WOOD WORKSHOP

Construction began on the sawmill/wood workshop in March of 2012. It was 90% complete by September of that same year and is now a fully operational workshop which will be a center for learning the skills needed to secure good sustainable jobs.

Our vision for the Work Shop is simple: with grant monies to secure not only advertising dollars, but also workers’ wages for a limited time (enough to provide until the shop starts making enough of its own money to cover their wages and overhead), and some additional money for needed supplies- (some of which are already on hand), Maya First will train Mayan workers not only to create commodities for the Saturday market, (which has already demonstrated some successful sales of wood furniture) and tourism, but to expand their goods and services to the surrounding communities like in San Ignacio through an aggressive marketing program. . We are always looking for volunteers to give instruction in woodworking at the shop. With these programs in place and the increased skills of the Mayan workers, we will have another avenue available for them to work towards true self-sufficiency.  Working as closely as possible within their environment, we are encouraging the young Mayan artisans to expand their skills to create and promote their products in Belize.