April 20-27 – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

We will be returning to Puerto Vallarta for the fifth year. During the week we will donate wheelchairs in Puerto Vallarta, hold a one-day sports event, teach those who receive wheelchairs how to use there equipment, and we’ll invite those who receive equipment to visit a dolphin show in Nuevo Vallarta.

Volunteers fly into Puerto Vallarta airport April 20.  We will meet you as you arrive at the airport and take you to the nearby hotel. Sunday afternoon we will all have some time to get to know each other, have a short training time and orientation. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will be distributing wheelchairs. Thursday we will host a recreation/sports camp to show those who receive wheelchairs how to get around and to play sports. We will have instructors who use wheelchairs and those who don’t to show the participants of the camp how to be more active and independent. Many of those who will receive the donated equipment don’t have the resouces to get out of the house, so we will treat them to a special event – a dolphin show at Vallarta Adventures. Volunteers will fly back to the U.S. April 27.

The cost of the trip is $750 which includes transportation in Mexico, accomodations at a beautiful hotel on the ocean, lunches during the days of the distribution, sports camp & dolfin excursion, travel insurance, and of course, a t-shirt. To sign up for the trip fill out our Volunteer Application (bottom of page) and send it to Carol (clwilson@sierratel.com), our Trip Administrator. If you have questions please call her at (209) 742-7048.

SUMMER OUTREACHES

We have 2-3 teams from the U.S. who are planning to join us in July to donate wheelchairs, make homes accessible and work in the rural, indigineous communties of Mexico.  A team from Mariposa, California is planning to come July 13-20.  We also may have teams coming from Tucson, Arizona and Breckenridge, Colorado in July.  You are invited to join these teams, form your own team or come on your own.  We also invite people to do internships or stay for us for longer periods of time.

 Mazahua Valley Ministries where Summer Teams will stay and where wheelchairs will be donated.

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PREVIOUS  YEARS

2012 EVENTS

PUERTO VALLARTA – May 5-12

We returned to Puerto Vallarta for the fourth year.  During the week we donated wheelchairs in Puerto Vallarta & Compostela, held a one-day excursion along the beach to teach people who received wheelchairs how to move around.

MARIPOSA TEAM – July 14-21

A group from Mariposa, California joined us in rural Mexico for their fourth year to help us donate wheelchairs, made Lupita’s home more accessible and made a great difference in the lives of many people with disabilities

MAZATLAN WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TOURNAMENT – December

We hosted our annual Recreation & Sports camp and first International Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in Mazatlan. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation with 35 players from five different countries.

2011 Events

MAZAHUA VALLEY MISSION – JULY 16 – 23

A team fom Mariposa, California joined us for a week of wheelchair distribution, community service projects, making a wheelchair accessible art studio, and more. The people who live in the area are indigenous Mazahuan Indians. Most people who live in the area have few financial resources, so the opportunity to provide mobility to them was an incredible blessing, for them, and for us too.

OCTOBER – MEGA MARATHON IN MEXICO

200 YEARS of INDEPENDENCE – 200 KILOMETER RUN – 200 PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES GET NEW MOBILITY

2010 was the 200th year anniversary of the Independence of Mexico. Victor Sierra, a long-distance runner and member of Toluca, Mexico Rotary Club, ran 200 kilometers to raise funds to provide wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and other mobility equipment for 200 impoverished people with disabiliites of Mexico. Many other runners and people with disabilities joined Victor to run and to provide mobility to many people who are stuck in their houses. World Access Project worked alongside Rotary Club to obtain the wheelchairs and volunteerf from the U.S.

NOVEMBER – PUERTO VALLARTA

We donated 20 wheelchairs in Puerto Vallarta for two days, and 20 wheelchairs in Compostela, a nearby town. We hosted a sports one-day sports and recreation clinic to teach those who receive wheelchairs how to use their New Mobility. We also took them to Dolphin Center to see and actually touch the dolphins. Many people with mobility impairments seldom have the luxury to get out their house. We hope that the sports clinic and excursion to visit the dolphins motivated them to become more active, independent and part of their communities. It was a great week and many lives were changed!

DECEMBER - SPORTS CLINIC & ‘SINALOA ABIERTO’ WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TOURNAMENT IN MAZATLAN

We held a three day sports clinic, with 20+ participants who learned how to play basketball, tennis, futbol, street hockey and many other sports.  The day following the camp we held an Up/Down tennis tournament so that people without disabilities would have the opportunity to play tennis with those who use wheelchairs.  Friday – Sunday we held the ‘Sinaloa Open’ a International Tennis Tournament with 30+ players from Mexico and the U.S.

2010 Events

Resurrection Lutheran Church at Mission Mazahua – July

A great team joined us from Spring, Texas to help donaate wheelchairs, build our new school for people with disabilities, build ramps to make Mazahua Valley Ministries more accesible and to built a 10 meter ramp a Mario’s house so he could get from his car to his house easier.  The worked hard, did a great job, and shared God’s love with everyone they met.

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