Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - A recent trip to Punta Mita with a dedicated group of Vallarta PEACE volunteers opened our eyes to another aspect of that resort town. Located just a few meters from the entrance to the Four Seasons, the PEACE Campesina, headquarters of the eponymous organization, is a startling revelation to the first time visitor.

Our tour of the facilities included visits to the recycling plant, where packaging, plastics and metal containers find their way from the resorts and elite condo associations for processing and sale and to alternative classrooms for children who for a variety of reasons find themselves outside the regular education system while being introduced to the wonderful staff who direct the many community programs carried out by staff and volunteers in Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta.

What is PEACE, you may ask? The letters stand for Protection, Environment, Animals, Culture and Education.

Talk to one person and he might say PEACE is all about the free neuter and spay clinics which occur 4 days per week, almost every week, in one of the many colonias in and around PV but PEACE offers so much more than that. There is also the mobile education classroom which accompanies each clinic and shares information with children about the care and feeding of household pets, wildlife and the environment.

The next guy might know about the PEACE + Riviera Cuale Community Garden begun last year at the Rivera Cuale Condominiums in Caloso and at which school children are learning about where food comes from and how to grow and harvest it.

Another person may be familiar with PEACE's micro-financing program which has helped numerous entrepreneurs, many of them women, who have turned their handicrafts into a business which helps support their families.

Someone else may know of PEACE's Work for Food program which helps jobless recipients acquire food for their families by performing tasks identified by local leaders in their neighborhoods. I could go on and on about the free counseling provided for parents of children living in abusive situations or the after school programs for kids, the periodic beach clean ups in the Banderas Bay, but I am running out of column space.

Here in Vallarta this year, the proceeds from the weekly PEACE home tours, which leave from Plaza Romy at 10:30 am every Tuesday through March 27th, will support the new local Work for Food program.

There are many deserving charities being supported by those of us who come to this wonderful place and want to share some of the bounty present in our own lives. May PEACE be on your mind and in your heart.

PEACE, (Protection, Education, Animals, Culture, Environment) established in 2005, is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization made up of three main programs which focus on education, animal well-being, and environmental protection in the Bay of Banderas, Nayarit, Mexico. PEACE works hand-in-hand with communities in Mexico to provide holistic education, combined with community action programs that enable people to improve their quality of life as well as their financial stability.

For more information, please visit PeaceMexico.org,or
click HERE to read more about PEACE