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San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Guatemala
Sold Out
San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Guatemala
Sold Out
San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Guatemala
Sold Out
Sold Out
San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Guatemala
Sold Out
San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Guatemala
Sold Out
San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Guatemala
Sold Out
San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Guatemala
Helping Hands and Hearts
San Martin Jilotepeque, ChimaltenangoGuatemala
7 Days / 6 Nights
Sign-in for Member Pricing
Helping Hands and Hearts
Help construct a school with re-purposed plastic bottles for village children in Guatemala and change their lives—and your own.
About Your Trip
Work side by side with Guatemalan village children as you build a much-needed school that could just change their lives—as well as your own.
Using plastic bottles filled with inorganic trash, you’ll form walls with chicken wire and cement, ultimately constructing a classroom where the children will be able to learn and expand their horizons. By working with communities to build schools out of discarded plastic bottles, the WorldVentures Foundation and VolunTourists have helped to create environments for children to receive an education. But it won’t be all work and no play. You’ll also explore the picturesque UNESCO World Heritage City of Antigua, enjoy a community hike to learn more about the culture, visit ancient Mayan ruins and more.
This is your opportunity to take a VolunTour and help change the lives of children in need, while growing personally and making memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime.
Using plastic bottles filled with inorganic trash, you’ll form walls with chicken wire and cement, ultimately constructing a classroom where the children will be able to learn and expand their horizons. By working with communities to build schools out of discarded plastic bottles, the WorldVentures Foundation and VolunTourists have helped to create environments for children to receive an education. But it won’t be all work and no play. You’ll also explore the picturesque UNESCO World Heritage City of Antigua, enjoy a community hike to learn more about the culture, visit ancient Mayan ruins and more.
This is your opportunity to take a VolunTour and help change the lives of children in need, while growing personally and making memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime.
What's Included
- 7 days and 6 nights on a Bottle School VolunTour to Guatemala.
- Price is per person and is based on sharing a room.
- Stay in quaint, comfortable accommodations in Antigua and San Martin, which include a private bath and are situated on lush grounds. Sharing a room may be necessary; roommate requests are accepted.
- If you would prefer single occupancy there is an additional $100 charge, but we cannot guarantee availability.
- Includes all ground transportation, meals, accommodations, attractions and bilingual guide.
- Welcome ceremony and an icebreaker to get everyone acquainted with each other and the community.
- Spend time working side by side with the village children to work on a bottle school.
- A community hike to see farms, family homes and places of worship, so you will get a feel for the people you’re supporting.
- Visit the Mayan ruins in Mixco Viejo, considered one of the most important Mayan cities of the 1500s.
- Visit Tikonel, a women's solidarity group, and learn what the group does in the community.
- Spend time at a school for children with special needs in San Martin, learn about the school and interact with the children there.
- Sightsee and shop for souvenirs in the picturesque colonial town of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage City.
- All travelers will receive a series of emails containing their trip’s details starting a few weeks prior to the departure date, as well as a welcome home email after the trip.
- Air transportation is not included. The closest commercial airport is La Aurora International Airport (GUA), arriving before 4 p.m. on the first day of the VolunTour, if possible, and departing at any time on the last day of the VolunTour. Visit DreamTrips.com and select the "book other travel" tab to purchase airfare.
- This VolunTour will be hosted and led by Raymond and Janie Braun.
For any questions regarding this trip, contact the DreamTrips specialist at DreamTrips@rovia.com.
Additional Information
Terms & Conditions and other pertinent information will be emailed to you after booking.
Minimum number of people required for this VolunTour is 15. If fewer than 15 people book this VolunTour, it will be cancelled. You will be notified if your trip is going to be cancelled.
Persons traveling should not have any serious health issues.
Members booking this VolunTour are required to purchase insurance from the vendor of their choice. Proof of insurance must be received 4 weeks prior to travel. Please click here for more information.
This VolunTour is run in collaboration with and sponsored by Serve the World Today LLC and Hug It Forward. Participation on this VolunTour is subject to your acceptance of Serve the World’s terms and conditions: Please click here for more information.
Hug It Forward is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports and empowers communities in Guatemala by building bottle schools with trash-stuffed plastic soda bottles. Visit Hug It Forward for more information.
If you are booking a bottle school VolunTour, you might also like to fund-raise for Hug It Forward bottle schools. Fund-raising for bottle schools is optional—it is not a requirement of participating in a bottle school trip.
Fund-raising online is quick and easy when you use this link. If you choose to fund-raise, we suggest a $250 fund-raising goal, but some people choose to do more or less than this. It’s really up to you.
When accompanied by a legal guardian, children as young as 8 years old are permitted to come on the bottle school trip. If you would like to bring children on a bottle school trip and they are age 10 or younger, please contact adam@hugitforward.org to discuss further considerations. Accompanied minors are always welcome and pay adult pricing.
