We then separate into small groups to live with individual families on their homesteads and farms. We bring our own food, shelter and tools out of consideration for our hosts.


Together, we work on projects that are important to our host's way of life. In the past, groups have helped with a myriad of projects, including cleaning out a drinking well, painting a shed, setting up a ceremonial teepee, building livestock corrals and fences, building erosion-control dams, rebuilding a barn, constructing a ceremonial sweat lodge, replastering a traditional Hopi or Zuni bread oven, irrigating and weeding a cornfield and fruit trees, tending animals, erecting a traditional brush arbor in Canyon De Chelly, and helping elderly residents with home chores and yard work.


Our work schedule is flexible so we can join in local events such as a community fair, a local rodeo, or a ceremonial dance. We have time to play with Native American children, share food with our hosts, and meet their extended families and neighbors. We help our friends with our labor. In turn, they enrich our lives by openly sharing their culture and friendship. We leave with a greater appreciation of our own lives and of the world's diversity.