ADISA (Educación Especial)
Santiago Atitlán Template/Cold Weather
This is a school for children and youth with special abilities, The school includes a stimulation area for children with mental handicaps, paralysis, down syndrome, and autism. Also, they work with youth, teaching them different practical skills like bakery or carpentry. In the afternoons the provide space to injured people from the civil war to do crafts that they sell for profits. You will help in these areas as needed. Working with the kids is a joy and sharing with the adults in the afternoons doing crafts will give you time to share talking and listening to many testimonies from people that suffered the violence firsthand. You will live with a host family in Santiago Atitlan, this organization receives volunteers from other countries so you will probably share the experience with people from other places around the world.
Learn More: ADISA
ANADESA
Santiago Atitlán Temperate/Cold weather
ANADESA means “Asociaciòn Nuevo Amanecer de Santiago Atitlan”, and as it names suggests they are working on different programs, such as jewelry commerce, planting trees, tours for tourists, education programs, etc to give the people of Santiago a new beginning, new opportunities. Some examples of the kind of thing a volunteer might do are: teaching program for groups of adults, women and tutoring for kids at school, organizing the books at the library and supervising the time when the library is open, translating for the groups of foreigners, teaching English, support art projects, work at the orchard, teach some computer skills, help with the Motacilla crafts, etc. You will be living with a host family from the community.
Learn More: ANADESA
REDPAZ
Alta Verapaz Temperate/ Cold weather
Currently, the Red Regional de Justicia y Paz (RedPaz) is working in a process of training community church leaders in the area of the Queqchi community in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. The majority of these indigenous families live in poverty, because of this since 2010 REDPAZ has been training the leaders in “Culture of Peace and Transformation of Conflicts” with the hopes to develop their capabilities of analyzing their reality, allowing them to have a long term vision and as a consequence strengthen their community organization and their work to construct peace processes to allow them a dignifying life. An example of the kind of work you might do is assisting with a workshop on Conflict Transformation for teachers from elementary schools and also helping in the training of pastors. You will be living with the coordinator’s family, which will give you a much closer look at how the organization works.
ANADES
El Salvador Hot weather
A program designed to work in solidarity with the people from El Salvador. Their main programs are education, health, holistic community development, activities with HIV infected persons and their families, and an emergency team for disasters. Help in educational activities in any of the 5 different daycares teaching English.
Learn More: Anades
Community Cloud Forest Conservation
Alta Verapaz Temperate/ Cold weather
Community Cloud Forest Conservation alleviates poverty and protects cloud forests through education, reforestation, academic scholarships, agricultural development, food security, income generation, and holistic community/human development. You would help with the conservation and agroecology leadership training program, we think that these scholarships can change the life and transform Villages.
Learn More: Community Cloud Forest Conservation
AMI (Accion Medica Integral)
San Pedro la Laguna, Atitlan Temperate/Cold weather
Medical clinic/Community Health Education with Dr. Israel Hernandez; you will be working in a clinic founded by the Christian church in San Pedro La Laguna, their main goal is to provide a whole (physical and mental) health program through the clinic itself and through preventive health lectures to improve the community’s daily life as an extension of Jesus’ love and gospel. This means you will help out in the clinic sometimes but also you will be doing fieldwork accompanying Dr. Hernandez to give preventive talks to schools, groups of women, health promoters, etc in the communities around Lake Atitlàn, you will live with a host family from San Pedro la Laguna close to the AMI office.
Manos Amigas
Chimaltenango Temperate /cold weather
Is an institution that helps women that don´t have a house because their partner left them or abused them. Some of them are with another identity because their husband is looking for them to kill the family. So they have 90 homes with different families and you would help with psychological themes, also you would help the people to play or make activities with the kids. It´s 1.30 hours from the city.
UPAVIM
Guatemala City, Mezquital Temperate/ cold weather
The mission of this organization, UPAVIM, is to empower the women of the community, giving them an opportunity to improve the quality of life for themselves and for their families. We pursue this mission by giving them access to education, employment opportunities, daycare services for their children, health care services, and programs for personal and professional development. You can be a teacher, help with handcrafts, help with the daycare, or give tutoring. Is close to the city but in a very poor part of it.
AGDI Mixco
Ciudad de Guatemala Temperate /cold weather
Is a community-based organization, that works in Zone 6 of Mixco, in the County of Guatemala. Having the information on the students’ academic background, one may help to teach the English language during the mornings. There are many youths that would love to learn English. Teach new methodologies to teachers in Education. Teach mathematics. Provide support for our school garden. Classifying species, guidelines to improve gardens. Also, they work with youth, teaching them different practical skills like bakery, carpentry, automotive mechanic, etc.
SETECA, SOLDADITOS
Zone 3 and 1, Guatemala City
This program is part of SETCA (Seminario Teologico Centro Americano- Central American Theological Seminary), it’s based on educating and caring for children whose parents are self-employed. You could help to teach Bible, arts and crafts, and English.
FEDECOCAGUA
ESCUINTLA/CHIMALTENANGO hot weather /cold weather
Is a cooperative association that works in coffee growing and fair trade. They are located in Palin Escuintla (warm weather) and in Acatenango (mild to cold weather), Chimaltenango. You could help to cultivate, harvesting and in the coffee treatment, transporting product, going to coffee farms, etc.