Casa Colibri Catholic Worker A.C.

Mission: We are a community that advances the integral development of the families of Hostotipaquillo, Jal, who are in vulnerable situations, by accompanying them in processes to improve their conditions of life by means of their active participation.

From www.ic.org/directory/casa-colibri-catholic-worker-a-c/:

Casa Colibri is part of the Catholic Worker movement started by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. If you are unfamiliar with it, check out the national website to become familiar with the philosophy:

www.catholicworker.org/communities/directory.html

At Casa Colibri there are five areas that enrich the community experience:

Children:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have 40 kids, ranging from 4-17 years old. First there is an hour of class, and then we serve them a homemade meal. These days the work consists of preparing and cooking the food, teaching or playing with the kids, serving the food, and cleaning the house.

Sustainability:
Tuesdays and Thursdays consist of a variety of activities around the house, especially working in the garden where we have chickens, compost worms, medicinal herbs, and vegetables. Extra activities include the soap project in which the kids learn how to make soaps from herbs grown in our garden.

Community Life:
This is a big part of living at Casa Colibri. The house also has many other activities that we do within the community, such as group check-ins, meditations, and excursions to the pueblo and surrounding areas. Every Friday we have a “happy hour” in which we do something fun as a community.

Community development:
We also work with the community of Hostotipaquillo by giving extra classes and workshops (depending on the number of volunteers and their skills) involving the families of the children as well. We also work to create a culture of art and creativity in the house and with the greater community of Hostotipaquillo.

Spirituality:
This includes a monthly Mass, when friends and the families come to the house to gather, as well as weekly group meditations and discussions. The house is open to people of all spiritualities.

The day starts with breakfast at 7:30 am, and on average we work about 6-7 hours, including the mid-day meal. The evening time, after 5:00 pm is personal time. Saturday and Sundays are free, with the exception of the monthly community Mass or special events.

Previous experience working with children, farming, and/or living in community is a plus. However these skills are not required, as long as you are open to learning, experiencing new things, and being challenged. Knowledge of basic Spanish is required.

The house asks that you make a minimum 6-month commitment.

In exchange for working with an open and generous heart, one will receive room and board. Extra personal expenses should be covered by the community member.
In addition to community members we also have national and international short term volunteers.

If you have further questions don´t hesitate to contact us.

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.