Most organisations seek volunteers who are aged eighteen or over. If you are under the age of eighteen you still have the chance to get involved as a volunteer but the number of projects available to you is limited. If you under the age of eighteen or are seeking opportunities for your family select ‘Projects for Under 18’s’ from the drop-down menu of the Volunteer Abroad web page.
We don’t recommend volunteers under the age of eighteen apply unless they have experience of working and travelling overseas (especially in third world countries) or will be accompanied by an adult.
You should ask the organisation you wish to work for to put you in touch with past volunteers. Conversing with an ex-volunteer can answer many of your questions and help you decide if the project is the right for you.
Most organisations can accommodate friends and couples. Organisations that offer a plethora of volunteer activities at the same location are a good option for friends and couples as each person can get involved in the type of work that interests them most.
If one of you is interested in applying for a professional post (i.e. doctor, scientific research) your friend or partner can only participate if there are enough spaces, they have the necessary qualifications/skills/experience, or there are other volunteer opportunities available. Sometimes it is possible to stay on-site or nearby while the recruited volunteer carries out their duties.
This is an important issue that some people choose to ignore. Please don’t. Volunteer Latin America highly recommends that you take out a travel insurance policy to cover possible theft, loss, accidents or illness. Do not leave home without it (as the saying goes).
Independently organised (do-it-yourself) volunteer travel is growing at a faster rate than any other arm of the voluntary work sector. The main reasons for this relate to cost and flexibility, coupled with a greater amount of information available on the internet.
The benefits of independent volunteering are numerous but what usually brings most pleasure is the cost. Independent volunteers pay significantly less to volunteer abroad in comparison to those who book through large gap year or volunteer placement companies. You also have the assurance that any money paid goes directly to the cause rather than a proportion of your fee being syphoned off to pay for the administration and marketing expenses of the sending organisation or more often than not, simply to generate profit. The money you save by organising your own volunteer experience could be used to volunteer abroad for a much longer period of time, cover your airfare, or extend your stay in the country you are visiting.
Independent volunteering gives you much more flexibility in almost all aspects of your experience. You are not confined to the time frame of an organised placement and can plan your start and end dates around important aspects of your life such as your job or important family events. You’re also free to volunteer in whatever capacity you like and can even split time between multiple organisations and/or travel plans.
Independent volunteering offers many other benefits to anyone willing to forego an organised placement and although the task of arranging an independent volunteer experience can be daunting for first timers, the process is relatively easy if you know which resources to utilise to go about finding relevant information.
Volunteer Latin America makes the hardest part of planning independent volunteer work abroad relatively simple by providing precise information on worthwhile, safe, fun and legitimate volunteering opportunities in the environmental and humanitarian sectors.
The number-one rule in packing for a trip, unless you have hired several porters to carry your gear for you, is to pack lightly. Overweight baggage soon becomes annoying, especially in hot weather or on public transport. The main factors affecting how little you can get away with will depend upon where you intend to volunteer and the country or countries you intend to visit before or after the project. The items you will require for a project in a cloud forest will obviously differ from those you will need for a project in a beach setting. You should ask the organisation you will be working with for a list of items you need to take with you. You can also find numerous suggested packing lists in travel guidebooks and on the internet. Even if you forget something you can buy any additional items you may need cheaply and easily in Latin America.
We offer volunteer opportunities in most Latin American countries but there are far more in some than others. You can view the countries via the country drop-down menu on the Volunteer Abroad web page.
We understand that in order to protect our environment and to help people in need we must all do our part, as nations, as communities, as families and as individuals. Our enthusiasm in creating and running this website is testament to this fact. We are one of the few organisations in this line of work that are genuinely interested in the well-being of Latin America’s people, its animals and natural environment. The content on this website and age of our organisation provides clear evidence of our passion for Latin America.
Our environmental policy is second to none in the volunteer sector, which means we are the ‘greenest’ volunteer work facilitator on the planet. Innovative best practices include running an eco-friendly office. By using Volunteer Latin America you will not only be endorsing ‘green’ business practices but reducing your ecological footprint at the same time.
Our professional background, green initiatives and knowledge of the volunteer sector enables us to offer guidance to anyone thinking of volunteering abroad who is concerned about the negative impact of air travel or whether their work will be of any real benefit to the environment or a local community. We have been monitoring the Latin American volunteer sector for over 18 years and have built up a solid database of reputable organisations and projects. Likewise, we are aware of projects that should be avoided for one reason or another (e.g. bogus animal sanctuaries, projects where staff have been accused of serious crimes, including sexual harassment). This eliminates the risk of signing-up for something you wish you hadn’t and this usually doesn’t become apparent until you arrive on-site.
