Project Summary

Whether you're working with children with disabilities, entertaining and educating the children at the child care center, or lending a hand at the local hospital clinic, your focus will be to provide guidance and skills that can be used to help enrich the lives of those that live within the community. These types of projects have the potential to create bonds, impressions and friendships that can last a lifetime.

Many of these local grassroots organizations actively seek international volunteers for specific and general community volunteer work. Volunteering with these groups and institutions contribute to the care and education of these vulnerable towns and groups. Furthermore, many of these institutions are severely under funded and resourced, so volunteers play a crucial role in these projects. More importantly, volunteers have the opportunity to act as role models for these children and help out within other groups.

At a Glance

Minimum Program Length:	2 weeks
Start Date:	Every Monday
Arrival Date:	3 days prior to your Start Date (Friday)
Minimum Age:	18 years old
Volunteer Gender:	Male and Female
Accommodation:	You will be placed with either a homestay family or in a shared apartment with other volunteers. If you have a specific request, or prefer a private accommodation, please state your preferences in the application form.
Food:	2-3 meals per day are included in your program fee if you stay with a homestay family. Volunteers staying in a shared appartment are responsible for their own food. Special diet requirements or restrictions can be accomodated.
Pick-up Info:	A Volunteer Visions representative will be waiting for you at your arrival point and guide you to your accommodation and project location.
Project Schedule:	You will typically work 3-5 hours in the mornings and/or the afternoons with a lunch break. Work days are from Monday to Friday.

Your role as a Volunteer

At the hospital clinic, you can help out at the pharmacy, sterilize equipment, maintain patient records on the computer database, and make visits to out-patients. At the school for children with disabilities and the child care center, you will be responsible for engaging in activities such as conversing in English, playing games with the children, and assisting in the basic care for these children throughout the day. Other activities could include helping with homework, providing life/vocational skills through workshops, preparing meals, playing sports and teaching arts and crafts. We currently have community projects available at a child care center, a school for students with disabilities, community English classes for students and adults and positions at the local hospital clinic.

Project Location

The teaching projects are based in schools in Samara and the in rural communities that surround the town. Playa Samara is considered to be one of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches. The town is located on the edge of 7km stretch of pristine white sand beach. There are many rural villages surrounding the horse shoe shaped cove with many small islands that rise out of the turquoise ocean.

The town's life revolves around the soccer field that lies in the middle of Samara, which is how traditional Costa Rican towns are typically laid out. The Guanacaste province is home to farming communities and villages that have managed to escape over-development and retain traditional Costa Rican culture and traditions. As a result, Guanacaste is one of best the places to be if you want to experience traditional Costa Rica's culture first-hand.

Suggested Skills and Interests

Patience, perseverance and understanding are key qualities required for community development projects. Some projects will benefit from volunteers with specialized skills involving areas such as health, technology and administration. But there are numerous other general projects that need volunteers who have initiative, enthusiasm and the willingness to learn.

Suggested Language Level

If you are participating in one of our teaching or community development projects, we recommend that you have an intermediate level of Spanish language proficiency. If you have little or no Spanish language skills, we suggest enrolling in our Spanish language and cultural immersion program before you start your volunteer placement. This program includes 20 hours of Spanish language classes per week as well as cultural immersion activities such as group excursions, latin dance classes, cooking lessons, yoga, and classes in art. College credit can be awarded for course work as well (please contact our office if you are interested in receiving credit for course work).

This comprehensive package of classes and activities is available at an extra cost of $190 per week, which is paid in addition to your program fee. For example, if you were interested in teaching for 2 weeks and enrolling in the Spanish language course for 2 weeks, you would pay the 4 week volunteer program fee of $695 + (2 weeks x $190) for the Spanish language course for a total program fee of $1075. During the language course, the cultural activities and assignments set by the language program will occupy most of your time so you will not be able to volunteer and participate in the language course at the same time. If you would like to continue with your Spanish language classes during your stay, Volunteer Visions will gladly arrange additional classes on your behalf.

Suggested Donations

Medical supplies for the clinic and any stationary, books, sports equipment, board games and any other educational materials are welcome. Again depending on the type of project, some resources will be more beneficial. We will provide a detailed list of suggested resources for donation with your program information.