(Jenn on Black Mesa, ca. 1998)

November 21-28, 2009

Greetings from Black Mesa Indigenous Support,

We are excited to inform you that a caravan of work crews will once again be converging from across the country in support of residents of the Big Mountain regions of Black Mesa. On behalf of their peoples, their sacred ancestral lands and future generations, these communities continue to carry out a staunch resistance to the efforts of the US Government, which is acting in the interests of the Peabody Coal Company, to devastate whole communities and ecosystems and greatly de-stabilize our planet’s climate for the profit of an elite few.

By assisting with direct, on-land projects you are helping families stay on their ancestral homelands in resistance to an illegal occupation and working for climate justice. These communities serve as the very blockade to coal mining! More than 14,000 Dine’ people have been forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands due to spin created by the U.S government & Peabody Coal, under the guise of the so-called “Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute.” Families are now in their THIRD DECADE resisting this travesty and, as you can imagine, many residents are very elderly and winters can be rough. With their guidance, the aim of this caravan is to honor the elders and to generate support in the form of direct, on-land support: chopping and hauling firewood, doing minor repair work, offering holistic health care, and sheep-herding before the approaching cold winter months arrive.

“The Big Mountain matriarchal leaders always believed that resisting forced relocation will eventually benefit all ecological systems, including the human race,” says Bahe Keediniihii, Dineh organizer and translator. “Continued residency by families throughout the Big Mountain region has a significant role in the intervention of Peabody’s future plan for Black Mesa coal to be the major source of unsustainable energy, the growing dependency on fossil fuel, and escalating green house gas emissions. We will continue to fight to defend our homelands.”

Photo: Courtesy of Michelle DiPiazza

Have you every gotten a little bored taking the usual site seeing or beach sitting type of vacation?  Are you in the market for something that can energize and challenge you mentally and physically?  One way for this adventurous type to add a different dimension to travel is to combine taking a trip to an exotic place with an opportunity to do some good. That seems to me to be the ultimate win-win. I really admire those who go off to rather remote and somewhat primitive places to do research or to better the lives of others by helping them learn skills to make them healthier or to learn methods of improving their living conditions.

My niece Michelle did some volunteer research in Belize, Guatemala, South Africa and then to Kenya.  My daughter Jenn spent time on a Navajo reservation in Arizona living and working with a Native family. Both of their experiences were life altering. Their forays into this travel/study/volunteer type of experience has fascinated and inspired me.

(Take a look at Jenn’s  previously written post about her experiences in Arizona  and hopefully, one day soon, I can invite Michelle, to tell us a little about what her travels to Belize and Kenya meant to her.) Needless to say I am very proud of both of their accomplishments.  

 Michelle and Jenn inspired me to delve into a variety of the many worthwhile opportunities out there for anyone who wants to reach out and make a difference.  My search found so many opportunities that it would be impossible to list them all here, but I hope that the ones that I will link you to will peak your curiosity to explore some more on your own.  Some require specialty backgrounds or age groups but many others would work for regular folks like you and me who just would like a chance to see a little bit more of our world close up and to make some kind of a difference to our brothers and sisters around the world.

For those who would like to ease into a volunteer vacation but would prefer something on a more structured and less demanding way, I came across a wonderful article on Oprah’s website with what  they called “voluntourism” that offers a more luxurious environment to four different places  that house you in comfortable accomodations ranging from a hotel in San Francisco to a B&B in Hawaii but still with an eye on doing some good for others that might take anywhere from a few hours to a day.

 What I did find is that most of the time, being the nature of volunteering,  is that most require you to pay at least something by way of transportation and housing.  (It might be at least in part tax deductible but that I would check with your tax accountant. )  This part will vary depending on the sort of housing  offered.  Sometimes, as it is with the previous link, it will cost more but in exchange you get accustomed amenities and comfort. 

I found an excellent link to a place which is truly a “Portal for Volunteer Work and Vacations abroad“. This is a must see for anyone who has thoughts of doing something abroad.  This has an alphabetical listing a countries worldwide and has cagtegories for anyone from teens to seniors with things like internships, short or long term work, summer volunteering and more. 

 Another excellent resource is Charity Guide.  Here you select your area of interest from a significant list including things like animal welfare, children’s issues, community development, and environmental protection.  Then once you narrow down your area of interest, you will be given a list of options to select from.  There are some costs involved, but here again there is some chance to earn money and some of it may be tax deductible.  Plus, don’t forget that besides  the volunteer part, you are traveling and seeing the world.

Now the government offers many funded programs like the Peace Corp. Some might  allow a stipend.  You could go to learn a new language or teach someone yours.   You could help build houses or dig wells.  You might help people plant a garden or maybe help in a school.  This is one type of vacation well worth taking a look at.  

The point is no matter how much time you have to spend -a day or a whole summer-there is just the perfect fit for you to travel and volunteer.  I barely touched the surface of what is out there.  So whether you want to make a big splash or just dip your toes in the water;  it’s all good.