nomadsally: Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico

Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico

A Touch of Paradise.

Walkway Art

Today, Chacala is small village of about 300-400 residents situated 56 miles north of Puerto Vallarta on a beautiful bay on the Pacific Ocean. But, only ten years ago, before a road to the village was built, Chacala was an isolated rural fishing settlement.

Slowly North Americans and Mexicans are discovering the charming character and beautiful beaches of the region and the tourist trade is making a significant impact on village life.

Main Street, Chacala

Casa Tortuga, Our Favorite

Casa Mirador, Our Guesthouse

Sunsets

Street Scenes

Community Center

Yoga on Beach

Chacala Elementary

Iggy, Our Iguana

Mar de Jade, Yoga Retreat Center

Juan, Storekeeper

Snacks

Guayabana Fruit

Outstanding Sunsets

Slowly North Americans and Mexicans are discovering the charming character and beautiful beaches of the region and the tourist trade is making a significant impact on village life.

This change has caused Chacala residents to re-think their views of their lives and their children's education. As explained in my first Chacala blog, residents and the visiting tourists started a local guest house program called Techos de Mexico. These B&Bs which provide relatively moderate housing for tourists are still functioning successfully. Casa Maria, Casa Aurora, Casa Concha, Casa Gracia, and Casa Beatrice are the most vibrant examples of this program today.

Another pride of Chacala is Cambiando Vidas, a non-profit scholarship program supporting local students since 1999. Formerly most children dropped out of school after the 6th grade to fish or work in the family business. The Chacala public schools have always had many limitations. Today, they consist of a two-room primary school for six grades and a tele-secondary school for the three middle school grads. In the tele-secondary school, students are taught with the help of centrally produced videos shown on a screen in the classroom with one teacher for the three grade levels. Another difficulty is that each teacher is in Chacala for a short time and then rotated out to a another city school, which results in a lack of continuity for the students.

With the completion of the road, it became possible for children to leave Chacala to attend high school or vocational school. Most have not had the financial means to pursue more education. Cambiando Vidas was precisely established to meet these critical education needs both in Chacala and in secondary n outside of Chacala. This has brought great changes to the lives of Chacala children providing eligible students with full or partial scholarship for secondary, preparatory and technical educatiion and univerity.

In addition it provides library facilities, computers, internet access, uniforms, and school supplies. Today there are 33 students who are receiving scholarshhips under the program with 11 students in secondary school, 9 high school and technical schools and 13 students in college. Cambiando Vidas is truly changing the lives of many youth in Chacala. The following photos show views of the schools, the people, and other village scenes. It is one of the most welcoming communities that we have ever known. Enjoy the views of Chacala life.

Children of Chacala.