Choosing to work with children you can teach English, math or science or assist at the music school or arts at the cultural center. More manual work involves carpentry and building. There is also the possibility to work in the theatre and storytelling or sports.

Instead of directly working with kids you can also help out at the nature program. This involves helping to construct an ecological playground, renovation of rooms and gardens and taking care of horses.

To work at our projects we are looking for people that are enthusiast, willing to learn, dedicated, patient, friendly and love nature. Volunteers work 5 days a week for 5-7 hours a day. During your volunteer work, you will stay at a Volunteer House.

Spanish
For this project your Spanish doesn’t have to be fluent. Included in the program are up to 10 hours of Spanish group classes a week. The classes are meant to immerse in the Spanish language and focuses on conversational skills. The aim is to quickly enable volunteers to start practicing their Spanish skills while working in our volunteer programs and in contact with locals. The classes have between 2 and 6 participants.

Santa Elena
Santa Elena is located at an altitude of 900m  – 1000m with a nearly perfect climate (16°-28°C).  It is surrounded by breathtaking scenery and a wealth of nature. The region is the oldest geological site on the planet where prehistoric flat topped mountains are like ecological islands with endemic species such as carnivorous plants and lots of natural treasures.

If you are a nature lover, you can eat your heart out in Santa Elena and its surroundings. There are tropical forests, spectacular mountains, rivers and waterfalls. There are many
National Parks in the surrounding areas that you can visit and because the city borders
Brazil, you can also take a trip to the Amazon.

Hikes into the virgin rain forest can be an exciting adventure and there are trails which lead to a 360 degree sightseeing spot on top of a nearby mountain. You may also like to go horseback riding and discover the savannah or enjoy an excursion to a nearby indigenous village with refreshing rivers, amazing waterfalls or discover an ancient cave nearby. Mountain bikes are available and can be freely used by volunteers.

For more information about Volunteer options in Venezuela, visit our website.

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There are three possible age groups to work with. Kids from 0-6 years (Early Childhood), from 6-13 years (Working Children) and Young People in the age of 13-20 years. Your activities will depend on the group that you will be working with. At the moment, volunteers are especially needed in the area’s Working Children and Young People.

San Cristóbal – located in a beautiful highland Valley – is a very popular destination. This medium sized city has a very pleasant atmosphere and is a popular travellers hub with beautiful cobbled streets and local markets.  There is an infrastructure for travelers such as cafes, bars, restaurants, hostels and others.

To participate doing volunteer work in Mexico in any of the projects mentioned above you should be at least 18 years old and the project prefer people interested in Mexican indigenous culture and in human rights in general. You should also have experience in working with (young) children. A background/ study in education, social work, pedagogy, human sciences or psychology is preferred. Wherever you decide to volunteer, pick something that you really want to do. Your enthusiasm and initiative will be much appreciated. Flexibility, patience and a good work spirit are characteristics that are mandatory. The organization requires a minimum volunteer period of 3 months.

Volunteers need to have a (low) intermediate level of Spanish as they work directly with the children and local staff members. Generally speaking, the better your Spanish, the more rewarding your volunteer experience will be. It is advisable to take Spanish classes before or during your volunteer project. We can help you arrange classes at the local Spanish school in San Cristóbal.

Taking classes involves having an interview on the first day to determine your Spanish level. Together with other students of the same level you follow 15 sessions of group classes a week. Apart from studying Spanish and doing homework, the school offers lot of fun activities after school; there are game- and movie nights. At the end of all your hard work you will receive a Final Certificate.

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In my first week I really had to get used to a lot of things that came together with my work: to the circumstances where the people live in (way more basic than what I’m used to in the Netherlands), to speaking Spanish 24/7 (and to, because of that, not being able to express everything I want to say) and to the ‘abnormal’ behavior’ of the patients. But I got used to all of this so quickly, especially because the patients themselves are very happy and grateful to have the opportunity to be treated there. Also my ability to communicate in Spanish improved quickly, because I talked a lot to the patients and the employees.

Sometimes it was really annoying to notice that the work speed and work efficiency was remarkably lower compared to what I’m used to. Also, I had to wait for the psychologist very often, because the staff was preparing activities or working on the medical histories of the patients, in which I couldn’t participate most of the time. So I actually spent a lot of time waiting. After a few days with a lot of waiting, I started to think of activities I could do with the patients myself. I started to give English lessons to a patient that always wanted to learn English.

A few days later, I organized a tournament with games and I created a group dynamic-session. The psychologist didn’t give me assignments, but, he certainly welcomed all ideas! I think they don’t want to give the volunteers a lot of orders, because they think it’s very special that you are working there voluntarily. So to get the most out of this volunteer experience in Peru, it’s very important and I recommend you come up with your own ideas and let the employees know that you do want to participate in a very active way. Because of my pro-active attitude, I even had the opportunity to participate in test-diagnostics and individual interviews with the patients. For me, organizing some activities on my own prevented me for feeling dispensable and made my time at the clinic in Cusco very challenging.

It was very interesting to work with psychiatric patients and to talk with them about their lives. All the patients were very nice to me and accepted me and the fact that my Spanish wasn’t perfect did not seem to bother them at all. I learned so much about different psychiatric disorders and how those affect the life of the patient. Furthermore, I learned a lot about the organization of health care in Peru and how happy we have to be with our facilities in more ‘developed’ countries. I really liked that the psychologists gave me the trust to organize activities on my own.

Although this volunteer work Cusco sometimes made me feel a little insecure, it was a very valuable, interesting, fun , positive, and challenging life experience. I’m very glad I had the opportunity to do this. Thanks Volunteer Latin America!

Natasha Mathias, 23

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