Everyone is welcome and as long as volunteers are willing to get stuck in and come with a positive attitude, they will find the work rewarding and interesting. Although basic Spanish is useful, it is certainly not compulsory. Long-term volunteers tend to have the most rewarding experiences and qualified medical staff are especially needed long term to undertake and complete community projects.
Those volunteers with good Spanish sometimes work as teachers assistants (to the local Bolivian teachers) in the classroom and those with very strong medical backgrounds (usually at least final year med-students) are sometimes asked to work in the clinic or more importantly in the communities themselves.
Feel free just to turn up at the Foundation, there is no need to ‘pre-book’ to volunteer with us! We do ask for a minimum of one weeks commitment from volunteers.
There is no need to worry if you don’t speak Spanish, you will pick up the basics very quickly and Wayra (the volunteer co-ordinator) speaks fluent English and French. There are optional Spanish lessons available on a daily basis.
A Typical Day for a volunteer
A typical day may be an early rise for an 8.00am start. You may be assigned a job (usually with other volunteers) such as painting, teaching or building. At mid-day you will come to the dining-room and serve lunch to the boisterous bunch and help with the washing up and drying in the kitchen. You then sit down with the Bolivian staff and other volunteers for your 2-course lunch and help a little more in the kitchen. It is really up to you how long your day lasts – there is always something to do but if you would rather have your afternoons free, that is an option too.
Weekends
Weekends are free time for volunteers although many volunteers opt to work on a project for the Foundation instead. There are several tours you can do and enough distractions to keep you out of mischief for a while.