WIXARIKA RESEARCH CENTER TUAPURIE ECO FORESTRY PROJECT

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1 WIXARIKA RESEARCH CENTER TUAPURIE ECO FORESTRY PROJECT

2 WIXARIKA RESEARCH CENTER April 11, 2014 A Solar Wood Drying Oven, Carpentry School and Forestry Program for Tuapurie s Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika In October of 2012, The Wixárika Research Center agreed to participate in the development of the new campus for the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika after being formally petitioned by the Community of Tuapurie 1 at their general assembly. This independent preparatory school offers students who complete elementary school the opportunity to continue their basic education in the Sierras without being forced to move to a distant city. In the past, students who wanted to attend high school had to leave their families and community at a very young age. This was not only costly for their families but kept them from participating in the religious traditions and yearly cycle of ceremonies. The schedule of holidays for all Mexican schools is based on the Christian and Mexican calendars which do not coincide with the yearly cycle of important Wixárika/Huichol ceremonies. Students could only return to their families during the summer months because of the distance and cost of travel and eventually many never return to their homeland. The Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika was founded on May 28, 2008, and had their first graduating class in June Four of the full time teachers and the school s director are all natives of Tuapurie who received their college degrees from ITESO 2 and several classes are taught in their native tongue. Students receive all the classes they need to graduate, enter a university and become prepared for a variety of careers. The expanded development of this school and its unique curriculum will be of great value because it will be tailored to the needs of the community and its youth. The community s goal is to add courses that will train students in trades and skills that are relevant and appropriate for their environment and which will be an asset to them in the near and distant future. Some will undoubtedly go on to college, but for many this new school will offer training that will create new job opportunities at home and support the autonomy and survival of their ancient culture. In February 2013, the Community of Tuapurie unanimously voted at their general assembly to donate a large parcel of land, adjacent to the old landing strip in Nueva Colonia, for the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika s new campus. The land is ideal for this purpose and has three springs of pure water to support the needs of the school and its programs. Besides building a 1 Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlán, Municipality of Mesquitic in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. 2 Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente

3 2 April 11, 2014 carpentry school, the community plans include a nursery for reforestation, fruit orchards, organic vegetable gardens, bee keeping and other activities. Once the solar oven and carpentry school are built the community would like to move the existing weaving workshop to the new campus so it forms an integral part of the school. All of the above activities will help generate income for the school through the sale of products produced by the students. Since the founding of the school in 2008, basic carpentry classes have been taught by those trained in our program between 1986 and 1996, but without the proper equipment and necessary installations to learn advanced skills. This project will build a new, more efficient solar oven for drying wood, install a small portable sawmill, build a well-equipped carpentry school, a small greenhouse for the reforestation program and a structure for storage of the sawmill and dried wood. Wood crafts produced by the students can be sold to help offset some of the schools operational expenses. The original carpentry workshop, built in 1986, is more than one and a half hours by truck from the location of the new campus and too distant for students to travel for classes. The old solar oven and sawmill are 26 years old and in need of replacement. For this reason the community asked the Wixárika Research Center to locate the necessary funding and oversee the construction of a new carpentry school on the site of the new high school campus. It should also be noted that The Wixárika Research Center has signed an agreement with the Institute of Wood, Cellulose and Paper from the University of Guadalajara where the new solar oven was designed by one of their professors, Engineer Raúl Rodríguez Anda. Professor Rodríguez will oversee the construction of the new solar oven and train the carpentry students in its use. Designated members of the community who are experienced in the use of the old sawmill, will receive training in the use and operation of a new portable sawmill. We are scheduled to begin this project in March 2014, with the construction of the new and improved solar wood drying oven. The installation of a small efficient portable sawmill, and the construction of a building to house the carpentry school will follow once funding is in place. We hope to see the above mentioned work completed no later than December Once done, we will focus on moving the weaving workshop from its present location to the new campus. Based on our decades of interaction with the Wixárika people and their communities we believe the development of this new and unique campus for the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika and its success to be of vital importance to the Community of Tuapurie, its environmental and human health, and to their continued autonomy. 863 LEO WAY OAKLAND, CA PHONE: (510) MOBILE: (510) WEB:

