Overview

Child daycare program

We cooperate with government-sponsored community daycare-center projects aimed to provide children, from toddlers to six-years old, with a safe and enriching environment.

These hogares comunitarios (community homes) are placed in women’s homes spread all over the country and offer contention, three daily meals and educational and recreational activities to an average of twelve children coming  from poor neighborhoods, single-parent homes or disruptive households where adults suffer from serious addiction issues.

These community homes can be either in rural or urban locations and often have scarce resources, so volunteers to this program need to be flexible, creative and proactive to make the best of the available facilities. They must also have at least basic Spanish language skills because this is a mainly Spanish speaking environment.

Women empowerment programs

This program is placed in the highlands of Guatemala and it aims to reinforce women and children rights as well as provide underprivileged women with training tools to better domestic economy and social conditions for themselves and their families.

CW works in tight cooperation with government organizations that provide women  with the necessary instruction, support and advice to overcome difficult domestic circumstances and to undertake entrepreneurial activities to increase their income.

As a volunteer for this programs you can participate in different projects according to your background and expertise.

Projects in this program  include psychological and medical consultation, educational and training workshops, women’s rights discussion forums, domestic economy development projects, etc.

Local women find contention and support and acquire a variety of skills that empower them and instill them with self confidence to undertake small business activities such as cooking, clothes design, handicrafts and souvenir production, among many others.

To participate in this program you need to have intermediate Spanish language level and plan for a minimum stay of four weeks.

Teaching programs

Education program: This program takes place at primary and secondary schools located at the highlands of Guatemala.

Volunteers may either assist local teachers in the classroom or lead classes themselves, depending on their skills, self-confidence and fluency in Spanish.

The main subjects taught in this program are English and Computer skills, and sometimes volunteers are requested to train local teachers so that they can improve their own knowledge on these subjects, essential in today’s education.

This program also gives local children and teenagers a chance to interact with foreign people and have an approach to other cultures. And for volunteers they represent a unique opportunity to enhance these local kids future prospects by becoming their role models and mentors.

Life skills education program: According to our volunteers’ skills, expertise and preferences, they are required to create, conduct and evaluate a variety of life skills projects for local high-school students.

Very often resources at these schools are scarce, so if you want to volunteer for this program you need to be able to come up with creative solutions and be focused on the bright side of the experience.

Advanced level of Spanish language skills as well as a good command of specific computer terminology is also necessary to participate in the program.

Please note that the school year in Guatemala goes from February to end of November and there’s a couple of weeks’ vacation in July. So before booking your place in one of these teaching programs, make sure you choose the right term.

Minimum duration for the life skills education program is eight weeks.

Microfinance

Microfinance internship: CW cooperates with a number of MFIs (Microfinance Institutions)that provide local small business and entrepreneurs with the necessary credits, trainings and business advice to either improve or start-up their economic endeavours.

Volunteers for this project that have any experience or skills in the area of accounting, finance, business administration, trade or marketing are very appreciated.

As a volunteer for this program you’ll be working with saving and credit cooperatives in Sololá and Quezaltenango, helping local entrepreneurs participating in educational programs and workshops designed to teach them techniques and strategies to identify, prioritize, program ,execute and evaluate business opportunities and expand, their activities to new potential markets.

Minimum duration for this internship is four weeks and a high-intermediate to advanced command of Spanish is required.

 Health programs

Public health: Guatemala counts with approximately eight hundred government and military-sponsored Health Posts spread all over the country, that provide local communities with preventive and curative medical care.

Volunteers for this program will travel with a team of medical professionals to different Posts in the highlands region and assist them visiting patients and participate in educational outreach programs designed to instruct local people on basic hygiene and health good habits.

Medical programs: This program deals with education promotion, prevention and treatment; and as a volunteer you’ll assist local professionals in and outside the clinic. You’ll be assigned with tasks suited to your experience and expertise on the medical field.

This program offers an excellent opportunity for all those actively involved in the medical field to learn about this country’s health system, exchange views and opinions and lend a useful pair of hands!

Minimum duration for this program is four weeks and high-intermediate to advanced level of Spanish language skills is required.

HIV / AIDS program: This is a field program aimed to know the real situation of local communities in regard to this specific disease. Volunteers will help design and promote awareness and educational campaigns and evaluate their impact. They may also be required to participate or lead activities and workshops designed to create awareness and to promote prevention.

Physical therapy and Psychology: Volunteers with an appropriate background in Psychology can help evaluate mentally handicapped children and suggest treatment strategies. They can also provide the children’s families  with contention and advice to improve their life quality.

Volunteers with a physiotherapeutic background  can assist members of the local staff in a variety of tasks according to their skills and experience, and the specific needs of the professionals and patients present in the clinic at the time of the volunteers participation in the program.

 The health program internships are only available to health professionals and medical students at their last year of medical school.

However, some internships opportunities for medical students that have completed their first year of medical school, nursing school and physiotherapy school may be available on request.

Pre-medical students cannot apply for these programs.

Volunteers for these internships need to have an advanced level of Spanish language skills and command of medical terminology in this language.

Conservation program

Sea turtle conservation: Sea turtles are essential to keep the balance of the marine and coastal eco-system and Guatemala’s Pacific coast is one of the nesting areas for a variety of sea turtles that are endangered due to contamination, egg poaching, habitat destruction and excessive fishing practices.

Together with local organizations, CW works to prevent these magnificent reptiles from being extinct.

Volunteers joining our preservation program will do field and research work at the local hatching and in the coastal villages.

Tasks include collecting turtle eggs, promoting environment preservation, designing and implementing educational campaigns in the surrounding communities, etc.

This program offers volunteers a unique opportunity to enjoy the paradisiac Guatemalan Pacific coastal areas and improve their Spanish skills while interacting with local people and helping ensure the survival of sea turtles.

Agriculture program

Sustainable agriculture: Addressing the challenge of finding a reasonable balance between the needs of rural communities depending on farming activities and preserving the natural environment is at the core of CW’s sustainable agriculture programs. For this we collaborate with local groups that teach responsible practices and sustainability.

Depending on their background and skills, volunteers for this project can either help in large educational centers or work with small eco-communities.

We are aware that the well-being of rural communities lies on their agricultural activities and that they are as important as the preservation of the ecosystem. So while the educational programs focus on teaching local farmers the most appropriate techniques to produce and sell their agricultural goods in a profitable and sustainable way, they also have an emphasis on improving the personal lives of farmers and their communities.

Volunteers can help with educational programs providing basic hygiene, healthy habits and literacy skills.

For this program volunteers must have an intermediate level of Spanish language skills.