International house renovation project

International project renovates homes

143 traditional houses have been repaired in the Route of Don Vasco region of Michoacán

Nineteen low-income families in Michoacán got their houses back today after they were renovated through a joint project between Mexico and Spain.

“It’s a miracle — my house was in the worst condition and they left it like new,” Felipe Cornelio told the news agency EFE. “ It makes you happy to be alive.”

Cornelio was one of 148 beneficiaries of the most recent phase of a renovation program that began in 2007 with several objectives: improve the urban image of the town of Tzintzuntzan, renew traditional local architecture, create jobs, boost tourism and improve the quality of life for marginalized families.

The 19 homes were renovated at a cost of 5.1 million pesos, or US $339,000, in a project that has completed 143 renovations in Santa Fe de la Laguna and Erongaricuaro as well as Tzintzuntzan since its inception.

International project renovates homes

Avocado Orchards In Mexico Compete With Forest Land

Demand for avocados in the United States has quadrupled in the last 20 years. America's growing love for the fruit may be harming the fragile habitat of the monarch butterfly, whose winter home is in the forests of central Mexico. Those forests are not far from Mexico's avocado orchards, where the majority of the avocados Americans consume are grown.  

While  high demand has created economic opportunity for farmers, it has also put a strain the region’s natural resources.

Reynaldo Garduño was just 8 years old when he would climb the mountain near his village in central Mexican state of Michoacan and chop down trees. Then he'd take his burro loaded with wood to sell in town.

"They'd buy that wood and make toothpicks, popsicle sticks, ceiling beams and furniture," he said. "We made our living off the forest. It was our means of survival."

A simple corn harvest was not enough to pay the bills. But 50 years later, things have changed. Garduño lives in the village of Carpinteros about 2.5 hours northwest of Mexico City. Carpinteros is an ejido, a self-governed agricultural community where land is communally held. Today farmers there have a new source of income.

Fronteras - Avocado Orchards In Mexico Compete With Forest Land