Sure, there are more ‘flashy’ and larger websites out there but how many of them offer low-cost volunteer membership and don’t charge organisations a commission or listing fee? Commission income is the primary revenue for some well-known brands in the volunteer sector and this is how they offer free sign-ups for volunteers. Other volunteering and work exchange platforms charge volunteers a substantial membership fee. We offer free listings to organisations and the option of low-cost volunteer membership. Paid membership provides access to unique customer services and support from our team throughout the membership period. Services include identifying potential projects to help you make the right choice and running a flight search.
It is fully understandable why volunteers want some reasonable assurance that both their time and money are going toward a genuine cause. It is for this reason that we simplify the daunting task of planning volunteer work abroad by providing precise information on some of the best volunteer opportunities in Central and South America, thus saving you endless hours of frustrating research. We aim to provide worthwhile ways to help the economically, socially and politically disadvantaged people of the region. Likewise, meaningful opportunities to help protect a diverse range of species and habitats via a wide range of conservation and wildlife projects.
This includes publicising the work of various grassroots voluntary organisations and projects that rarely receive international attention. Our support for these organisations helps them tap into an international pool of potential volunteers and interns. These organisations are often much harder to find on popular search engines because they rarely have the resources to promote their websites effectively. They are often drowned out by the larger, higher-priced gap year and volunteer placement companies because the latter have much more money to spend on marketing and technical expertise. (This cost is usually passed on to volunteers via extortionate placement fees!)
If our passion, environmental policy, list of legitimate projects and support of grassroots organisations isn’t enough to convince you to sign-up there is one factor that will surely tip the balance – cost. This is what ultimately makes Volunteer Latin America popular in the international volunteer community. It is our strong belief that people should be able to volunteer abroad without paying large participation or placement fees. We find it quite puzzling why anyone would work through an expensive gap year or volunteer placement company when there are numerous opportunities to volunteer for free or at reasonable cost in Central and South America.
You should check the visa requirements of the country or countries you intend to visit before travelling. It is the sole responsibility of the participant (volunteer) to ensure that he/she has a valid passport and appropriate visa for travel. Volunteer Latin America can provide guidance on visa requirements but do not provide any actual assistance in obtaining visas or write letters in support of visa applications.
This depends on where you will be travelling and your medical history. We recommend you consult your doctor or attend a travel clinic to ascertain what vaccinations you will require for your trip.
Yes, membership is free of charge.
If you have contacted a project through our online messaging system but have failed to receive a response, we will happily follow-up your enquiry. Before contacting us with details we recommend you check your spam folder just in case the response was mistakenly tagged as spam by your mail server. This is a distinct possibility if your email security settings are too high (e.g. email messages from projects may go straight into your spam folder). It is advisable to check your spam folder regularly, particularly if you have contacted many projects.
You can also contact and apply for projects via your own email account. This is why we give the option to apply on website for most projects, so members can visit any website to acquire contact details and application instructions. Use other methods of communication if you still don’t get a response such as contacting an organisation via social media.
Whichever project you decide to join you will need to cover your flight, insurance, vaccinations and other travel expenses. Very rarely will an organisation pay the international airfare to a project site.
The sky really is the limit with regards to volunteering in Latin America and if you have the finances and the time you can work on as many projects you wish. The record currently stands at nine consecutive projects, held by a friend of ours from Madrid in Spain.
Follow the instructions in our project listings or go to the website of a project for further information.
Some organisations will accept a short message with your proposed dates, whereas others might require you to submit a simple online application form or want to conduct a telephone interview. A small number of organisations will tell you to just turn up.
Each organisation has its own way of recruiting international volunteers and all the information you need to get involved is provided on our website.
You are responsible for international and in-country travel to your project. If the organisation you will be working for doesn’t provide precise instructions on how to get to the project site on their website, you should request this information via email. Some hosts may be able to arrange pick-ups from airports, bus or train stations. Volunteer Latin America can provide guidance on getting to a project to Premium members. We can propose an (in-country) arrival strategy based on your choice of project and travel plans if required.
Each project will stipulate a fixed term contract or require a minimum length of service. This might be a number of weeks or months. This website lists opportunities for volunteers or interns seeking short or long term assignments. As there are a limited number of long term projects you might need to volunteer on more than one project if you want to stay away for a considerable period of time.
The projects we offer are as varied and interesting as you might imagine, ranging from helping street children in Peru to tracking primates in the jungles of Costa Rica. Whether you want to teach English or work with endangered sea turtles, you should be able to find a suitable project via this website.
The question of when to apply for a project largely depends on the capacity and popularity of the project that interests you. As a general rule, you should apply for a project as far in advance as possible. This will increase your chances of getting a place on your preferred project. Moreover, the further you plan in advance, the more time you have to organise your trip (e.g. book flights, arrange vaccinations, etc). It is still possible to set up a placement at short notice but you will have fewer projects to choose from (e.g. some will already be full) and less time to organise your trip. It can take anywhere from a few days, to several weeks, to a month or more to set up a placement, depending on which project you are dealing with.
