Volunteering in South America

[Rebekah86]

To Mark and anyone who might know or is interested,
I was thinking about volunteering in South America for a few months-to a year, and preferably in different countries and areas. I was wondering if anyone knew some good organizations to connect with. Also, what would be the major expenses that I would encounter (other than the obvious transportation and flight) and a general price range. I'm hoping for something economical but that will offer me diversity. I lived in Ecuador, so I am familiar with latin culture and spanish, so thankfully that will not be an issue. Thanks for any help you offer.
-Rebekah

[Mark]

Hi Rebekah,

I absolutely love your plan to get to the heart of South America with volunteer work. As you may know I stayed 6 weeks in a street child care center called CEAMAC in the suburbs of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. To start with, I was the first volunteer ever in the center. I got their address by going to the tourist office in Salvador. Although I have some great pictures of the center and the kids I'm very reluctant to post them on my site. There is one picture I used on my page about volunteering in South America.

I can highly recommend the Free and low-cost volunteer work in South America website for a very detailed overview of South America volunteer organizations. The website is run by Steve McElhinney.

In some organizations you don't get payed but you do get accommodation and food, in others you pay to stay and help out. Hopefully more people are able to share some information about organizations offering volunteer work in South America.

Please do ask more questions if something is still bugging you. I'll do my best to help you out.

Best wishes,

Mark

[stevemc]

Hi Rebekah,
The main factors that effect prospective volunteers when looking for work
in South America are the length of time they can volunteer for and their
language (Spanish or Portuguese) skills. You have all of that covered so
I don't think you will have a problem finding worthwhile volunteer work
in South America.

It sounds like you want work in different fields so here are some suggestions:
(I have heard good reports about all these volunteer organisations).

Working with children/street-kids (Cusco Peru):
Aldea Yanapay
The House of the people of the sun

Working with children long-term commitment reqd. in Bolivia:
Amanecer Cochabamba Bolivia

Working with Animals:
Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi - Portada - Organización para el reconocimiento ecológico Boliviano y el voluntariado por la vida animal salvaje(Bolivia)
Santa Martha - Animal Conservation Supported by Volunteers in South America (Ecuador)
Karumbé (Uruguay, Sea Turtles)

Working with Indigenious Communities:
Volunteer Torewa - Madidi National Park (Bolivia)

I don't think you will have any major expenses. In all the above programs
you either support yourself while volunteering (i.e. pay for a hostal + food)
or you live-in and pay fairly low-level fees,
e.g. intiwarayassi.org charge ~USD$200 per month.

If you can commit to 3-6 months volunteering, some organisations (mainly kids-based programs)
can offer free accommodation to volunteers (with good Spanish).
There are a more of these type programs in Central america if you are interested.

HTH
Steve
www.volunteersouthamerica.net

[billthegardener]

A really good site is www.volunteerlatinamerica.com

They were one of the first sites to specialise in offering low cost volunteering opportunites and unlike many other organisations, have spent a considerable amount of time in the region.

Anyway, check them out...

[SpeckledRooster]

Hi,

Slightly more expensive, but with a bit more support is i-to-i. At the moment, there are 51 different projects in South America, although a couple are more like holidays.

Cheers

[daniltom]

I want to spend a year volunteering in South America. I have a 1 year old daughter, is there any agency that allows you to volunteer with children.