Long Way Home

In the 97% indigenous Maya Kaqchikel rural town of Comalapa, Guatemala 64% of the population lives in poverty, 27% in extreme poverty. Residents lack access to potable water, food, shelter, and quality education. Any major shift to these circumstances will require a heroic effort. In collaboration with volunteers from all over the world, our 200 indigenous Hero School students, teachers, and green builders are well-positioned to make a multi-generational systemic change. Since 2005 Long Way Home has transformed more than 1000 tons of rubbish (including over 100,000 used tires and tens of thousands of plastic bottles filled with plastic rubbish) into vital poverty-alleviating infrastructure (schools, health clinics, homes, water projects and more), on three continents. This includes the marvel that is the Hero School campus and our current headquarters. Please visit lwhomegreen.org to see examples of what we have accomplished. In addition to improving living conditions and alleviating poverty, our use of rubbish in construction provides an inexpensive and replicable example of how to proactively protect the environment against contamination. Not only do we build infrastructure and protect the environment, but we also empower community members by fully integrating our innovative project-based curriculum into the Hero School primary, middle, and high school lesson plans. By combining poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and education our impact is profound.