volunteering

if you are prepare to spend at least several months, I would suggest the following. They are not interested in 'fly by night' volunteers who come in for a couple of weeks. It's too hard on the children.
take a look at this...it will break your heart

There are quite a few links to other videos as well..

When I was in Rio Dulce, I stayed in a hostel run by the older teen aged orphans under the supervision of some canadian volunteers. This was about six or seven years ago. I found out too late about the whole set up, so was unable to even visit the place, but I met many of the volunteers, who come from all over the world. Many of the children come from the city, where the original orphanage was located. But they wanted to get the kids into a healthier environment. The land for the orphanage was donated by surrounding villages in exchange for their children being able to avail themselves of the school and medical services that are provided by the volunteers and donations from abroad.

Edited by: canayjun

Edited by: canayjun who should have a spell check before posting.

[I should have included this one as well|.la-esperanza-granada]

This one I did have something to do with several years ago, when it was in it's infancy. I really enjoyed my time in Granada. It's a wonderful, well preserved Colonial city. I stayed in a Hospedaje (small local hotel with cooking facilities) and worked on programs for a small, very poor pueblo school on the outskirts of the city for about 6 weeks. I travelled on weekends, and afterwards down into central america. (different trip than the guatemala posting)

Edited by: canayjun

Dear Canayjun,

When I read your line “it will break your heart” I was prepared to see children in dire circumstance, in an under-staffed, ill-funded setting.
What I saw in the video made my heart overflow, responding to the abundant love shown by both the volunteers and the residents.
My suspicion is that the attraction for many of the volunteers is the opportunity to not only give love but to receive it (quite a lovely exchange, no?)
Thanks for the posting, and thanks for your ongoing contributions to this forum.
(btw, your second link—to La Esperanza—doesn’t seem to work)
Cheers
Lee

Hi one legged Canayjun link does not work for down under computers either!

this is so weird i can't get it to work as a link but try this:
http://www.la-esperanza-granada.org/

Edited by: canayjun

Edited by: canayjun

Edited by: canayjun

Aaaahhh. Splendido.

Maybe as a hint, there is nary an old lady, only young hotties, in the picture

Well, I volunteered for La Esperanza, Granada, too and I'm certainly no young hottie....an old hottie, maybe! It just depends on the season that the picture is taken. Summertime draws lots of young volunteers on vacation.

Hi,

Try a search for "generation journey" a uk based outfit they operate in Thailand (Myanmar border) and South Africa. I did a short spell with them in Thailand recently and will be returning, Enough said!