Supporting and preserving indigenous Mayan culture

pablo Chan is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hello! My name is Juan. I live with my family in Yalcobá, a small town located near Valldolid, in the state of Yucatán in Mexico.

Who are we?

As a family, we direct a non-profit association called Ta Náayta, which in Mayan means "All that you dreamed of". We are dedicated to supporting the indigenous community of Yalcobá and their lands through projects focused on conserving natural and cultural heritage, as well as traditional ecological knowledge. We strive to be an organization that promotes the strengthening, resilience, and well-being of our Mayan communities.

My father Pablo and me, Juan

Our projects

We currently offer three ongoing projects: agroecology, meliponiculture (beekeeping) and ecotourism.

Agroecology

With our agroecology project, we seek to:

contribute to the food security of traditional farming families;
preserve forest ecosystems and traditional agricultural practices;
revitalize rural communities by creating opportunities for young people.

Our activities in the agroecology branch include the following:

Installation of solar irrigation systems;
Support for the creation of diversified and nutritious agroforestry and agroecological projects;
Strengthening and promotion of traditional ecological, agricultural and livestock knowledge;
Training in syntrophic agriculture and agroecological management.

Meliponiculture (beekeeping)

Meliponiculture is the raising of melipona bees or stingless bees, native to the Yucatán Peninsula.

This practice has a deeply rooted cultural role among the Mayan people. The hives and the knowledge are traditionally passed down from generation to generation. However, this sociocultural heritage has been in decline for several decades.

This project focuses on the rehabilitation of local traditional knowledge centered on meliponiculture and participates in the empowerment of the Mayan women of the town of Yalcobá.

The women involved in the project managed to create their own collective, named Melikaab. They were able to start selling their own honey and derived products, such as body soaps and creams.

In addition to the economic and medicinal benefits for Mayan families, the reactivation of meliponiculture in Yalcobá also helps to preserve the declining Mayan identity.

Ecotourism

We offer unique ecotourism tours that showcase the cultural and natural heritage of Yucatán. Sharing our culture in this way is important, as we believe sensitizing others to our ways of life and to the environment will help keep our culture alive.

In our tours, we visit:

Cenotes (cenotes are natural freshwater underground pools, a true jewel of Yucatan, considered sacred by the Mayan civilization);
La milpa (a true pillar of pre-Columbian civilizations and a source of inexhaustible agroecological knowledge, the milpa is the traditional agriculture of Mesoamerica and is an ideal entry point for understanding these cultures);
Yucatecan gastronomy in Mayan families homes;
Traditional handcrafting (Yucatecan handcrafts are rich in diversity and products. It is possible to meet and exchange with the artisan women of Yalcoba and leave with a souvenir).

Our land

We have land situated just outside of our town. We call our farm El Rancho Tuumben Kuuxtal, which means "New Life" in the Mayan language. It is also a place dedicated to agroecological experimentation and reflection on permaculture and autonomy.

Our Mayan culture and the relearning of indigenous knowledge lead us to further adress the notions of sustainability, autonomy and resilience.

El Rancho aims to be fully integrated into its environment, by promoting the potential of the territory to ensure its energy autonomy and the development of a sustainable living alternatives. We seek to work on food autonomy through several cultivation areas that combine different traditional and modern agroecological knowledge.

The traditional agroecological knowledge of the territory is mixed with the practices of syntropic agriculture, with the idea of recreating an edible forest.

Why are we raising funds?

Operating community projects takes a lot of organization as well as different types of resources.

We are currently raising funds to buy a variety of tools that will help us with landscaping, ancestral agriculture techniques as well as ancestral architecture.

One specific example:

We currently have large solar panels. However, to be able to store the solar power for longer periods of time and convert it into electricity, we must purchase an electric battery. Having electricity available at all times directly at the Milpa would allow us to refrigerate our harvests, to store food for longer periods of time for our families, for agricultural workers and for volunteers.

We thank you for your interest. Your support means a lot!