future projects for Save the Laja include the development of training and educational videos to be used in the field, contour plowing and dam building within local communities, and extensive inventorying of restoration sites using traditional mapping and GPS.
This internship will prove to be an excellent opportunity for anyone interesting
in natural resources issues in Latin America. This page was last updated on Sun
Aug 29 17:33:10 2004