Long Way Home

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Long Way Home is a non-profit, grassroot organization building a vocational school out of old tires filled with dirt, plastic bottles filled with trash and earthbags. Long Way Home is addressing the issues of lack of employment, bringing more education and environmental protection in a unique package that benefit the indigenous population of Comalapa, Guatemala.

The purpose of the Vocational School Project is to provide the young people of Comalapa with marketable skills that will enable them to be responsible citizens and entrepreneurs. There is a severe lack of educational opportunities for teenagers and young adults in rural Guatemala, and this project gives the young people of Comalapa the tools they need to be competitive in the local job market. The production of alternative energy at the Vocational School will educate the local people, create jobs, and combat environmental degradation in Guatemala.

In addition to the standard educational curriculum, the Vocational School will offer coursework in carpentry, masonry, mechanics, electrical, welding, and horticulture, along with the business and technology aspects of alternative energy production. The project will create a new group of Guatemalan students, environmentalist and entrepreneurs, uniquely skilled and motivated to be innovative.

The construction of the school will make a positive environmental impact on the community of Comalapa because of the the techniques that are being implemented for its construction. Using environmentally friendly construction methods such as trash bottle, rammed earth, and earth bag, the school will be a practical demonstration of how to reuse discarded materials. The locals who participate in the school's construction will have hands-on experience with these money-saving construction techniques and will
apply their new knowledge within the community.