4 WIXARIKA RESEARCH CENTER An Eco-Forestry Project for the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika of Tuapurie April 11, 2014 The objective of this project is to establish an eco-forestry school for the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika 1 of Tuapurie that provides training opportunities for the students in different forestry and value-added wood processing skills such as sustainable lumber harvesting, reforestation, operation of a small-scale sawmill, wood drying, carpentry and basic bookkeeping. The Eco-Forestry School will help create jobs now and in the future, helping slow the migration of young adults who often leave their community to seek work in the agricultural fields of Nayarit or as undocumented farm workers in the United States. More often than not, they are exposed to dangerous pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The incidence of cancer and pesticide poisoning has been well documented among the Wixárika and other indigenous people who have migrated as seasonal workers to fields of Nayarit. 2 Those who migrate to the United States are particularly vulnerable because of the enormous debt owed to those who facilitated their illegal entry. Today, the average price undocumented immigrants pay to be taken across the border is $3,000, and it takes years of work as a day laborer for them to pay off this debt. The school we are proposing will train young Wixárika students in valuable skills that will become a source of livelihood for them within their own community. It can also generate income for their school while they study through the sale of wood crafts and other objects they make. The Eco-Forestry School will assist the Wixárika community of Tuapurie by establishing a model that promotes environmental consciousness and the sustainable use of their natural resources. With good forest management skills it is possible to harvest timber while maintaining healthy forests and small scale manufacturing can turn timber into furniture, cabinets, musical instruments, toys, materials for art and a host of other wood products. Above all, this project will offer the Wixárika people the opportunity to make a transition from commodity log exporters to sustainable timber product manufacturers for local and external markets, strengthening indigenous autonomy and sovereignty. The project will help advance the financial sustainability of the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika and move forward with the development of the new campus. 1 Tamaatsi Páritsika Community Preparatory School 2 Wixárika labor has been particularly visible in Nayarit s tobacco plantations but, as this crop diminishes, Wixárika labor has been recruited for other crops, including beans, tomatoes and mangoes.

5 2 April 11, 2014 In the long term, the whole community will benefit by their youth being educated in good forestry management skills. Using each tree to its fullest creates jobs and reduces deforestation while generating more income for the community from fewer trees harvested. Although this project will primarily benefit the Wixárika indigenous people and the conservation of their biodiversity-rich native forest, the project has the potential of becoming a blue print for other indigenous and non-indigenous communities who wish to implement eco-forestry programs. Project Activities The following activities will take place in collaboration with staff from the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika of Tuapurie and professors from the University of Guadalajara (UDG) and the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESO). Build an adobe wood drying solar oven, a structure for storing dry wood, materials and tools, and build a carpentry shop. This includes purchasing and transporting construction materials, solar panels and fans to the designated location in Tuapurie and contracting community members to make the adobes to be used in the construction. Purchase a small portable sawmill and basic carpentry tools and transport them to the community. Establish a forest nursery to raise seedlings of native pine and oak trees and start a reforestation program in the areas affected by previous large-scale timber harvesting. Provide training for the students in forest management, reforestation, saw milling, wood drying, carpentry skills and basic bookkeeping. The training will be provided by professors and students from two universities in Guadalajara 3, teachers from the Bachillerato Comunitario Tamaatsi Páritsika, and from the community s experienced carpenters. The sale of finished goods produced by the students will help support the financial needs of the school. Once this project is complete the community will be able to process their own dried lumber which can be used in the construction of the campus buildings, the furniture needed for the classrooms, as well as lower the overall cost of building the campus infrastructure. This project will immediately create jobs and will continue to do so in the future. 3 Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente and the University of Guadalajara 863 LEO WAY OAKLAND, CA PHONE: (510) MOBILE: (510) WEB:

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