Tim Gibb-Al Campo Founder and Director
Tim started Al Campo after spending 10 years working
on water and sanitation and small market development in rural villages
in Latin America and Asia. Tim has worked with the United Nations, UNICEF,
CARE, Save the Children, Winrock International, World Vision, and numerous
local non-profits while living and working in Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico,
Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Cambodia, and Thailand. Tim was born in the
Philippines. Before getting involved in international development, Tim
spent four years as a wilderness instructor/counselor leading 31 day
emmersion programs for Pennsylvania youth at risk.
Vicente Velasquez-Sustainable Village Project Director
Vicente, known to us as 'Don' Vicente, out of respect
for him as the oldest member of the Al Campo Team and because of his
wealth of knowledge surrounding water and soil conservation, rural development
and agriculture, is originally from one of the villages we now work
in. Unlike many of the youth from his village, Vicente was able to receive
an education in Agricultural Engineering at the national university
in Nicaragua. Vicente spent nearly a decade as a field technician for
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) before
joining our team. Vicente is well connected with the local communities
and maintains and supervises projects in the villages when there are
no groups working in the villages.
Jose Fidel Pavon-Director- Appropriate Technologies
Workshop
Jose Fidel, a native of San Juan del sur, has a background
in rural water and sanitation and runs amn Appropriate Technologies
Workshop building where he builds and trains others to build compsoting
latrines, household water filters, and smokeless stoves. All of these
technologies are simple technologies designed to address a variety of
health and sanitation issues in the 550 rural communities in the San
Juan area. Fidel's approach is a simple approach of solving local problems
with local materials and technologies, while empowering the community
to be the initiators of their own reforms.
Marlys Mitchell, CMT-Trip Leader
Marlys, one of our dynamic team members, takes her job very seriously and life with a grain of salt. With cup of coffee in hand she'll be the first to greet you in the morning with a level of positivity that would conform even the grumpiest. When not on trips with Al Campo International, Marlys is at home in Hawaii surfing and managing her own practice as a massage therapist.
Kirsten Miller-Trip Leader
Kirsten first came to Nicaragua in the summer of 2001 as one of the first participants on an Al Campo International trip.
She returned the following year as an intern before starting her studies to become a doctor. During the course of her studies Kirsten has made her way back to Nicaragua both with Al Campo International and with medical teams to provide health care to rural villages with little access to these services.She spends her summer breaks from medical school working with Al Campo.
Guillermo Valdez-Trip Leader
Guillermo is a Puerto Rican-American who works in the Los Angeles school
systems as a counseling psychologist for teenage students. Before getting
his master in Counseling Psychology, Guillermo worked as a wilderness
trip leader for youth at risk in Pennsylvania. In 1997 Guillermo backpacked
the length of Central and South America. It was during this trip that
he and Tim met on the Inca Trail in Peru.
Sandra Krebs-Trip Leader
Sandra is a high school teacher from Zurich Switzerland. She came to Nicaragua first for the surf, but wanting to contribute to the country, not just benefit from its attractions, she became a trip leader for Al Campo International. She is a high school teacher who teaches English, History, German, Art and Cultural studies. She has taught in the Philippines and Scotland and is currently teaching in her home country. Sandra is a vibrant and positive person who is 'psyched to be back in Nicaragua' this summer.
Bayardo Euclides Martinez Reyes-Course Coordinator and Trip
Leader
Bayardo, known to all students and staff as Eu, is a Nicaragua national
native to San Juan del Sur.Eu acts as trip coordinator and leader for
all Honduran and Nicaraguan courses. Eu grew up during the temultous
Sandinista revolution and the destructive US embargo that followed it.
Eu lost friends and family during the revolution and as a child experienced
the devaluation of the peso and the explosive inflation in the 80s as
the poor got poorer and more marginalized outside the capital. He has
also been part of the reconstruction and economic stabilization of the
country over the last 30 years. Eu's experience and perspective give
Al Campo students a window to Nicaragua's history and culture in a way
no foreigner could. Eu's dedication to the improvement of rural living
conditions is driven by his own experiences of food, water and electric
shortages during and after the revolution and his desire to eradicate
that situation for people in rural Nicaragua. |
