Where We Work: Laguna San Ignacio, Baja, Mexico

The Laguna San Ignacio School Improvement Project is a multi-partner initiative whose goal is to provide enhanced educational opportunities for children attending La Escuela Braulio Maldonaldo Sandez in Laguna San Ignacio on the Baja peninsula of Mexico. Students from the school live in the midst of ecological richness but attend school with limited educational resources.

In March 2007, a coalition of local, regional, and international organizations, including Philanthropiece, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Action for Children, Inc. participated on a service project focused on addressing immediate infrastructure needs and providing teachers basic tools and resources to better serve their students. Experts in solar and wind power installation, and civil and computer engineers joined Philanthropiece board members and other volunteers for the week long project.

Scott Ely of Sunsense Solar, located in Carbondale, CO, along with his crew and the volunteers installed new solar panels and wind turbines on three school buildings. Significant donations of materials were also provided by Simple Solar of Boulder, CO. New lighting and two laptop computer labs were wired and networked and other school resources such as computer tables and shelves were constructed. In addition, ecologically friendly composting toilets were constructed and installed under the supervision of a volunteer civil engineer from the U. S. National Park Service. Local community members provided building and construction expertise and labor.

Following up on these efforts, Philanthropiece is now exploring a partnership with the Flying Samaritans, an organization providing medical and dental care to communities lacking access to these services. Philanthropiece is continuing its work in the community by monitoring and ensuring the proper maintainance of the solar, wind and computer equipment at the schools, further identifying and addressing the needs of the elementary school, offering financial and technical support to local entrepreneurs, and exploring other meaningful ways to partner with the community.

Laguna San Ignacio is a United Nations World Heritage Site and part of Mexico’s largest protected area, the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve. The centerpiece of the reserve, San Ignacio lagoon, provides critical birthing grounds for gray whales and is the only place in the world where whales seek out human interaction on a regular basis. The area also supports a variety of other marine mammals and migratory birds.

Other Organizations working in Laguna San Ignacio, Baja Sur, Mexico

Flying Samaritans
www.flyingsamaritans.org
Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la
Naturaleza
www.fmcn.org
Fundación Azteca America
www.fundacionaztecaamerica.org
The International Community Foundation
www.icfdn.org
NRDC (National Resources Defense Council)
www.nrdc.org
Pro Peninsula
www.propeninsula.org
Pronatura Mexico
www.pronatura.org.mx
WiLDCOAST
www.wildcoast.net