GVI.2015.1

April 2015

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

40 hour fast to raise money for a summer school in Invasores

Objective:

To raise funds for meals to be given during a summer school being held in Invasores,

through Cocos Animal Welfare.

Summary:

On the 26th through to the 28th of April, volunteers from the community projects

participated in a 40 hour fast, where they were not allowed any food within those 40 hours,

only water and every 4 hours some water with sugar. The volunteers partook in the fast

so that they could raise funds for supplies and food for a one week summer school for

children. This summer school will be held in the disadvantaged area of Playa Del Carmen

named Invasores, with the help and support of one of our partners Cocos Animal

Welfare.

Report:

Cocos Animal Welfare is an

organization dedicated to controlling

and reducing the population of dogs

and cats in Playa Del Carmen and

surrounding areas.1 They are also

devoted to education, focusing on

proper animal welfare to create

responsible owners for pets. They

hope that through education the

negative views of feral dogs and cats

on the street can change.2 Two years

ago GVI created a partnership with

them, and volunteers have been

going to their clinic constantly

throughout the years to help them.

GVI volunteers have been assisting

1 http://cocosanimalwelfare.com/ 2 http://cocosanimalwelfare.com/

Fig. 1: Cocos Animal Welfare worker, treating a dog from

Invasores.

GVI.2015.1

them with the running of the clinic, preparations for surgeries, assisting with the recovery

and much more.

Lately on a monthly basis,

Cocos Animal Welfare have

been heading out to an area of

Playa, a shanty town labeled

Invasores (Spanish translation

for Invaders), which is located

under the power lines. On these

outings Cocos have been

providing free animal services,

including deworming, spay and

neuters as well other medical

support for the pets living there.

The people of Invasores are

families that cannot afford to live

in any areas of town and due to

these circumstances set up

handmade houses on land

under the power lines in the jungle. The families here live in a very harsh environment,

with their houses being made from hand, often using a mix of sticks from the jungle and

whatever they can use from their surroundings. The general population of Invasores is

lacking many basic necessities, such as clothes, shoes, proper nutrition, healthcare and

education.

The majority of the adults and kids living in Invasores are uneducated and have no means

to finance schooling, which makes it near impossible for them to have any type of

education and hopes for a better future. Due to personally seeing their situation Cocos

and GVI decided that they would like to take the first step towards trying to give the

children of Invasores a proper education. Cocos and GVI have come together and agreed

to host a one week summer school at Invasores this year. The aim is to hold daily classes

for an entire week, for children between the ages of 4 and 12 years old. Throughout the

week the objective is to give each child a daily meal, as many of them would not have

eaten, and having a full stomach will help them concentrate throughout the classes.

Fig. 2: A street view of one row of houses at Invasores.

GVI.2015.1

On the 26th of April staff and volunteers

working on the community projects in

Playa participated in a 40 hour fast, to

help raise funds to provide food and

supplies for the classes. The

volunteers were only allowed to drink

water, and every 4 hours a glass of

water with a teaspoon of sugar in it.

Although confident throughout the

entire first day, by night the volunteers

were starting to struggle with the lack

food and the loss of energy. As it crept

closer to the end of the forty hours, the

volunteers kept strong, due to the

continual flow of donations by their

friends and family. At the end of the

forty hours, they were finally able to eat some much desired food, and while eating were

able to look at the fantastic results of their challenge.

Through the generosity of their friends and families, the volunteers were not only able to

reach their original fundraising goal, but almost double it! However, the fundraising page

is still open (https://www.justgiving.com/teams/invasoresfasting), so the donations could

continue to grow. This means that the summer school at Invasores will definitely be able

to go ahead, and there are funds to make it an even greater experience for the kids.

For more information on the projects in Mexico please visit: http://www.gvi.co.uk/volunteer-in-mexico/

References:

http://cocosanimalwelfare.com/

Fig. 3: The volunteers enjoying food after the 40 hour fast.