Each summer, Ya’axché hosts a two-week camp for school children from neighboring villages to learn about conservation, sustainable agriculture and agroforestry.  Begun in the early 2000s, this camp has become a local favorite, growing in attendance each year.

Over two weeks in August, children learn about sustainable development.  We engage the youth in environmentally-sound activities including visiting a working agroforestry farm, planting trees, visiting local sustainable agriculture organizations, composting and gardening.  We even take the children to regions near the Belize/Guatemalan border to see the deforestation and other impacts of non-sustainable agriculture and land use.

We also ask the children to make a presentation related to conservation and sustainability issues.  Not only does this allow us to see what they know and have learned, but having the opportunity to see the issues “through the eyes of children” is a remarkably poignant way for our own staff to gain perspective on this omnipresent issue.