Volunteers are always needed in an NGO Home for Girls in Honduras

  Honduras

San Pedro Sula

Durations of Program: 3-6 months, 7-12 months, 1-2 years and over 2 years
Typical Duration of Program: 1-2 years
Dates: Throughout the year.

Description: General Volunteer Opportunities:

Our Little Roses Ministries is always in need of excellent volunteers. Our greatest need is usually for teachers in Holy Family Bilingual School, but we also look for volunteers interested in helping as caretakers in Our Little Roses Home for Girls. Art program directors, librarians, computer technicians, etc. are encouraged to apply. If you have a specific project in mind that fits a need, we are flexible in accommodating your interest. You can also volunteer to help in the United States through our Virginia office. We need general fundraisers, grant writers and display designers.

Description of the teaching position:

Volunteers accepted for a teaching position will be part of the staff of Holy Family Bilingual School. Holy Family Bilingual School was founded in 1998 by the director of Our Little Roses Ministries and is located on the actual compound of Our Little Roses Home for Girls. It offers preschool through 6th grade. Volunteers will team-teach in the classroom with a Honduran teacher: volunteers teach basic education classes (math, reading, science, phonics, spelling, grammar) entirely in English while the Honduran staff teaches other subjects (social studies, Spanish grammar) in Spanish. Children become fluent with ease in both languages through this method. The school day typically runs from 6:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m., after which volunteers usually help in the OLR Home for Girls. Volunteers accepted into teaching positions must remain for the entire school year (August through June). Holy Family Bilingual School provides an excellent private education in a Christian environment. The School is comprised of about 15% of girls from the Home and the rest are children of middle class families and scholarship students from the community. All profits made by Holy Family Bilingual School are invested in Our Little Roses Home for Girls.

Qualifications: Whether teaching in Holy Family Bilingual School or working in the Home patience, flexibility, and willingness to adapt to a new culture are a must. Sensitivity and a sense of humor sweeten any cultural or personality surprise. If applying for a teaching position in Holy Family Bilingual School volunteers must commit to teaching the entire school year (August through June). Teachers must be college graduates but do not need to a have a teaching certificate or be fluent in Spanish.

Spanish classes through Holy Family Language School will be required if volunteers do not speak Spanish at an intermediate level. Classes are offered at a non-profit rate to facilitate volunteers.

Minimum Education: High School

Cost in US$: FREE

Salary / Pay: Long term volunteers (for duration of three months or more) are provided with room and board, but must raise their own money to cover travel and personal expenses ($200 - $400 per month, depending on spending habits). Short term volunteers are welcome, but must cover the expenses of room and board in addition to travel and personal expenses. If volunteers do not speak Spanish at an intermediate level they will be required to take Spanish language classes, offered by Our Little Roses Language School, at a non-profit rate to facilitate volunteers. A stipend is available for teachers in Holy Family Bilingual School of roughly $75 a month.

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Volunteer Opportunities The Need is Great; The Rewards Life Changing! Volunteers from the United States, Canada and Europe fill several different roles within the scope of Our Little Roses Ministries in Honduras. We are looking for fluent English speakers to teach (preschool through eighth grade) in the Holy Family Bilingual School and also to work with all the girls in the Home needing help with their homework or other activities in the afternoon. Many of our girls attend other schools in the community and maintaining high-grade levels depends on good study habits and home work discipline is encouraged. Volunteers willing to work within the girls' Homes provide childcare throughout the day in addition to organizing activities and helping girls with homework. Also needed is an Arts and Crafts Director (preferably for a year duration) to organize the arts program and teach new skills and crafts in order for the girls to make and sell their items in the store No Idle Hands. This will help them learn management skills while expressing themselves creatively. There are opportunities for volunteers with special skills to work in the clinic and community for poor single mothers.

Age Range: 21+

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Honduras Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview when Feasible
• Letters of Reference
• Resume
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Our Little Roses Ministries's Mission Statement: Our Little Roses Ministries (OLRM), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), was founded in 1988 to care for abused and abandoned girls and has extended multiple outreach ministries into the Honduran community. The largest and central ministry is our Home to more than 70 girls. In addition, the ministries include the Holy Family health clinic, community for poor single mothers, Holy Family Bilingual School, Our Little Roses Language School and a medical program for street children. All aspects of Our Little Roses Ministries are designed to break the cycle of poverty in Honduras. Our Little Roses Home for girls prepares and empowers girls who have been abandoned or come from abusive or seriously dysfunctional families. At our Home they receive excellent mental and health care, good nutrition, individualized education and love. Our community in Cofradia provides homes for once destitute single mothers, and our clinic provides excellent health care at very low costs to the community. OLRM raises awareness of the Honduran reality among domestic and international visitors through Holy Family Bilingual School and the Language Immersion School.

Year Founded: 1988

Our Little Roses Ministries is a Christian Ecumenical, Episcopal based organization. We do not require our participants to be of the same faith. Our volunteers will not be involved in religious proselytizing.