Single, double, triple and quadruple rooms are available at both hotels. Sharing a room may be necessary, but roommate requests are accepted. Families can also request to room together.
Food allergies of all types can be accommodated on the bottle school trip.
Airfare is not included.
The trip will close by April 19.
This VolunTour will be hosted and led by Raymond and Janie Braun.
Minimum number of people required for this VolunTour is 15. If fewer than 15 people book this VolunTour, it will be cancelled. You will be notified if your trip is going to be cancelled.
Persons traveling should not have any serious health issues.
Members booking this VolunTour are required to purchase insurance from the vendor of their choice. Proof of insurance must be received 4 weeks prior to travel. Please click here for more information.
This VolunTour is run in collaboration with and sponsored by Serve the World Today LLC and Hug It Forward. Participation on this VolunTour is subject to your acceptance of Serve the World’s terms and conditions: Please click here for more information.
Hug It Forward is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports and empowers communities in Guatemala by building bottle schools with trash-stuffed plastic soda bottles. Visit Hug It Forward for more information.
If you are booking a bottle school VolunTour, you might also like to fund-raise for Hug It Forward bottle schools. Fund-raising for bottle schools is optional—it is not a requirement of participating in a bottle school trip.
Fund-raising online is quick and easy when you use this link. If you choose to fund-raise, we suggest a $250 fund-raising goal, but some people choose to do more or less than this. It’s really up to you.
When accompanied by a legal guardian, children as young as 8 years old are permitted to come on the bottle school trip. If you would like to bring children on a bottle school trip and they are age 10 or younger, please contact adam@hugitforward.org to discuss further considerations. Accompanied minors are always welcome and pay adult pricing.
Single, double, triple and quadruple rooms are available at both hotels. Sharing a room may be necessary, but roommate requests are accepted. Families can also request to room together.
Food allergies of all types can be accommodated on the bottle school trip.
Airfare is not included.
The trip will close by April 19.
This VolunTour will be hosted and led by Raymond and Janie Braun.
Itinerary
Please note this is only a sample itinerary. The actual itinerary for your trip may vary slightly.
Day 1
Arrive in Antigua, Guatemala.
Be met at the airport by a Hug It Forward representative and then escorted into Antigua.
Lunch with the group.
Spend the afternoon exploring Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage City.
Orientation dinner.
Day 2
Welcome ceremony and begin work on the bottle school project.
Presentation from a community member about the Guatemalan Civil War.
Community hike.
Day 3
Work on the bottle school project.
Presentation by a community member about migration.
Day 4
Tour the Mayan ruins of Chwa Nim Ab’äj with a guide who practices Mayan spirituality.
Day 5
Work on the bottle school project.
Closing ceremony by the community.
Day 6
Visit Tikonel, an inspirational cooperative of Mayan women's and men's groups.
Visit the School for Children with Special Needs.
Afternoon at your leisure.
Day 7
Enjoy breakfast before transferring to the airport and returning home.
Day 1
Arrive in Antigua, Guatemala.
Be met at the airport by a Hug It Forward representative and then escorted into Antigua.
Lunch with the group.
Spend the afternoon exploring Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage City.
Orientation dinner.
Day 2
Welcome ceremony and begin work on the bottle school project.
Presentation from a community member about the Guatemalan Civil War.
Community hike.
Day 3
Work on the bottle school project.
Presentation by a community member about migration.
Day 4
Tour the Mayan ruins of Chwa Nim Ab’äj with a guide who practices Mayan spirituality.
Day 5
Work on the bottle school project.
Closing ceremony by the community.
Day 6
Visit Tikonel, an inspirational cooperative of Mayan women's and men's groups.
Visit the School for Children with Special Needs.
Afternoon at your leisure.
Day 7
Enjoy breakfast before transferring to the airport and returning home.
Terms and Conditions
CANCELLATION POLICY: If you cancel more than 4 weeks before departure, you will receive a 50 percent refund. If you cancel less than 4 weeks before departure, you will not receive a refund.
DISCLAIMER: If Hug It Forward determines that it is unsafe to go on this trip, for whatever reason, no refund will be offered, as all deposits in Guatemala would have already been paid. However, you will be given a credit and priority booking for another trip within 1 year. You will be responsible for any flight change fees if a VolunTour is postponed for safety reasons.
ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: If, due to rain or other extreme conditions, it is impossible to work on a bottle school site, the trip will still go ahead as scheduled and you will instead visit a community where a bottle school has already been built. Once there, you will interact with children and the community. For full Terms & Conditions: Please click here for more information..
ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: Minimum number of people required for this VolunTour to travel is 15. If fewer than 15 people book this VolunTour, it will be cancelled. You will be notified if your trip is going to be cancelled.
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