The Philosophy

Participatory and asset-based community development practices represent the heart of Los Niños, Inc.’s operations. Impacting more than 5000 families throughout the “Baja Triangle” – Tijuana, Mexicali, and Ensenada – the organization continues to expand its reach into the burgeoning communities of the region. Fostering economic development for women seeking to attain additional financial support for their families via small home & “cottage-style” enterprises, the micro-credit initiative of Los Niños, Inc. has been tremendously successful. Since its inception, more than 125 women and men have graduated from the two-year community leadership education program run in conjunction with Simon Fraser University (Canada) and Ibero Americana University (Tijuana).

Service & Learning - Cornerstones of VolunTourism

Photo Courtesy Of Robert Kolesar, All Rights Reserved

It is against the backdrop of these highly-acclaimed community development initiatives that Los Niños, Inc. hosts guests from throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico to discover how community development that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people” can impact families and support their progression toward self-reliance. Los Niños, Inc. has the competitive advantage of offering VolunTourism programs in an unprecedented environment - one of the fastest growing cities on Earth (Tijuana, Baja California). It is in this setting that Los Niños, Inc. delivers educational opportunities that have a lasting impact on visitors.

Annually some 600 visitors from more than 40 high schools, colleges, and universities descend on this section of the 2000-mile U.S./Mexican Border to engage in voluntary service activities coupled with educational experiences in the area that sustains the most heavily-trafficked border crossing in the world (54 million crossings annually). It is in this environment that VolunTourists learn about issues such as social justice, immigration, human trafficking, urban poverty, commerce, and countless other subjects. They can discover what it is like to be educated in a “living laboratory."

With the juxtaposition of two cities demonstrating what may be the most extreme contrast of “developed” versus “developing” in the world, San Diego, one of the wealthiest cities in America, shares its southern border with Tijuana. In between them lies a 63-mile long Border Fence, patrolled by U.S. Homeland Security forces 24 hours a day, featuring surveillance cameras and gun turrets. It is here that visitors may engross themselves in hours of reflection and contemplation as to how and why such things are possible.

Collaborations

In 2004, Los Niños, Inc. collaborated with Esperanza International to broaden the VolunTourism footprint in the Border Region. Between the two organizations, nearly 2000 VolunTourists have the opportunity to engage in uniquely blended travel experiences each year. It is the goal of Los Niños, Inc. to share its model with other destinations, suppliers, and operators to determine how best to evolve the VolunTourism concept throughout the world. It is for this additional reason that VolunTourism.org was created.

In June 2007, Los Niños, Inc. began its work with Share Guatemala to open VolunTourism in this Central American country known for its Mayan people, corn production, and unique landscape. Projects were designed initially for Temple University and the University of San Diego.

Potential collaborations in Sri Lanka, India, and Costa Rica are possible as NGOs in those destinations are eager to begin customizing programs to support the growth and development of VolunTourism as a social business opportunity and mechanism for establishing more self-reliant communities.

Los Niños, Inc. is interested in fostering collaborations with those companies and organizations that desire to share emerging practices and encourage more individuals and groups to engage in this meaningful form of travel.

For inquiries regarding collaborations, please contact Elisa Sabatini, Executive Director of Los Niños, Inc.: elisa[at]losninosintl.org

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