Spanish Courses & Volunteering
in Bolivia

Spanish Courses and Volunteering in Bolivia

This programme combines Spanish lessons and voluntary work in social institutions and national parks. Volunteering in Bolivia is a unique way to experience the country, culture and population from the inside while doing a meaningful job. Volunteers must be independent, open minded and minimum 18 years old. You can of course choose to follow Spanish lessons without volunteering.

Our projects in Bolivia

Centre with after school activities

This center offers free education to children age 6 to 16, living on the outskirts of Sucre. Their Indian parents have moved from the countryside, hoping for a better life in the city. Most parents survive by selling groceries at the marketplaces of Sucre.

About 40 children visit the centre every morning, in the afternoon and evening 90 to 100.

The center advises the older children about their future educational possibilities or teaches them a trade. There is medical assistance, food and leisure for them all. Volunteers can teach English, geography, mathematics and history and/or assist the staff with cooking, cleaning up the kitchen, painting the building or helping out with leisure activities like sports. This center also closes from the middle of December to the middle of February.

Culture foundation centre

The objectives of this foundation are to develop reading skills from early childhood, make libraries more accessible and provide books to hospitals, prisons and marginal neighborhoods, organize book fairs and other events. The foundation has a Story House, to introduce reading to children and help them meet each other across social barriers and a library open to both students and professionals. Technical workshops are common spacesfor young people who want to learn a trade. Volunteer activities can be:

• workshops in arts and crafts or ecological awareness for children 4 to 14
• help in the library with book counting and inventory, re-shelving, book loan and return, cleaning books
• register new readers with photo ID cards; take the photos, cut and laminate cards
• homework help for students 7 to 18, especially math, social sciences, natural sciences and language
• design posters and pamphlets, write newsletters; deliver materials around the city and through the media
• help in workshops with furniture production, electrical installation and more
• help in cafeteria, sell candy, prepare drinks and sandwiches.

Kindergarten for indigenous children

Volunteers will work with children, aged 4 to 5 from indigenous families, at a kindergarten near Sucre. The kindergarten functions as a safe haven for these vulnerable children.

There are 8 teachers that prepare the children for primary school, and there is a great need for volunteer help.

Kindergarten for handicapped children

The only kindergarten in Sucre that accepts handicapped children. Volunteer tasks will reflect this. You will help the staff and entertain the children.

Adult Psychiatric Hospital

This hospital offers excellent opportunities to gain experience for all those interested in the field of medicine. There are approx. 400 patients and a team of doctors, nurses, assistants, psychologists, therapists, physiotherapists and Bolivian medical students. Everything in this hospital is very clean and organized. Volunteers work mainly with patients, talking with them, helping with exercises, practicing sports, etc. There is a section for elderly patients who need help with wheelchairs, reading newspapers, eating and personal hygiene.

Hospital/orphanage for handicapped children

This hospital is run by priests. There are about 170 physically and mentally handicapped children age 1 to 17 staying here. They all come from poor families in rural areas. The children cannot live in normal orphanages because of their handicaps.

Volunteers help with physical therapy, play and participate in sports activities, or accompany the children on outings. The home also 2 horses for physical therapy and volunteers who can ride are very welcome. Besides this there is a need for help with homework and other activities at the home. Working hours are morning or afternoon.

Adoption center

This is a home for children between 0 and 6 years old, all waiting to be adopted. The home has a good reputation and is mainly run by nuns. The home is close to the city centre, about 10 minutes from the language school. Volunteers take care of the children, feed them, play with them and do creative activities.

It is important that you like children, are energetic and ready to give these children the love and attention they lack. You may occasionally have to work during weekends.

Hogar Mallorca

Misk’I Wasi (a Quechua phrase meaning “Sweet Home”) was founded in 2005. It is now called Mallorca Home and is a haven for working children and teenagers who, for whatever reason, live in the streets. About 65 boys and young men between the ages of 6 and 17 stay here, get a bed and healthy food as well as a chance to go to school. Many work as mechanical assistants, sell newspapers, wash cars, shine shoes and sell bread. The home provides school supplies but the boys must buy their own toothpaste and brush, soap, shampoo and toilet paper with the goal of teaching them the value of money.

The boys must also keep their rooms clean and neat so they learn to take responsibility for themselves and others.

The home generates income to improve the lives of residents through donations and a small bakery, “Delicious Bread.” The boys take turns selling and promoting the product. As a volunteer you can help the boys with homework and with their personal hygiene. Volunteers can also teach them how to play a musical instrument or to play sports (soccer, basketball, etc.), help with cleaning chores, or help in the bakery and selling the bread.

This work place is close to the language school and volunteer accommodations.

