School Construction

Zapatista schools are planned, designed, and built by the Mayan communities themselves.

School construction is preceded by an extensive and inclusive consultation processes, involving all of the members of the community, educators, students, and various Zapatista government bodies. Although Schools for Chiapas does not actually build

these schools, we are sometimes included in planning stages and we do provide vital financial support to buy construction materials so that the Zapatista communities can build schools. Once a decision has been finalized to build a school, the necessary building materials are obtained (usually with funds donated by the Mayan communities) and the construction is carried out by volunteer community workers.  Your donations mean that school construction can proceed much more rapidly. Click  to donate toward an upcoming Zapatista school construction.

Schools for Chiapas volunteers occasionally have the opportunity to physically participate in a school construction project and in the process we get to live in the community and work alongside community construction volunteer. These hands-on school construction service projects can be almost magical experiences mixing profound philosophical insights with many broken blisters. School construction projects are the occasional focus of a Schools for Chiapas travel delegation. Please click here for a list of upcoming travel opportunities.