South America Connections has teamed up with a rural municipality in Chile’s beautiful Lake District to offer a unique small group internship in environmentally sustainable community development. We are now accepting applications for the second phase of this three-month program, which begins Jan. 5, 2008 and has space for a limited number of volunteers.

The program offers several advantages: (1) A great Chilean team to work with; (2) Location in one of the most spectacular regions of the world. Chile’s Lake District is renowned for its beauty; (3) The opportunity to combine theoretical policy with practice in the field.

A small fishing community on the Pacific Ocean wants help to realize its potential for environmentally sustainable tourism. Home to some 200 families, the village of Estaquilla currently lives from the extraction of shellfish and native forest timber. The Los Muermos municipal government and local community groups want to develop a plan to clean up the village, implement environmental education in its primary schools, teach adults the English they need to interact with tourists, and increase environmental awareness throughout the population. We are looking for three able volunteers to work with the government and community for a minimum of three months. Housing is provided in exchange for your work – you buy your food. This is a rare opportunity in community development for someone with studies in Environmental Science, Forestry, Marine Biology, Socio-Economic Development, Latin America, or other related fields.