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South America Volunteering



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 10th, 2006, 04:51 PM posted to rec.travel.latin-america
[email protected]
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Posts: 1
Default South America Volunteering

Hi,

I am planning to head to South America in July 2007 for around a month.
I am planning on heading on my own as no one i know has the courage to
head off for a month.

What i would like to do is get involved in some sort of volunteer
course where i would get to meet the locals and still get the see some
of the sites of South America, i also think that this would be a good
way to meet fellow travellers like myself.

I have two questions to ask,

Firstly does anyone know of any websits or organisations that i could
get in touch with to organise a volunteering trip??

and secondly does anyone have any recommendations on where the best
places in South America to volunteer would be. I would consider myself
to be quite open-minded, however, i would still like to come back in
one piece so i would prefer a safe enough spot!

thanks for you help
Cian

  #2  
Old December 10th, 2006, 09:49 PM posted to rec.travel.latin-america
Jerry
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Posts: 1
Default South America Volunteering

A good choice is to work as a "volontario" in Ecuador. The language school
"Atahualpa" in Quito offers a combination of studies in spanish an whith
work in a "fundacion". Minimum time is one month stay. Visit their website
at www.atahualpa.com/en/

skrev i meddelandet
ups.com...
Hi,

I am planning to head to South America in July 2007 for around a month.
I am planning on heading on my own as no one i know has the courage to
head off for a month.

What i would like to do is get involved in some sort of volunteer
course where i would get to meet the locals and still get the see some
of the sites of South America, i also think that this would be a good
way to meet fellow travellers like myself.

I have two questions to ask,

Firstly does anyone know of any websits or organisations that i could
get in touch with to organise a volunteering trip??

and secondly does anyone have any recommendations on where the best
places in South America to volunteer would be. I would consider myself
to be quite open-minded, however, i would still like to come back in
one piece so i would prefer a safe enough spot!

thanks for you help
Cian



  #3  
Old December 11th, 2006, 03:50 PM posted to rec.travel.latin-america
Robert Broughton
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Posts: 18
Default South America Volunteering

Jerry wrote:

A good choice is to work as a "volontario" in Ecuador. The language school
"Atahualpa" in Quito offers a combination of studies in spanish an whith
work in a "fundacion". Minimum time is one month stay. Visit their website
at www.atahualpa.com/en/


$420 for 28 days? I've seen worse, but my opinion (so far) is that if your
contribution is valued, they should be willing to provide a roof over your
head, feed you, and provide a modest night or two on the town. ("they"
doesn't necessarily have to be local people.)

I don't have a problem with paying for my own plane flight.

--
Bob Broughton
http://broughton.ca/
Vancouver, BC, Canada
"It should be legal for a private maternity ward to permit smoking."
- Chuck Wright, May 22, 2006
  #4  
Old December 11th, 2006, 08:50 PM posted to rec.travel.latin-america
Viviane[_2_]
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Posts: 5
Default South America Volunteering

Robert Broughton wrote :
Jerry wrote:

A good choice is to work as a "volontario" in Ecuador. The language school
"Atahualpa" in Quito offers a combination of studies in spanish an whith
work in a "fundacion". Minimum time is one month stay. Visit their website
at www.atahualpa.com/en/


$420 for 28 days? I've seen worse, but my opinion (so far) is that if your
contribution is valued, they should be willing to provide a roof over your
head, feed you, and provide a modest night or two on the town. ("they"
doesn't necessarily have to be local people.)

I don't have a problem with paying for my own plane flight.

--
Bob Broughton
http://broughton.ca/
Vancouver, BC, Canada


A few reasons people have to pay to volunteer:
- The organisation for which you volonteer receives no outside funding
or grants, and is largely supported by participant fees.
- The process of preparing, training, transporting, housing, feeding,
and supervising volunteers is not cheap. Additional services such as
health care, re-entry assistance, travel medical insurance, and more,
all add to the expenses of a program.
- The costs of recruiting volunteers, producing literature, answering
the phones, sending mailings, developing a website, and interviewing
potential volunteers are significant.

Viviane

  #5  
Old December 12th, 2006, 03:50 PM posted to rec.travel.latin-america
Robert Broughton
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18
Default South America Volunteering

Viviane wrote:

- The process of preparing, training, transporting, housing, feeding,
and supervising volunteers is not cheap. Additional services such as
health care, re-entry assistance, travel medical insurance, and more,
all add to the expenses of a program.
- The costs of recruiting volunteers, producing literature, answering
the phones, sending mailings, developing a website, and interviewing
potential volunteers are significant.


So the main question becomes, are the volunteers actually a net benefit?

--
Bob Broughton
http://broughton.ca/
Vancouver, BC, Canada
"It should be legal for a private maternity ward to permit smoking."
- Chuck Wright, May 22, 2006
  #6  
Old December 12th, 2006, 05:03 PM posted to rec.travel.latin-america
Viviane[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default South America Volunteering

Robert Broughton wrote :
Viviane wrote:

- The process of preparing, training, transporting, housing, feeding,
and supervising volunteers is not cheap. Additional services such as
health care, re-entry assistance, travel medical insurance, and more,
all add to the expenses of a program.
- The costs of recruiting volunteers, producing literature, answering
the phones, sending mailings, developing a website, and interviewing
potential volunteers are significant.


So the main question becomes, are the volunteers actually a net benefit?


I guess there are as many answers to that question as there are
volunteering opportunities. But it is a fact that in many cases where
volunteers come and go, there seems to be no apparent regard for the
importance of long-term, sustainable development with regards to a
specific project. Actually, sometimes volunteers are more a burden than
an asset because of their lack of technical knowledge, language skills,
and cultural sensitivity.

But nonetheless it is said that, generally-speaking, volunteering in a
country other than you own promotes positive values, enriches lives,
and increases international mutual understanding.

Viviane

  #7  
Old October 3rd, 2015, 01:34 AM
Mary3 Mary3 is offline
Member
 
First recorded activity by TravelBanter: Oct 2015
Posts: 1
Default

Very nice said! I'm actually also thinking about volunteering in Ecuador but the comments doesn't really answer the original questions: Is it better to find a local volunteering organization directly or do it through a placement organization? My Spanish is unfortunately not so good and probably I'll take some Spanish lessons first.

I just read a good article about volunteering in Ecuador: http://blog.ailolaquito.com/2014/05/...ng-in-ecuador/

I would really love to work with children.

Mary
 




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