FREE Volunteer Programs in Buenos Aires

  Argentina

• Buenos Aires: 
Buenos Aires

Term: Throughout the year 
Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months, 7-12 months, 1-2 years and over 2 years
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: Every monday, year-round

Description: Academia Buenos Aires offers you the possibility to combine Spanish courses with FREE volunteer work. You can work in different organizations and projects in Buenos Aires, discovering very particular problems and benefiting people in many sectors. Share your time, ideas and skills with Argentineans and discover their culture in a unique way! Academia Buenos Aires will help you find an appropriate activity according to the needs of the organization, your area of interest, your availability and your skills. You can volunteer in parallel to your Spanish classes or afterwards.

We consider volunteer work as an exchange whereby the volunteer in social organizations offers his work and the organization offers a space to share experiences. Receiving a volunteer implies integrating him into daily routines, allowing him to get to know ones way of life. Being a volunteer, for us, is not an act of charity. It is a way of getting to know and to respect other cultures.

Academia Buenos Aires has built its reputation on academic quality in language teaching, professional service and a complete immersion approach. It is widely recognized as one of the leading Spanish institutes and has recently expanded to new state-of-the-art premises in the very heart of Buenos Aires, on Plaza de Mayo. The institute is member of all relevant trade associations and attends individuals, groups and corporate clients from around the world, during the entire year.

Highlights: We work with different organizations and you will have to pay neither for our help in organizing your volunteer work, nor for actually working there. If the volunteer organization depends on donations, Academia Buenos Aires will make this contribution, not you. Our institute accompanies you during your whole stay in Argentina. The weekly activities arranged by the school are open to all the volunteers as well as to Spanish students.

Feel free to spend part of your language course in Montevideo, Uruguay. Academia Uruguay and Academia Buenos Aires are partner schools under the same management and offer you the possibility to continue your courses on the other side of the Rio de la Plata. The course levels and materials are the same and so is the cost. Simply switch from one to the other every monday.

When you contact us, you briefly explain what you are looking for, what kind of social work you would like to do and what your expectations are. With regard to Spanish classes, you can take our online test (plus an oral test when you come here) and will then be assigned a group of your skill level. You can also communicate your housing preferences, in case you require housing. Send us a mail through the reservation form on this webpage.

Usually the volunteer program starts with a one-day orientation during which you will get to know the place where you will work. You will then be assigned specific tasks based on what the organization needs, your availability, your skills, your Spanish level, your area of interest and obviously also on what you agreed upon in previous contacts with us.

What are the tasks usually assigned to volunteers? Obviously the answer to this questions depends on the institution where we organized your stay. For instance we cooperate with an officially recognized association of volunteers work on two different projects. Some of the tasks include: kitchen help, working in the bakery, teaching English, teaching computer skills, translation, helping in the textile production, working in a radio station, etc.

Remember that the better your Spanish level, the easier you will be able to communicate in your workplace and the easier you can choose between different tasks. That is true for all volunteer activities.

We are looking forward to seeing you volunteer in Uruguay! Your help will be appreciated.

Qualifications: Students who wish to volunteer must have completed at least 3 weeks of study at Academia Buenos Aires. The better your Spanish skills, the easier will be the communication between you and the people you will be working with. Some of the organizations in our program require a letter of intent and a personal interview, depending on approbation. We organize volunteer work for a minimum of 4 weeks.

Cost in US$: Volunteering free if you take 3 weeks of spanish

Credit Available: yes

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Volunteers must be adaptable, open minded and interested in getting to know and respect other cultures. Volunteers who are reliable, self dependent and are able to take personal initiative are highly appreciated. Spanish language requirements depend on the activity chosen. Ask for more information.

This Program is open to World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Argentina Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview when Feasible
• Written Application

Academia Buenos Aires's Mission Statement: Academia Buenos Aires is a recognized organization in Buenos Aires, which aims to provide academic excellence in spanish language teaching, professional service and a complete cultural immersion of its students. It offers spanish languages classes on all levels, study abroad programs in cooperation with prestigious local universities and free volunteer programs. The language school is located in the historic part of Buenos Aires, on central Plaza de Mayo, amidst all tourist attractions.

Year Founded: 2003