Volunteer in Venezuela
Make a positive impact while learning new skills, interacting with the community and building diverse relationships.
A great way to experience another culture
The beauty in volunteering lies in the fact that you are not simply passing through as a tourist. Experience Venezuela through our various community programs. Programs are based in schools, public centers and community areas in the village as well as the on Aldeas de Paz foundations grounds. Volunteers, through their donations and through volunteer work done on the foundations grounds are helping us to create a great community. Watch Multimedia presentation.
There just wasn’t enough time for everything - I would love to spend more time planting and thinking about the design of the garden or do some carpentry with Hermes. It’s a fantastic amount of scope that Peace Villages offers and I have really enjoyed the chance to do things I wouldn’t normally, even the walk up the hill is part of the charm.
∼ Sophia Mary Eastaugh / Suffolk, England
The typical Volunteer
A typical volunteer needs to be enthusiastic, willing to learn, ready for a challenge, has a desire to take initiative and dedicates a lot of caring and passion to the position. Friendliness, care, commitment and patience are among important qualities. We welcome individual volunteers, families and groups regardless of age, experience or background. You don't have to speak fluent Spanish as we provide full support and 24 hour back-up from our local staff.
If this entry makes its way on the net and you are considering volunteering here, if you can give a time commitment of 5 plus months the benefit to both you and the organization will be really worth while.
∼ Janet Kenealy / Kilkenny, Ireland
Mix & Match to Customize Your Experience
Youth Care & Community
Mobile School
Ecological Building
Environmental Conservation
Medicine & Healthcare
Pemon Aboriginals
NGO Management
ECO Village Art & Culture
Therapeutic Riding
Volunteer with Aldeas de Paz
Choose your Involvement Level
Specialize or Diversify
Every volunteer has the opportunity to be involved in as many or as few of our programs and they would like. We encourage volunteers to form schedules which work for them, and to work in any combination of programs. Volunteers decide how many hours they want to work. We recommend a minimum 3 days a week. You may work as much as 5 days and as many hours you wish. We emphasize that we focus on excellence and not on quantity.
Why we need volunteers
Volunteers - The driving Force
Volunteers and interns are the driving force of Aldeas de Paz' work, both through their volunteering and through their financial contributions. Volunteering with us is a great opportunity to work side by side with locals, learn new skills, study Spanish, and immerse oneself in the Latin and indigenous culture. Learn Spanish
Family
Volunteering
Why Volunteer As a Family?
Volunteering as a family is a wonderful way to connect with each other in a unique way, while giving something back to a community. Families can volunteer in a variety of programs which are suitable to various ages. Watch family volunteering video.
Each member can discover his or her strengths and share them dynamically. A child learns the value and joy of truly helping a community. Parents can marvel at their child’s self-discovery, creativity and interaction with others. The kids gain a sense of autonomy and self-esteem doing activities that are traditionally reserved for adults. It is also a perfect way for children to absorb Spanish.
- The Youth, Care & Community program is particularly suited because children can meet and share their favorite activities with children from other cultures — an ideal cultural exchange.
- Living with Pemón Aboriginals is also a perfect way for families to offer their help.
- Younger volunteers really appreciate the Horse Riding program. They feel very useful taking care of the horses and can interact with the local children as well.
Families can choose independent, host-family, or community living accommodation. From past experiences, we strongly recommend the community living on the Aldeas de Paz campus. There is a strong extended family feeling and we all enjoyy meals and much laughter together. There is an apartment that is specially suited to families, providing for space and privacy.
What do past volunteers say?
For me and for my children, aged 11 and 7, the foundation has offered a fantastic experience for us as a family, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to travel to Venezuela with children. We were here nearly three months, the children had opportunities to swim in the pool here, play with local children, visit waterfalls, walk through the rainforest to the nearby river, hear howler monkeys and cicadas and see hummingbirds, bright green lizards, the stunning rolling mountains of the Gran Sabana and lots of really BIG insects.
Both benefited from their experience of collective living, carrying out a lot more chores then they do at home and acquiring, I hope, a greater sense of personal responsibility. They learned some Spanish and got a real sense of how children in another country live, especially in the poorer communities.
∼ Carolyn Alison Wiener / London, UK