Youth confinement center

This center specializes in socialization of teenage boys, who are homeless and/or have a criminal background. The center is located half an hour from midtown Sucre and can accommodate up to 20 boys. They get help to complete their schooling and receive medical aid and psychotherapy. The purpose of the center is to increase their self-esteem, skills and general education. They follow lessons in different kinds of crafts, baking and agriculture. Skills that can create income in their future lifes. The boys also participate in various sports and creative activities. The center primarily needs male volunteers who act as positive role models, can teach English, crafts, play music or do sports. Especially sport is a well-known tool for socialization. Soccer is extremely popular in Bolivia, so you are welcome to join them in the field.
If you are a beginner in Spanish you will have to follow min. 4 weeks Spanish lessons before volunteering. If you have followed Spanish lessons before a 2 weeks course will probably be sufficient.
Your tasks could be:

• Teaching English, mechanics, carpentry
• Assisting in the bakery
• Gardening
• Play music
• Sports activities

Jungle experience

A small indigenous community of 235 inhabitants still lives in the Amazon rain forest on the banks of the Beni River, at the edge of the Madidi National park, best known as one of earth’s greatest habitats of different species. The inhabitants of the village have built an amazing Eco-lodge with the support of international NGOs, a 15-minute walk from the village. The Eco-lodge is owned and operated by the people of San Miguel del Bala. The 7 comfortable cabins are spread around the forest and all have electricity after dark, bathroom and a little terrace. There is also a small restaurant and a traditional roundhouse with a shop selling local handicrafts, a bar and an exhibition about Tacana culture, ancient hunting techniques, production of natural medicine from plants and ecological processes.

As a volunteer you can teach English to adults or children, enabling them to communicate with tourists. You will also process sugar cane juice, maintain paths, register animal, bird and plant species. If you have special skills you will be able to plan your own projects in cooperation with the park staff. You will visit the inhabitants in their cottages made of palm fronds and bamboo, learn traditional Indian cooking, fishing and huntingmethods. In recent years the inhabitants have trained as cooks, artisans and guides for trekking tours through the jungle.

When there are tourists you will live, work and get international food with meat dishes at the Eco-lodge. In the absence of tourists, you will either be accommodated with other volunteers in a dormitory, or live with a host family in a cottage with shared bathroom. You will get 3 meals a day, mainly tropical fruits like bananas, papaya, pineapple, also fresh fish, mandioca or yucca, corn, rice and very little meat. The families eat and serve what they can grow, hunt or fish.
The San Miguel area is warm and humid, but in the winter months of June and July the cold Arctic wind, the Surazo, blows in from the south.

There are 2 seasons, the rainy season from December to April and the dry season from May to November. There is no electricity or telephone service in the village. You will find telephone, an internet café and ATM cash machines in Rurrenabaque.

Transport to the village will be organised by the school coordinator, while you follow Spanish lessons in Sucre. A village member will pick you up at a local airport and the last part of your trip with will be by boat, 40 minutes upstream from Rurrenabaque.

Internships

Most of these projects mentioned here accept internships. Send an e-mail to [email protected], explaining your wishes and the requirements of your school counselor and we will find out, where you fit in best.

Note

Due to “summer holiday” from the end of December until the start of February, no teaching related placements are available for volunteers during this period.

The program fee includes a sponsorship fee of 60 US dollars, so each participant in volunteer work is also a personal sponsor for the institution or project chosen.

Accommodation
During Spanish lessons is with host families, with half board (see page 3). Volunteers can choose to stay on with their host family during volunteering, or stay in a self-catering apartment. This apartment for volunteers has 3 bedrooms, shared bathroom and kitchen, living and dining room with cable TV. The cost of accommodation in the apartment is lower than with host families, as food is not included.

There is a small patio and a large garden. Bedding and towels will be changed once a week, although cleaning is not included. Alcohol, parties and overnight guests will not be tolerated

For accommodation in national parks, see description of the national park and Jungle Experience volunteer possibilities.

Language Courses in Bolivia

The international language school

The school is right in the heart of Sucre, only a few blocks from the city centre. There are six classrooms, kitchen and video lounge in a 2-story building with colonial balconies, an interior patio, a small area reserved for sunning, entertainment room and free wifi.

The school has a capacity for 40 students. About half come from Europe and half from North America.

All teachers are qualified and have experience in teaching Spanish as a foreign language. Some have Ph.D. or Masters Degrees in Spanish and literature, history or Latin American culture. They renew their teaching skills with special courses every year.
Students have classes 4 hours a day, from 8.00 to 12.30. Each lesson lasts 60 minutes. Four is the maximum number of students in a class and average class size is 2.

The school in Bolivia is one of 3 internationally recognized schools under the same leadership. The 2 other schools are in Ecuador and Peru. You can switch from the one to the other at any time. After your study course in one of the 3 countries you can choose to volunteer in Bolivia, Ecuador or Peru.

See also the information about volunteering in Ecuador and Peru.

Course start

A new course starts every Monday all year round with arrival at your host family’s home Sunday. You will be met at the airport and taken to your host family. Your family will take you to school the first day and you will be welcomed with an orientation about the school, your stay with your host family and Bolivian culture. After a placement test and a talk with the school’s student counsellor you will be placed in a class at exactly your level of skill in Spanish and the language lessons begin.

Language Course programme

The following Spanish courses are available:

• Standard course:
  20 group lessons per week. Classes consist of maximum 5 students with a similar Spanish level. Lessons consist of grammar, interactive activities, conversation and written exercises. You should expect some homework.

• Super intensive course
  If you want to make rapid progress, you can choose to supplement the 20 group lessons with 10 individual lessons. Group classes consist of max. 5 students with a similar Spanish level. Lessons consist of grammar, interactive activities, conversation and written exercises. The individual lessons focus on personal progress.
• One to one course
  Chose 20 or 30 individual lessons per week. This course is for students who want a “partial or total brainwashing”

Holidays
The school is closed on the following official holidays:

2022: 1.1., 22.1., 28.2., 1.3., 15.4., 1.5., 25.5., 1.6., 21.6., 6.8., 2.11 and 25.12 2022.
The school is closed from 17.12 2022 to 9.1 2023.