The only exception from the advanced application and planning rule is projects with closing dates. You simply need to apply before the application deadline stated in the project listing.
Generally, there are three distinct possibilities; projects that require the volunteer to pay a small participation fee (this is often the main funding for the project and the fee will typically cover accommodation and food); projects that are free but require the volunteer to cover his/her own living expenses (accommodation and food); and projects that provide free accommodation, food and other benefits.
A small number of projects pay a weekly or monthly living allowance (stipend) and on occasions some projects even cover the cost of flights. Each project is different and may offer a range of services and incentives. Please refer to the Volunteer Abroad section of this website to view the costs you might incur when volunteering in Latin America. The prices shown are the actual costs of the projects.
A number of organisations in Central and South America offer volunteers the option to learn Spanish or Portuguese as part of their volunteer program. This is especially pertinent to the humanitarian sector. There are far fewer combination programs in the environmental sector. If you are interested in combination programs you should select ‘Voluntary Work and Spanish Classes’ from the category drop-down menu on the Volunteer Abroad web page.
It is always useful to have some knowledge of Spanish (or Portuguese for Brazil) if you are planning to volunteer in Latin America. Do not despair if you can’t speak Spanish (or Portuguese) as there are some projects with no language requirements. Remember though, the more you have to offer, the better the choice of work.
If you are worried about your language skills, try to attend an evening class where you live, borrow a language course from your local library, sign-up for an online course, or find a private teacher. Failing that, why not consider taking some Spanish or Portuguese lessons at the beginning of your trip? Blessed with rainforests, world famous rivers and mountains, spectacular ancient heritage, exciting and diverse people and cultures, Latin American countries promise students an adventurous and exhilarating learning experience they will never forget.
Studying a language in Latin America is affordable, fun and a means to meeting lots of other backpackers and travellers. The Study Abroad page of this website provides a selection of Spanish language schools in Central and South America. Most of the schools listed are in countries most commonly visited by international students (i.e. Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru). As a bonus, all of the schools listed on our website can set you up with volunteer work or an internship.
We offer organisations the option of listing two projects on our website. They only proviso is that the project listings must be different.
Your ex-volunteers simply need go to your project listing (your dedicated web page) and click the ‘Add a Review’ button.
If your voluntary organisation or non-profit would like to be listed on our website please register as an organisation and submit details online. If your volunteer project meets our selection criteria we will offer you a free listing on the Volunteer Latin America website. All our partners must undergo our vetting process.
If you are registered with us, please login to our website and submit a project update. If you are not registered with us, consider registering with us and submit your project information, or request a copy of your project listing via email. Make any updates you deem necessary and then return the information to us via email.
All our partners are carefully screened and their projects must adhere to strict selection criteria. This is to ensure we connect volunteers to safe and rewarding volunteer opportunities without excessive fees. The Volunteer Latin America team have extensive knowledge of the volunteer sector, which is reflected in our choice of partners and projects. We look for quality volunteer opportunities and internships in the environmental and humanitarian sectors.
We create a multitude of benefits for your organisation, including:
The project listings on the Volunteer Abroad web page provide details of any specific entry requirements. This enables you to determine whether you are eligible to apply for a position without having to contact the host. We recommend you pay particular attention to this section of the project listings so you don’t waste your time applying for something you are not suitably qualified, skilled or experienced to join. If you are borderline with regards to the entry requirements then it’s worth contacting the host for further guidance.
We occasionally need help with a variety of tasks and always like to hear about innovative ideas. You are welcome to contact us about your ideas on how you think you could help Volunteer Latin America to grow or to offer your specialised skills.
We always need help with marketing Volunteer Latin America. You could help spread the word by sharing this website on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn or by email. Perhaps you have your own website where you could provide a link to Volunteer Latin America. Please contact us via email if you need a copy of our logo or a title and description for the link.
We are constantly striving to improve the information provided on this website. If you know of a voluntary organisation or language school that would make a great addition to this website please send details via email. We particularly like to hear about small, grassroots organisations in desperate need of volunteer assistance.
Last but not least are the thoughts of returning volunteers and interns. If you’ve taken part in a project that is featured on this website, please take the time to post a review. Your evaluation of the organisation you worked with and volunteer experience will help us and other volunteers enormously. As a sign of our gratitude, we will give you free membership to this website. We also welcome general feedback.
Volunteer Latin America is an easy-to-use platform for anyone wanting to volunteer in Central or South America. We list pre-screened volunteer projects that can be contacted directly if you have any questions or want to apply.
The Volunteer Latin America website is aimed at people of all nationalities, ages and backgrounds.