Projects: Mismaloya
PROJECT MEXICO NOVEMBER 2010
Amigos del Lago is working with the Mismaloya Comunity, which is a small town on the south side of Lake Chapala. Mismaloya is a delegation of the City of Tizapan. For More Information
Most of the men in Mismaloya are fishermen; there are two different groups of fishermen: one fishes for carp, catfish, tilapia and other species; the other fishes for chubs or charales (“the charaleros”).
Amigos del Lago would like to help the Charaleros, because they receive less help from the authorities (SAGARPA). But not only do we care about the men, we want to help the women also.
The Charaleros have their farms, but they face a lot of problems; some of those problems are:
- SAGARPA: Lack of help from SAGARPA.
- Federal Zone: Every day the communities have less access to the lake shore because of fewer federal zones
- Lack of Fish: the lack of fish in the lake, along with other problems like, size of the fish,(smaller) overfishing, illegal fishing, use of banned nets, etc…
Amigos del Lago is searching for an alternative activity for this community, The women in the community are very creative. They are eager to work and help their families. Most of them work making fish fillets and make a very low salary.
The women are skilled embroiderers, but to do embroidery they need materials and sewing machines.
Recently Amigos del Lago hosted a Tour to Mismaloya. We took a 40 person bus to visit the community. The ladies cooked for us and the men rented their fish boat for short tours. We paid them for their services, plus they had also the chance to sell their crafts. They told us that it was the first time that a tourist bus visited Mismaloya!!!
Doing small tours, helping them to improve their embroidery, with better quality of materials, plus helping their husbands to keep the “charales” farms.. will help the future of Mismaloya.
This project coordinated by the Secretary of Amigos del Lagos.