Pizza is one of a kid's favourite foods, thank you to our recent donors for their generosity!  Gracias!

All-day event with live music. Featuring great local & international musicians within the realm of jazz, each adding it's own genre flavor at the most incredible music venue on the lake!!

In the town of San Marcos, in Lake Atitlan Guatamala there are many children without sufficient food, shelter, or education.  The San Marcos Atitlan Treehouse Project was made to offer a positive and nurturing safe space for children who are in need of social support, food, education and clothing.  Please feel free to contact us at info@openinstitute.org if you would like to volunteer at the clubhouse!  Open Institute is a fundraising platform with full transparency, designed for Nonprofits and Charities around the world.

Karma Promotions offers business consulting, sounding boards, coaching, business assistance, marketing planning and branding.

The internet has evolved in incredible ways over the past two decades.  We have more ways to store our media than we ever, and the market continues to expand.  However, due to the way that some of these storage platforms are structured, it often takes a lot of the choice away from the consumers.  Sometimes even charging a premium to retrieve your data.  

eMedia Workspace helps video editors, universities, companies, activists, marketing firms, and media publishers save their time. It does this by utilizing a combination of Artificial Intelligence and smart software design to save, organize, upload, download, and retrieve large amounts of files. With over 300 different features for ultimate flexibility, our software is open source and can be used with any server. Intentionally designed with our users digital freedom in mind; eMediaWorkspace owns a network of servers around the globe to keep your information safe and secure. 

eMediaWorkspace is more than just another digital asset management platform - It was built with the intent to also be a building block for community, social justice, equal access and to add value to your business. It is trusted by a wide range of companies and organizations who also see the importance in utilizing and preserving our rights and freedoms in the digital world.  To preserve our collective memories and knowledge from around the globe, our “Digital Heritage”.

A quick update on the puppies, soon they will be sterilized ⭕️ two of the five got stolen, the three remaining are all females 👀

Claire, Christopher and Kachiel

Featuring:

Zanate Benjamin
Lindsay
Christopher Burkey
Claire Hunter

Casa Jasmine San Marcos FAQ

Welcome to Casa Jasmine! We hope you have a lovely stay in our community at Lake Atitlan. We work with the following shared responsibilities to help ensure that all guests (and our neighbors) are respected and have a relaxing and welcome stay.

We create affordable accommodations for the wellness community and empower Mayan entrepreneurship. We renovate Mayan owned properties that allows rents to go to the dozens of extended Mayan family members and keeps lands from being owned by foreign investors.

Casa Jasmine is a child-free and pet free, digital nomad style accomodation.

HOUSE LOCATION

Casa Jasmine: https://goo.gl/maps/SaP7ixcUhq14hgkT8

CONTACTS

Rental: Christopher +502 4611 8131

Cleaning and Garden: Cecilia +502 4800 9487

PAYMENT

All rent should be paid at check in time or before. There will be a Q50 late fee on any rents paid after check-in or due date. There is a 2% discount for cash Quetzales payments. Currency conversions use current rates.

Online payments in USD can be made with Wise. Create a Wise account at https://wise.com. To send funds in USD please add a new Recipient within Wise.com with these details: Email: cburkey@openinstitute.org

For nonUSA:

Wise Account holder: Christopher Burkey

Cburkey@openinstitute.org 

SWIFT/BIC: CMFGUS33

Account number: 822000110819

Wise's address: 30 W. 26th Street, Sixth Floor

New York NY 10010

United States

For USA: 

Wise Account holder: Christopher Burkey

Routing number: 084009519

Account number: 9600008093918083

Account type: Checking

Wise's address: 30 W. 26th Street, Sixth Floor

New York NY 10010

United States

KEYS

For morning arrivals the cleaner Cecilia will have your keys until 12 noon. If you can not meet her ahead of time we will leave keys at Vida Restaurant or for late night entry try to hide your keys under a rock and send you a picture and instructions.

