Volunteer in Guatemala: Sea Turtles, English Teaching, Public Health

Maximo Nivel

Since 2003 Maximo Nivel has strived to offer the best Spanish language immersion programs in all of Latin America. With over 4,000 travelers each year, Maximo Nivel is a Global Associate of NAFSA and, for Germans, is approved for use for Bildungsurlaub, which allows German citizens to participate in educational training paid for by their employers. Maximo Nivel is also accredited by the Ministries of Education in Guatemala and Peru. Program fees to volunteer with Maximo Nivel in Guatemala start from $635 per week and cover airport pick-up, housing, two meals per day, volunteer activities, program and safety orientation, certificate of service, tandem language conversation program, and much more.

Volunteer for Exotic Animal Rescue

Come volunteer at the Amphibian and Reptile Rescue Center in Guatemala. Focused on the three R’s of conservation: rescue, recovery, and relocation, your duties will include:

1. Treating injured or sick reptiles
2. Releasing healthy adults into the wild where they belong
3. Feeding reptiles
4. Cleaning cages
5. Hosting visitors at the center
6. Maintaining the center

Homestays are the main form of residency with Maximo Nivel programs and include a shared room with a shared bathroom. Homestays offer an ideal opportunity to improve your language skills, forge lifelong friendships, and gain an insider perspective of a city or country. You will be paired with other volunteers of the same gender and around your age. Single rooms are available at an additional cost but availability is limited. While your visitors are free to come and go as they please, you should respect the daily rhythms of your host family’s life. All homestays are within a 10-20-minute walk or 5-10-minute taxi or bus ride from Maximo Nivel headquarters. Living with a host family starts at $150 per week.

Student residences are also available in Maximo Nivel’s Guatemala program and are of similar quality to homestays but offer a little more privacy and independence. Both single and shared bedrooms and bathrooms are available. Student residence costs begin at $175 per week. Other housing options include hostels and rented apartments.

You must be at least 17 years of age to volunteer with Maximo Nivel. Program fees begin at $635 for one week.

Volunteer to Provide Healthcare

Another volunteer program available with Maximo Nivel in Guatemala is their healthcare initiative. If you have not completed your medical training or are not licensed – including medical students in your 1st or 2nd year, pre-med students, nursing school students and those in health sciences – medical placements are available in specialized living facilities working with people who are mentally and physically disabled, HIV-infected children and adults, or elderly patients. Your duties may include:

1. Providing general care
2. Providing companionship
3. Distributing and sorting medication
4. Feeding
5. Bathing
6. Ensuring patients’ general wellbeing
7. Changing beds
8. Participating in conversation-talk therapy
9. Organizing or assisting with workshops (e.g., exercise, dental care)
10. Organizing arts and crafts and other activities

If you are a licensed medical professional or a med student in your 3rd or 4th year, you can be placed in medical facilities such as clinics, hospitals, assisted living facilities or other healthcare facilities. Your duties depend upon your level of training and demonstrated expertise, level of Spanish language skills, duration of your stay, and your ability to connect with people at the project. Duties may include:

1. Shadowing a doctor or nurse
2. Assisting with general check-ups
3. Running medical campaigns
4. Assisting with triage
5. Taking blood pressure and other vital signs
6. Organizing patient records
7. Preparing materials and equipment
8. Assisting during mealtimes

As with the exotic animal volunteer program, you are invited to stay with a host family close to the Maximo Nivel headquarters, or in a student residence, hostel, or rented apartment.

You must be at least 17 years of age to sign up with this program, and you must bring your own scrubs and stethoscope. Placements require notarized documentation of your medical school, nursing school or other medical credentials. Program fees begin at $635 for your first week abroad.

Teaching English

English is a gateway skill that can help many impoverished people attain higher-paying jobs, travel or emigrate, and participate in the tourism industry. Volunteer in underprivileged schools and communities and give people access to English training that can improve their lives.

Your duties as an English teaching volunteer can include:

1. Creating lesson plans
2. Teaching classes
3. Giving one-on-one tutoring
4. Organizing educational games and activities
5. Cleaning and fixing up classroom areas
6. Collecting donations of books and other educational materials

After receiving a ‘crash course’ in teaching English as a second language, you’ll work about 2-3 hours in the morning and about 2-3 hours in the evening. During your free time and on weekends you can explore some of the country’s 30 volcanoes, visit friends, and attend Maximo Nivel programmed events such as salsa lessons, cooking classes, and more. Living options include homestays, hostels, hotels, and residential homes with 10-15 other Maximo Nivel volunteers.

