Volunteer in Argentina!

  Argentina

• Buenos Aires: 
Buenos Aires

Duration of Program: 3-6 months
Typical Duration of Program: 3-6 months
Dates: Year round

Description: Contribute your time, talent and skills while learning about the people and culture of Argentina. Volunteers for International Partnership programs in Argentina give you a unique opportunity to improve your Spanish skills while living with a family and participating in a community sevice project.

Types of projects:

Welfare and Group Childcare

Collaborate with a Civil Association dedicated to community service and work in a soup kitchen in a small town in the 'interior' of the country that feeds 75 young children everyday. Or help with the building maintenance of a neighborhood center, read stories to the children or give conversation classes for adults while living in a beautiful province in Argentina's 2nd largest city.

Educational programs/ Rural School Projects

Contribute in a meaningful way to education in small communities where students are not fully integrated into the educational system and are especially vulnerable to social risks.

Community Organization

Join the local priest in his everyday work of visiting schools, orphanages, homes for the elderly and farms in the small mountain town of Chicoana, Salta, in the North of the country. The volunteer will continue with a specific project of his/her choice after getting to know the community and its needs.

Teaching and Assisting the Handicapped

Work for the betterment of those with disabilities by helping with their integration into the social and educational life of the community. The volunteer will assist people with special needs while enjoying the beautiful landscape and peaceful life of the Patagonia.

Highlights: As a VIP volunteer, you enter a special partnership with your host project and with an extended community of people, including co-workers, host family, project mentor, language teachers and your local coordinator from the host country office. This challenging experience will give you an opportunity to provide service to others. It may also significantly change your life. You will gain valuable life skills and encounter different ways of doing things.

Qualifications: While specialized training is not usually required for VIP, we look for many qualities that make a successful volunteer: maturity, flexibility, common sense, enthusiasm, reliability, and sensitivity. Your host community will benefit most from your sincere commitment and open-minded curiosity about local culture and individual lives. At your host project, your success will depend on teamwork, creative problem solving, patience and openness to other points of view. Your co-workers will expect you to be a dependable, resourceful, motivated contributor who works well with others. Your contributions will be much appreciated, even as you learn further from the skills and life experience of your new family. As you listen and adapt to circumstances, your friendships with local people will grow. They will welcome you and the goodwill you bring.

Some specific qualifications usually apply:
- The minimum age is 18
- You must be healthy and fit enough to adapt to living and working where host project conditions may be strenuous
- If you are applying to work with minors or others with special needs, professional certifications and/or background record checks may also be required
- Basic conversational knowledge of Spanish is required Skilled and unskilled volunteers are welcome. For beginning Spanish speakers 60 hours of language training will be provided during the first month of the 3 month program

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Committed to volunteer work, interested in learning about the people and culture of Argentina, open, flexible and able to relate well to the community.

Age Range: 18 and older, except US citizens 21 and older

Participants Travel to Argentina Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently

Scholarships are Available.

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview when Feasible
• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Resume
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Volunteers for International Partnership's Mission Statement: Volunteers for International Partnership offers each international volunteer an opportunity to learn a culture from the inside while doing valuable community service, peer to peer, in a stimulating new environment. VIP is committed to: *Careful selection and preparation of the volunteer, host family and Host Organization. *Emphasis on the education and self-awareness gained through international community service and volunteering. *Planning the volunteer's intercultural experience to highlight enrichment from cultural differences. *Full immersion in the host culture through orientation, language training, worksite and housing selection. *Individualization of volunteer placement design to take full advantage of volunteer differences in skill, age, experience and diversity. *Effective evaluation of the experience and the Host Organization. *Strong efforts to enhance the volunteer's social adjustment to regional habits and customs. *Choosing volunteer service projects that are worthwhile, safe, meet the needs of the local community and are conducted responsibly with regard to environmental, social and local issues.