Volunteer Guides

Our guides provide comprehensive information about projects that match your needs or personal interests. We provide you with between 20 - 40 organisations/projects to choose from and all the information you need to get you started such as: project description; project location; postal address; email address; web address; telephone number; fax number; language requirements; time commitment; costs; accommodation details; plus details of any qualifications or experience required. They also offer advice on how to choose a project, contact a project, and provide details of our recommended travel provider and various carbon offsetting schemes. Our guides also provide information on Spanish language schools and setting up a volunteer placement (see below).

The majority of projects we include in our guides are managed by local grassroots organisations. We only include projects run by foreign organisations (i.e. based outside Latin America) if we consider them to be either value for money or relevant to a specific request. We also exclude projects where the volunteer is expected to pay unreasonable participation fees.

One thing is for sure, the true value of our guides will emerge when you meet other international volunteers on the same project who used the services of an expensive volunteer placement agency. We guarantee that some of these volunteers will be privately thinking ‘I could have done this myself and saved the placement fee.'

Our guides will not only save you huge sums of money but a great deal of time. Why spend hours and hours searching the internet for a volunteer programme when we already have the best projects on our database.

If you would like to apply for a guide please click on order form

If you are interested in learning or improving your Spanish prior to starting a project we can help you find a Spanish language school. Two of our guides include details of over 90 recommended Spanish language schools in countries such as Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. Better still, all the Spanish language schools offer or can arrange volunteer work. This provides you with hundreds of additional volunteering opportunities.

You will be able to find language schools that offer special programs for children, teens, seniors and families. Other schools offer professional programs for doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, lawyers, policemen, environmentalists, and those that work in the travel industry. Some schools allow you to combine classes with outdoor pursuits and interests: Spanish lessons and surfing; Spanish lessons and PADI certification; Spanish lessons and salsa dancing; Spanish lessons and trekking; Spanish lessons and kite surfing; Spanish lessons and paragliding; Spanish lessons and rock climbing; Spanish lessons and river rafting; Spanish lessons and Latin American culture and much more.

Extra-curricular activities include: acting classes; aerobics; basketball; canopy tours; cooking classes; dance classes (jazz, merengue, salsa and tango); dinner parties; diving; fishing; football matches; guitar classes; gym clubs; hiking; horseback riding; kayaking; mountain biking; mountain climbing; movies; music; painting; parties; skiing; surfing; swimming; Tai Chi; tennis; theatre; trekking; various tournaments; volleyball; water skiing; weaving; white water rafting; workshops; yoga; and visits/excursions to local places of interest (archeological sites, indigenous communities, markets, national parks, volcanoes etc). One language school offers expeditions (i.e. Parque Nacional Perito Moreno in Patagonia). A large number of schools facilitate the transfer of academic credits.

If you are apprehensive about organising your own volunteer placement you will be interested in our most in-depth guide. In addition to information on projects and Spanish schools, it also provides easy to follow, step by step guidance on how to set up a volunteer placement. We use two of the projects featured on this website (Leatherback Sea Turtle Conservation Programme, Experience the Amazon and Indigenous Culture) to guide you through the process. Included in the guide are hyperlinks to many websites we suggest you use to check visa requirements, book a flight, reserve accommodation, purchase travel insurance, and aquire complete travel and health information. This guide shows you how to make all the arrangements and save money at the same time. Please note that some of the web links (i.e. travel agents and insurance companies) are only relevant to UK residents and those temporarily living or flying from the UK.