Volunteering begins on Mondays year-round. Volunteers must be 16 years or older to participate and are encouraged to buy health insurance before leaving. Trips start at $635 for one week.

International Volunteer HQ

Focused on global cultural awareness, IVHQ has offered affordable volunteer and educational trips to travelers since 2007. Volunteers come from over 100 countries and travel to more than 35 countries worldwide, with more than 77,000 volunteers signed up to date. IVHQ provides safe, accessible, and exciting travel opportunities for as low as $180 per week. They offer eleven different project opportunities in Guatemala.

Volunteer for Turtle Conservation

On this program, you can work with a government organization in Sipacate along the Pacific coast of Guatemala helping with sea turtle conservation and sustainable egg protection.

Your duties will include:

1. Beach patrols
2. Relocating eggs to hatcheries
3. Building hatcheries
4. Releasing hatchlings
5. Cleaning the beach
6. Beach reforestation

Your typical day will include a morning or an afternoon shift, which will last about 2 to 4 hours. During your free time, you can explore the area, visit friends, spend time with your host family, or, on weekends, go traveling. It is easy to get to Belize, Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras on a long weekend.

Housing options include dormitory-style hostels or a homestay. Because you’ll be located in a rural area, be prepared for safe but basic living conditions. All housing has electricity, running water and western bathrooms, but water pressure may be low or unheated. In hostels, be prepared to share your room with 2-6 other volunteers of the same gender. There will be wifi at the volunteer house and at the local team office in Antigua. Some homestays may have wifi. Come ready to get dirty and work hard!

Breakfast and dinner are included with the housing. Breakfast typically includes tortillas, spreads, fruit, eggs, and tea or coffee. Dinners usually have meat, beans, starches, and vegetables.

Volunteering begins every Monday. You’ll fly into Antigua and receive orientation, and on Tuesday you’ll take a shuttle to Sipacate and, after settling into your living arrangements, begin volunteering. On the final week of your program, you’ll return to Antigua on Friday for your return flight home. Airport pickup and drop off are included in your program fee.

While Spanish language skills aren’t required, many past volunteers have found that not only is traveling a great way to learn a new language but also that having Spanish skills can improve your experience by enabling you to interact with local people and move around the city more easily. International Volunteer HQ offers affordable Spanish classes, Monday through Friday, starting at $55 per two-hour class session. Private lessons are also available.

To volunteer with International Volunteer HQ you must be 18 years or older unless you are volunteering with your parents or guardian. You must have travel insurance and undergo a criminal background check. The minimum stay requirement with IVHQ Guatemala is 2 weeks, starting from $535.

Eco-Agricultural Conservation

On this trip, you can volunteer for eco-agriculture on a coffee farm in the Guatemalan Highlands just outside of Antigua. Work at a coffee cooperative established to focus on the economic sustainability and development of Guatemalan coffee farmers. Provide support for coffee farmers including:

1. Working in the nursery
2. Picking coffee
3. Weeding
4. Planting shade trees
5. Roasting and packaging the final product for sale locally and internationally

You may also be involved in local reforestation efforts or construction projects. For example, you might be able to help build a local school.

Your typical day will include a morning or an afternoon shift, which will last about 2 to 4 hours. During your free time, you can explore the area, visit friends, spend time with your host family, or, on weekends, go traveling. It is easy to get to Belize, Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras on a long weekend.

As with IVHQ’s other Guatemala volunteer programs, housing options include dormitory-style hostels or a homestay with safe but basic living conditions. Breakfast and dinner are included. Also similar to IVHQ’s other programs, you will arrive in Antigua on Monday for orientation, then shuttle on Tuesday to the Guatemalan highland and begin volunteering. Spanish classes are available to help make the most of your volunteer trip. Program fees begin at $310 for one week.

