NGOabroad
International Volunteering & Careers
Volunteer in Central or South America
SUMMARY: We have a variety of volunteer abroad programs in both Central & South America. Volunteer in Peru: get great international development experience in the rural villages of the Sacred Valley. Help people out of poverty by interning or volunteering in micro-finance in Costa Rica or Ecuador. Nutritionists & public health volunteers are needed in Peru. Work in our clinic in the Sacred Valley or Honduras, or the hospital in the Caribbean. Do international social work or psychology internship in our Domestic Violence program in Costa Rica. Or volunteer in Costa Rica or Panama restoring the tropical rain forest. Both Ecuador & Bolivia need agricultural or farming volunteers to ensure that their people are fed. Because education is a ticket out of poverty we need many international volunteers to tutor kids in the most beautiful mountains of Peru; or teach English, literacy or STEM in tropical Honduras. Honduras is a great place to do Gap Year. ¡Te necesitamos!
Volunteer Abroad in Micro-finance, Business & Entrepreneurship
Microfinance is a ticket out of poverty. COSTA RICA MFI is based in San Jose but works also in the south & at the Caribbean coast. In ECUADOR micro-finance placement you work with indigenous, Andean women …more rural. Ecuador MFI reflects how Latin American micro-finance was started by Liberation Theology priests that were helping the poor & forming cooperatives. Environmental org in Caribbean would like help for their entreprenerus.
Both are excellent places to get experience in micro-finance. Spanish is essential.
Who is needed?
~ Business, Finance & Entrepreneurship majors & professionals
~ Small business owners & entrepreneurs to mentor micro-entrepreneurs in small business development
~ Especially helpful is helping problem solve inevitable snags & obstacles in small business
~ People with eCommerce & marketing experience who can teach how to sell to wider world
~ People that can teach math, bookkeeping, accounting & banking
~ Knowledge of rural livelihoods – farming & agriculture & weaving/ crafts – helpful in Ecuador
Volunteer Abroad in Nursing, Medicine, Midwifery, Public Health, Nutrition
In the Sacred Valley of PERU, do medical outreach & Public Health & Nutrition promotion to remote villages; or work in bustling clinic. (They are very selective.) Or work in even more remote BOLIVIA, where medical/ nursing teams must fly in! …or do Public Health health prevention & promotion in remote, remote Bolivia. If you are looking to volunteer at a hospital, we have a great placement in the CARIBBEAN. (But the credentialing process can be a real bear!) Or less hassle is working at clinic or hospital in HONDURAS.
Who is needed?
~ Nursing & medical students. Nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners, midwives
~ Public Health students & professionals to do health promotion/ prevention
~ Nutrition students & professionals wanted in Ecuador to teach how to improve diet
Volunteer Abroad in Psychology & Social Work & the Empowerment of Women. + Yoga, Massage, Art Therapy.
Come work at an excellent women’s shelter in COSTA RICA. All over the world, domestic violence (DV) is a problem. In Africa,, they are just beginning to address DV & attitudes towards women. In Costa Rica, they have been working on it for decades! They offer crisis, individual & group counseling. They have just launched a program for the men.
This is a great place to get beginning experience in counseling. Also great for therapists with years of experience!
You do not have to have a background in psychology or social work. They welcome fiery feminists to do talks in community or to work with the courts. We also welcome attorneys, law students & DV advocates to help with legal.
Who is needed?
~ Psychology & social work students + seasoned social workers, psychologists & trauma counselors
~ Dance, drama, music & art therapists to lay the groundwork for alternative therapies
~ Women & gender studies majors. Men who would like to change attitudes & behaviors of men
~ People who can teach yoga (you do not have to be certified) or do massage therapy to release trauma
Volunteer Abroad in Education, Early Childhood Education. ...+ Kids, Kids, Kids! Great for Gap Year!
In PERU, kids shine shoes to support their family. This tutoring program was set up so that the kids have a brighter future. Come work in the beautiful mountains of Peru! In HONDURAS, come teach English or literacy or basic computer skills or STEM. If you come during their winter break (Nov, Dec, Jan) then you can help in their enrichment program: take the kids swimming, coach soccer, lead music. What is your passion? Contribute it to the kids. The Honduras placement is well suited for Gap Year.