WIFI

Wifi is available and free for guest use. 

Wifi does work with Zoom for video calls and is generally reliable

QUIET HOURS

11pm-7am

CHECK-IN/CHECK-OUT

Check-In: Between 3-6pm

Check Out: By 11am

SMOKING
Smoking is discouraged

Gas, Electric and Water

All are included with your stay. If you run out of gas please call +502 4126 2682 and they will deliver a tank for around 120Q Tip them and they will install it. We will reimburse the cost of gas 

LAUNDRY

Laundry is not included. Go to the Laundromat at Pascal's next to Axuan ice cream on the main path through town (aka Hippie Highway).

PETS

Pets are not permitted.

SHOES
To help keep our homes clean for all guests, we encourage you to leave your shoes near the entry area and to avoid tracking in mud and dirt. If you have been swimming, please clean your feet before entering the shower.

PARTIES AND GATHERINGS

Guests are permitted to hold gatherings of no more than 8 total people, provided that:

1) they are open and welcoming to all others sharing the common living space;

2) they end by 10pm;

3) noise levels do not disturb neighbors and the community;

4) the guest who is hosting is responsible for all clean-up.

VISITORS
Visitors may visit with you from 7am-11pm. Unregistered guests are not permitted to stay overnight, without prior reservation and fee of Q50 per night.

CHILDREN

Casa Jasmine is not designed with children's safety in mind. Therefore we ask that guests be child-free.

PETS

Pets are not permitted at Casa Jasmine.

CLEANING
Guests are expected to keep shared common areas clean and tidy for the use of all guests. Rooms and common areas are cleaned between guest stays. Stays that require extra cleaning for stains, broken items or general dirtiness beyond normal reasonable use will be charged 200Q

COMPOST

Compost should be placed in the compost pile in the corner of the garden.

TRASH
Trash is removed on Wednesdays by the gardener.

DRINKING WATER
Water in the shared kitchens is filtered using a EcoFilter that you must refill each day. Water from these filtered sources is safe to drink. Water in the bathrooms is not filtered. 

HOT  WATER
Is included. We use a vacuum tube solar hot water system. Depending on sunshine and length of showers  it can provide six nice hot showers per day. It also stores heat for up to three days of cloud.

WATER SERVICE AND CONSERVATION
Water service to the house is provided by the municipality. There are times during the year when water supplies run low. Why? Because the community sources water from the mountain, not the lake. Natural hydrologic cycles effect this source, it is not something that we can control. When water runs low, please help conserve. What does this look like? Consider things like no extra flushes, washing with a wash cloth rather than taking a shower, not letting the water run when brushing your teeth or washing dishes. 

ELECTRICITY
The power may go out during your stay and at times these outages are for an extended period. This is typical in Guatemala. We recommend keeping electronic devices charged and having an alternative lighting source available.

SECURITY
Security Cameras are in use at all residence garden areas. These cameras are used solely to deter opportunistic thefts and problems and we check these cameras only in the case of an incident. We recommend hiding electronics and any valuables as you would while traveling anywhere. Do not leave valuables unattended or easily accessible during your stay.

POLICE

For emergencies you can reach the police on WhatsApp: +502 4503 7073.

FIRST AID
There is no ambulance in San Marcos. The nearest one is based in San Pedro. There is sometimes a first aid kit in the top bathroom. There is a pharmacy with basic supplies on the street behind the church, he can also apply bandages. 

SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS

Are common here and will not kill you. The big spiders on the walls eat only smaller insects and do not bite at all. Scorpions tend to wander and will sting you if you touch them. Guatemalan scorpion stings are like a bee sting and tend to hurt for about an hour.

FIREWORKS

The church will sometimes light off fireworks at all hours of the day and night. Nobody knows why.

NOT FEELING WELL?