Volunteer with the Elderly

Work in nursing homes and senior centers around La Antigua: with a focus on creating a compassionate and friendly environment for low-income elderly people, these organizations work year-round. However, many of these homes are severely underfunded and rely upon the help of volunteers like you to keep everyone happy, healthy, and attended to. Your duties may include:

1. Providing one-on-one attention to elderly citizens
2. Providing basic healthcare
3. Socializing with senior citizens
4. Organizing recreational activities
5. Distributing medicines
6. Preparing meals
7. Leading activities such as exercise programs, song and dances, and arts and crafts projects

Your typical day will include a morning or an afternoon shift, which will last about 2 to 4 hours. During your free time, you can explore the area, visit friends, spend time with your host family, or, on weekends, go traveling. It is easy to get to Belize, Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras on a long weekend.

Housing options include dormitory-style hostels or a homestay with basic quarters and safe living conditions. Breakfast and dinner are included, and IVHQ recommends budgeting between $3 and $6 for lunch daily for eating at local restaurants recommended by the staff. This trip starts with an orientation in Antigua on a Monday, and on Tuesday you will take a shuttle to Sipacate and, after settling into your living arrangements, begin volunteering. On the final week of your program, you’ll return to Antigua on Friday for your return flight home. While Spanish language skills aren’t required, affordable Spanish classes are available through IVHQ. This program starts from one week at $310.

Extra Trips and Side Excursions

Experience Guatemala in other ways with International Volunteer HQ’s extra trips! Surf in El Salvador on a 5-day, 4-night trip with one-on-one surfing lessons. Bodyboard, spend time on the beach and explore nearby caves. The local beaches also feature a vibrant nightlife with music and dancing. The trip is $590 and includes:

1. Transport to and from the beach in El Salvador
2. 9 hours of one-on-one surfing instruction
3. 4 nights in a hotel
4. 13 meals at the hotel’s dining facilities
5. 3 additional nights with your host family in Antigua

Or take the Guatemala mini-excursion and spend a week visiting many of the “hot spots” of Guatemala including Pacaya Volcano and a zip-line tour. You’ll be led by a fully bilingual guide who will explain the history, guide you through cities and rural areas alike, and smooth the way for an easy, enjoyable travel experience. The trip is $995 and includes:

1. A hike around Pacaya Volcano
2. 3 days and 2 nights on a beach in El Salvador with private surf lessons
3. 2 days and 1 night in Tikal with return airfare from Tikal included
4. A zip line tour

Cross-Cultural Solutions

With over 20 years of volunteer trip experience, Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS) strives to enable volunteers abroad to improve the health, education, and economic situations of the elderly, women, and children. They have five key goals: end poverty, end hunger, ensure healthy lives, ensure inclusive and quality education, and achieve gender equality. Awarded Special Consultative status by the United Nations in 2003, CCS is recognized as an important leader in volunteer services with more than 2 million volunteer hours served and 35,000 alumni. Included with your program fees are staff support, language lessons, housing and meals, comprehensive travel insurance, ground transport, in-country activities and excursions, personalized volunteer assignment, and more.

Improve Children’s Development

Schools in Guatemala are often understaffed and underserved. As a volunteer, you can help to provide valuable one-on-one attention that every child deserves. Your duties may include:

1. Assisting teachers
2. Leading educational events
3. Leading recreational programs
4. Teaching English language skills
5. Providing one-on-one attention

During your stay, you will live in a communal house right next door to the Cross-Cultural Solutions Guatemala Country Director. The house is situated on a quiet, safe city block with a courtyard filled with tropical flowers and parrots and an outdoor seating area that offers an ideal opportunity for sitting and enjoying the atmosphere of Guatemala. There are multiple common areas kept stocked with games, novels, and a guitar.

The average day begins at 7 am with a hearty, home-cooked breakfast. After eating, the program driver will take you to your volunteer site where you’ll work until about noon. At 12:30, your program driver will take you back to your home base for a comfortable communal lunch. In the afternoons, you and other volunteers can explore the local sites or participate in one of the many activities available to you. Enjoy dinner around 6 pm and spend the rest of the evening relaxing, hanging out with other volunteers, and preparing for your next adventure-filled day.

You can reserve your spot with a $350 deposit, and even save money on your trip when enrolling with a group or with family members. Program fees start at $2,250 for your first week.

Improve Global Health

Volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions’ revolutionary public health programs in Guatemala. Help improve dental care, access to eyesight improvement such as glasses, and sanitation and hygiene programs in homes and schools. Provide support through outreach, education, and care to provide to low-income children and adults in vulnerable communities.

As with CCS’ child development volunteer program, you will live in a communal house situated on a quiet, safe city block. Your day will begin at 7 a.m., and you can expect to volunteer until 12:30. In the afternoons, you and other volunteers can explore the local sites or participate in one of the many activities available to you.

