VOLUNTEER STORY

What Three Weeks at Casa Clu Taught Me

After six weeks backpacking across Mexico, British volunteer Lauren Araujo was ready to slow down and put down roots — even briefly. At Casa Clu, she spent her afternoons teaching English, making recycled Christmas trees, and building Mayan-inspired pyramids with our kids.

Why I Chose to Volunteer at Casa Clu

I was honoured to spend 3 weeks volunteering at Casa Clu in November 2025.

After backpacking around Mexico for 6 weeks, I was excited to slow down and base myself in a local community. I hoped to make a positive impact on young people at Casa Clu and expand my understanding of Mexican culture after falling in love with the country. I couldn’t have predicted the joy, knowledge and experience Casa Clu would give me.

Life Volunteering at La Casa Clu

Living in a cabin, on site with another volunteer, we would spend our mornings at the beach or exploring the local area, before spending our afternoons playing and working with the children at Casa Clu. The structure of the weekly schedule allowed for a mix of both education and play. Some of my favourite activities that I taught were English classes, rock painting and creating our own recycled plastic Christmas trees from waste we collected.

Teaching, Creating and Playing

The objectives of Casa Clu are to combine education with fun, something I felt was incorporated into all of the activities and attitudes of the volunteers. The kids at Casa Clu are intelligent, funny, ambitious and all deserving of the education, community, food and safety that Casa Clu provides.

It is an essential that these children have this safe place to express themselves, as well as relieving the pressures parents face after their children’s school day is over. The inclusive, progressive approach towards education can absolutely change the lives of the children of the future, as evident through Pedro who was part on the programme himself and now volunteers there, an inspiring role model in the community.

The Kids Who Made It All Worthwhile

One of my favourite memories of my time at Casa Clu was building pyramids out of nature or things the children had to find, inspired by the Mayan and Aztec’s. This was both a creative activity and one that taught them about the history and strength of their ancestors. As well as this, I still have cards, recipes and drawings, given to me by some of the girls at Casa Clu, which I will always treasure.

I hope that I was able to give the children at Casa Clu even a fraction of the joy, hope and laugher that they gave me. I will be forever grateful to the children, volunteers and community at Casa Clu, this experience was life changing and something I will never forget. I hope that one day I’ll be able to return, muchas gracias Casa Clu!