Water borne and food borne illnesses, including bacterial infections, are common throughout Guatemala and may or may not affect you immediately during your stay. Always drink well filtered water. Food should not be eaten raw unless it is peeled or has been soaked in a vegetable water cleaning solution, sold in stores locally. 

HEALTH CLINICS
The Posta health clinic in San Pablo is open 24 hours a day and has a doctor. In Solola and San Pedro they have X Ray machines but poor service. The best hospitals are in Xela or Guatemala City. To call and ambulance from Xela call: +502 4064 5428

Dental Work: Clínicas Dentales La Guardia in Panajachel

Congratulations to OGF, eMedia and Open Institute on their recent collaboration to update ODAMS! This year is a bright one and we all have great hopes for a better future.   

Oromia Ethiopia is a region state in Ethiopia and the home of the Oromo People. Oromia has seen many struggles over the years and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

The Ethiopian state has continued to subject the Oromo people to violence and human rights violations. Successive Ethiopian governments have caused deep social, political, cultural and economic crises in Oromo society.The situation is urgent, and with the help of the Oi platform and eMedia, we hope to help ODAMS improve their website to reach their fundraising goal!  To make a huge difference in the year to come. 

- OGF and Oi share a common vision to build the capacity of Oromo citizens to make their voices heard and take their right place in the world.

- Oromia Global Forum (OGF) is a global alliance of Oromo Civic, Professional, and Faith-Based Organizations and individual Human Rights defenders and activists, residing in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa.
- Oi is a 501C nonprofit organization with the goal to provide free fundraising tools for humanitarian cultural heritage projects. With a goal to provide accountability and transparency in the world of fundraising for non-profit initiatives.

- EnterMedia will provide the hosting for this project, Using the eMediaWorkspace version for 299$ a month.

- Oi is going to build a donation page to track donations and expenses with full transparency on how the donations are spent.

- Oi will also use their platform and team to collaborate with OGF staff and Volunteers.

- OGF will begin a fundraising campaign

- Assist OGF in recruiting, team building and training personell by utilizing open institute collaboration tools online

- Assign personell to work on collectively uploading media and building the ODAMS.org media library.

-Tasks will be incentivized by a points system on the Oi. Work points can used towards compensation depending on the success of the project.

The first time I came to the property that now holds the space for these puppies, it was because another three puppies where just been born, under very hard circumstances. I couldn't turn my back, I went into the property, and I put it them in a safe place. Now they are big, adopted and gave the space for the next round: 5 puppies who will be given in adoption. The goal is to make them get used to dog food, I can see the mama already tired of breastfeeding 

Now that Mama gave birth, more food will be needed 

DJ Mixa is a trailblazer from Guatamala.  Dropping beats at multiple festivals and cultural events.  She brings her audience on a journey around the world abd back, combining tribal rhythms with trip hop, trance, house, latin, house dub, nu cumbia and afro beats.  Also a poi performer, she brings a whole new level of power to her shows, unafraid of crossing boundaries between gritty powerful and soft. She interacts with her audience with the type of sensitivity that can only come after 20 years of experience as a performer.  A pioneer in the mixing scene of guatamala.

Congratulations to the Emediafinder team for kicking off a new initiative with The Music Academy Madras!

Emediafinder in Collaboration with The Music Academy Madras will have huge benefits in preserving precious and rare cultural content.  It will also provide valuable educational resources for music students, researchers and professionals alike.  Building searchable relationship mappings between artists, musicians, musicologists, instruments, genres and events.  This is an  exciting partnership and a wonderful contribution to archiving our worldwide digital culture heritage! Great Job Everyone!

Good dog food 🥘 

Ugly, Ashna and Mama are eating like there's no tomorrow 😮‍💨

A bit anxious and nervous to see who was going to show up, but very happy nonetheless. This was the feeling that came, as we took the first step, into what we perceive as a dream being manifested.

A bit anxious and nervous to see who was going to show up, but very happy nonetheless. This was the feeling that came, as we took the first step, into what we perceive as a dream being manifested.