You can reserve your spot with a $350 deposit, and even save money on your trip when enrolling with a group or with family members. Program fees start at $2,250 for your first week.

A Broader View

Founded with the belief that one person could make a difference in the lives of others, A Broader View sends volunteers to 23 countries around the world. Volunteers live with, work beside, and interact with local people daily. A Broader View believes that service trips are the best way to experience a country while making a difference in people’s lives. A Broader View works in three Guatemalan cities, though the majority of their programs take place in the city of Xela.

Provide Women’s Support

On this program, you will work at a mother-child center, a government institution for young mothers and their children. The shelter houses more than 60 women and children. The mothers are all under 18 and the children between infancy and 5 years old.

You’ll take the lead on your own planned projects, organizing events and activities for the mothers and children at the shelter. With the staff at the shelter and a Broader View’s help, you will be able to plan and execute activities such as sports, arts and crafts and more.

Though you will be volunteering in Xela, the second largest city in Guatemala, the program begins and ends in Guatemala City. After meeting your program directors and other volunteers at the airport, you’ll take a bus to Xela and settle into your housing. You will be staying with a local host family, which offers you a chance to meet local people, develop deep, long-lasting friendships, and get an insider’s viewpoint on the area. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided Monday through Friday with two meals on Saturday.

A typical volunteer shift runs from 7 AM to 4:30 PM with a lunch break. On the weekends, you are free to travel and sightsee, visit friends, and explore the town.

Your program can last from 1 week to 3 months. You need all your routine vaccines as well as typhoid and Hepatitis-A vaccines to go on this trip. Program fees start at $895 for one week.

Volunteer with Deaf and Blind Children

Another volunteer program in Guatemala from A Broader View invites you to work at a center that offers education to about 160 deaf and blind children from pre-primary school to the sixth grade. Your duties will include:

1. Working as a classroom assistant
2. Taking care of the children
3. Making class materials
4. Helping with homework

When you arrive in Guatemala, you will meet your program directors and fellow volunteers in Guatemala City, then take a bus to Xela to settle into your housing and begin your project. A typical volunteer shift is approximately 5 to 6 hours daily.

While you’re in Guatemala volunteering, you’ll have plenty to time to immerse yourself in the culture. You will be staying with a local host family, which will offer you a chance to meet local people, develop deep, long-lasting friendships, and get an insider’s viewpoint on the area. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided, Monday through Friday, with two meals on Saturday. It will take approximately 10 minutes by bus and 10 minutes walking to get to school. During your free time, you can explore Xela, visit friends, and spend time with your host family.

You must be proficient in Spanish or take Spanish language immersion lessons while in-country. Though not required, knowing sign language will be helpful for communicating with deaf children and will enable you to take on more responsibility. Solo travelers must be 18 years or old, and younger children may come with parents or guardians. Your program can last from 3 weeks to 3 months. You need all your routine vaccines as well as typhoid and Hepatitis-A vaccines to go on this trip. Program fees begin at $1195 for 3 weeks.

Work as a Paramedic

Work with the 100% volunteer firefighter force of Xela, the second-largest city in Guatemala. If you have prior experience in paramedic and rescue operations your duties can include:

1. Attending to car accidents
2. Attending to injured people
3. Helping sick people

On average, the firefighters of Xela see to between 6 and 10 emergencies daily in the city and the surrounding villages. When there are no emergencies, your duties can include cleaning units, checking equipment, and other general tasks. The firefighters operate 24 hours a day, so your volunteer schedule will be flexible and changing.

Similar to A Broader View’s other volunteer programs in Guatemala, you will begin by meeting your team and volunteers in Guatemala City, then take a bus to Xela for your project. During your stay, you will live with a host family who will provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Monday through Friday, with two meals on Saturday.

In order to volunteer on this program, you must be proficient in Spanish and have prior EMT experience or training. You must be 18 years or older and have all your routine vaccines as well as your hepatitis-A and typhoid vaccines. Program fees begin at $895 for one week.

Ready to Volunteer in Guatemala?

With a wide range of volunteer projects and programs and stunning landscapes and historical sites, volunteering in Guatemala can be a life-changing experience. A great way to combine travel with community service, volunteering in Guatemala will change more lives than just your own.

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