The Charity Side of the Maya Rally - make a difference and a chance to enter for free

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
Many of you have asked about what charity will be involved and how it is going to work (since donating a vehicle is not really a simple option).

Well I am really proud to announce that we have a fantastic partner joining in - the Muskoka foundation.

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The Muskoka foundation has many projects/partners throughout Central America and the rest of the world.
More information is available on their site:

http://www.themuskokafoundation.org/drupal/aboutus

"Our Muskoka communities are supported through partnerships with committed local and international organizations, and a focus on building beneficiary's skills and independence through training workshops and access to global markets."


So there will be two ways in which participants will be able to help, have a direct impact and share a great experience with the local communities:

OPTION GUANAJUATO - Any team who would be willing to arrive in Guanajuato early and help out with the local Muskoka partner will be getting a free entry in the rally.
The team will need to be able to dedicate about 4 days from around Dec 3rd to Dec 7th (with some flexibility). The details of the project will come later but it could be for example: teaching a class, helping fixing a school, sharing skills with the kids, etc. Things that we take for granted here but may be a life changing experience over there.
This is something that will most likely be a highlight of the entire journey.

Here are links to the local partners in GTO:
The Home: www.buenpastor.weebly.com
The Program:http://www.studio473.wordpress.com

OPTION OAXACA - Participants will be asked to bring an item from the US to the Muskoka partner in Oaxaca (you can guess that the rally will go through that city...).
A list of specific items will be provided beforehand (many months before) and could be anything from an old laptop, hard drive, medical kit, school kit, etc, - with different points associated to each item, depending on value/scarcity/effort. Participants will have the opportunity to stop by, meet the partners and learned a bit more on the work done there. This will be a quick encounter but we still hope it can have a good impact on the communities and help the participants have an idea of the local needs.

Local partner:
http://www.oaxacastreetchildrengrassroots.org/Our-Work-in-Mexico

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In addition to that, we are also working to make a difference at the end of the rally with our partner/organizer. Details of that will come later.

Both the Muskoka foundation and the Maya Rally will be present at Overland Expo so feel free to stop by!

thank you!

(p.s.: if any team has already signed up/paid and wants to participate in option 1, just contact me and we'll reimburse the admission fee)
 
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Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
It appears that we have received our first team entry using option 1 - "Niva Chris and Liz"! thank you so much - I am convinced that not only this you guys make a big difference over there but also will make the Rally itself even more fulfilling.
 

nomorem6

Niva Chris
It appears that we have received our first team entry using option 1 - "Niva Chris and Liz"! thank you so much - I am convinced that not only this you guys make a big difference over there but also will make the Rally itself even more fulfilling.

Thanks Christian,
We've been swapping details and info with Kate at Muskoka and we're all set. A great charity and we really look forward to making good stuff happen.

For anyone else who's thinking of offering their time to Muskoka, I'd highly recommend it on the basis of their communication and professional approach. Its all good!

Thanks for your liaison too Christian, much appreciated.

Chris
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
Participants,

As mentioned before, there will be points on the scavenger hunt related to your Muskoka participation. We will disclose later where exactly to drop these but it may be useful to know in advance what to bring. In addition, we will also make a small contribution to the local communities at the end of the Rally.

For the OAXACA option, here is the list of things that would be needed:

Oaxaca's wish list:


Multi-functional Printer: documents and images

2 more digital cameras (even better with HD video capacity)

6 mice

12 mouse pads


School Supplies:

Pencils

Pens

Pencil sharpeners

folders

calculators

dictionaries - english/spanish

dry erase markers

Vitamins - childrens

Construction paper or card stock

(They DO NOT NEED NOTEBOOKS)



thank you everyone!
 

nomorem6

Niva Chris
We had a great Skype call with KAtie and Daniel at Muskoka yesterday. The passion for their work in Mexico is infectious! For anyone thinking about giving them a few days of your time to help with their projects, give it some serious thought - they're great people working with great people in a great part of the world. :)
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
I just had a discussion with Katie and for various logistical and financial reasons, we have to close the Option 1 - GUANAJUATO.

Congratulations to the 5 teams who will be part of this program - looks like Katie has some great projects lined up. She will contact you directly.

For all the other teams, we need to work on Option 2 - OAXACA. The list is published above.
 
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Im in for the Oaxaca option
ill try to bring in as much as I can from that list

I own a grocery store and a large part of my clients are from Oaxaca
I may try to talk them into helping out with what they can
(is this allowed)
 

technichen

Observer
Okay to open this back up. My wife is a school nurse and we thought it would be a neat idea if we could get some of the elementary schools here in West Virginia to donate school supplies such as the ones listed to the schools there. We also thought it would be a neat idea if we could create a Pen Pal between the schools here in West Virginia and the 1 in Mexico that they would be supporting. If we're choosing option 2 do we know what school were going to and can we make contact with the foundation to get more information about the school? Do we have a specific foundation contact that I could get in touch with? We don't have long before I leave to time is running a little short as soon as you can get me this information it would be great.
 

snowbear

Observer
I know it's not on the list but we are thinking of trying to collect some prescription glasses, esp sizes to fit kids. We can't get there early and it looks like the other items might be covered. Let us know what you think
 

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