About Us

The Red Latinoamericana de Acogimiento Familiar (Latin American Foster Care Network) estimate that there are roughly 400,000 children in Mexico without parental care, including 100,000 who live on the streets.
There is no help from the State of Mexico for the children and all orphanages are private.
Struggling to fundraise publicly, we would like to be able to open the first private totally autonomous orphanage in Latin America. We want to address this issue in a clever way, blending self sufficiency, respect for Nature and autonomy for an evolved environment to welcome children in need of support.

Sustainability

All our constructions are using re-purposed materials such as: 

• Cans
• Glass bottles
• Plastic Bottles and plastic wraps (EcoBricks)
• Tires

As well as new, more sustainable materials such as: Aircrete (a mix of concrete and soap, allowing us to use 80% less concrete and obtain a light, easy to work with and insulating material)

We are also trying to incorporate as many natural materials as possible, such as wood or stones.

Autonomy

The children shelter will be fully autonomous by aiming to provide all year around:

WATER: Several water tanks will be installed behind the building. Fed with gravity, they will collect the water straight from the roof. In Mexico, the raining season is short but can provide water for the whole year if the size of the tank is large enough. If the water from the tank happened to run out, there are also several wheels around the land and shared by the community so fresh ground water is a first back up. A last resource would be to appeal to private water company to fill the tanks artificially with drinkable water (about 500 pesos per tank).

ENERGY: The building will be powered by solar energy.

FOOD: Food is produced on the land around the building, thanks to our water re-using systems. We could also include aquaponic Fish Tank so fishes can be breed and eaten regularly, as well as a chicken space will also be build in order to welcome about 10 chicks to have eggs everyday. Milk is donated to orphans by the state of Mexico.

SEWAGE TREATMENT: We are committed to treat our own sewage thanks to our expert plumber, and the black water will be treated safely in outside planters.

FINANCES: Due to its location, the orphanage will attract paying participants that can explore different sustainable techniques, and will be able to generate little income for further spendings, such as clothes, school books, etc...

Why It Is Needed

Mazunte is a little fisherman village, with about 700 inhabitants. However, it is a very touristic area, developing rapidly, which just obtain the status of “Pueblo Magico” (indigenous sacred land)It is located between two big costal cities: Huatulco and Puerto Escondido, very touristic places with an airport... It is also about 4h drive from Oaxaca city, the capital of the state. The state of Oaxaca is the second poorest state of Mexico. Although it has been well preserved from complete Westernisation, the little tourism happening makes up of the main incomes of most of the families but leaves waste products difficult to manage.

The political instability and the growing gang culture of Central American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador is pushing people to run away, towards the North, aiming for the US, they ultimately end up in Mexico. The increase of asylum-seekers, primarily from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala— the countries making up the “Northern Triangle” region —was characterized by President Obama as a “humanitarian crisis.”

Nearly 5000 unaccompanied children are trying to cross the US border alone every month (https:// www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/25/children-immigrants-us-mexico-border) according to the Guardian.

In 2015, 70,000 children seek refuge in Mexico, as the fantastic article of Human Right Watch explains: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/31/mexico-asylum-elusive-migrant-children

These children need protection and shelter, we want to bring the solution.

SOME OF THE TEAM...