Who is needed?
~ People who love kids! You don’t need special qualifications just patience & laughter
~ Education or Early Childhood Education majors & professionals who can bolster staff teaching skills
~ Science, Math or Computer majors to teach STEM & the sciences in either Peru or Honduras
~ People who can patiently teach children to read. (What a rush! when they finally get it!)
~ Ecuador arts/ enrichment program needs people with art, dance, drama, music, mime, clowning skills
Volunteer Abroad in International Development. Community Development. Anthropology.
If you want to get experience so that you can work abroad in international development work, we have a great placement in the Sacred Valley of PERU. Help with organizational development and the actual running of the org, and in setting up programs in various sectors (just like it would be for an international aid organization): doing Public Health promotions, nutrition, dentistry, teaching literacy, helping with livelihood skills/ small enterprise development in remote villages. Help also with grant writing & possible tourism business to raise $ for org.
Who is needed?
~ People who want to get international humanitarian work experience
~ Well suited also for International Social Work; leadership development
~ They also welcome Anthropologists to do field research.
Volunteer Abroad in Public Administration & Organization Development
Our COSTA RICA micro-finance director is one of the most gracious, hilarious leaders that I have ever met. She always has her staff in stitches; they would do anything for her. She has graciously agreed to take Public Administration undergrad & graduate students who want to learn her unique & powerful leadership style: Learning to Lead by Laughing.
Our PERU Sacred Valley placement above, also welcomes Masters in Public Administration students & professionals to help with the running & development of the organization.
Our Caribbean Environmental team wants Organizational Development folk to help them incorporate new growth.
Who is needed?
~ Public Administration students & professionals
~ Organizational Development professionals
Volunteer Abroad in Agriculture, Farming & Rural Development.
Half the people in the developing world live in remote, rural areas.
Come help in BOLIVIA which has has started working on “ecological agriculture”. (In Bolivia they eat guinea pig because it is so hard to grow crops in the high, dry altiplano) Or work in the beautiful Andes of ECUADOR teaching animal husbandry or organic farming methods so that they can coax more food out of stony soil.
Who is needed?
~ Agronomists, farmers & organic farmers, permaculture
~ Also people with no skills who are willing to till the fields
~ People with a background in animal husbandry – who can help
improve the pastures, care & yield of dairy cows
~ Nutritionists who can improve what farmers grow & eat
Volunteer Abroad in Construction, Engineering & Architecture
BOLIVIA is a land-locked, mostly rugged mountainous country. Without roads or infrastructure, it makes commerce, health care & education inaccessible. The lack of infrastructure has contributed to Bolivia’s poverty. This org has built the roads, airstrips, clinics & schools in the remote, remote regions. (People from Yellowknife will feel right at home!) Come help!
Who is needed?
~ Engineering & architecture students to help build infrastructure
~ People with a background in construction, heavy machinery
~ People with a background in drilling for water
~ Come help in the warehouse where they sort the medical supplies going to remote clinics
~ Chemical engineers to help with bio-digesters & bio-diesel in the Caribbean
Volunteer Abroad in Environmental, Renewable Energy, Climate Change & Appropriate Technology
They “get it” in the CARIBBEAN. They get the hurricanes because of climate change. They get the need for renewable energy because fuel is so expensive to import. They get that whales are dying from ingesting plastics. Come help ground breaking org that is really making a difference!
In BOLIVIA, women forage for miles to find firewood. Work with org that is providing an alternative so that the altiplano is not denuded.
Who is needed?
~ Environmental Studies majors, grads & people passionate about environment
to develop & present talks on waste, renewable energy & climate change
to help schools, churches & business adopt environmentally friendly practices
or work in recycling center or demonstration garden
or work with government to adopt new environmental standards & policies
~ People knowledgeable re anaerobic biodigesters & biodiesel for vehicles
~ Most important: they want people willing to do anything that needs to be done
If you want to apply to Volunteer Abroad,
please email BRIEFLY answered
Questionnaire & resume to:
Please first read how Volunteer Abroad
Programs work:
Plus read how Application Process goes:
Once you & Ann have determined which Volunteer Abroad Program (or Career Services to Work Abroad) fits best for you, you pay here: