Mountains, landlocked and poor, but superlative in its nature beauty. Complex, diverse and adventurous. You can discover Bolivia’s beauties, learn or improve your Spanish, and meanwhile help the poor and remote areas by volunteering. How? Hostelling International Bolivia is supporting several rural villages and poor outskirts with volunteer work. And now you can become a part of something bigger, something that counts, something that will make you feel good about yourself. For a greater cause: volunteer in Bolivia.
Why?
Bolivia is still one of the poorest countries of the South-American continent that is why help is on high demand. The big contrasts within society as well as between the cities and the country are causing many problems. A rural exodus is having negative effects on both the villages and the cities. There’s a lack of integration of the indigenous population and small farmers. HI Bolivia, in collaboration with the villagers and the local administration, develops projects to improve the living conditions of all inhabitants, especially of the young. Active volunteers help in hospitals, schools, kindergartens… Also you can help by joining the group of more than 600 volunteers from all over the world that have in the past ten years offered their support to the local people.
During the exchange you’ll get the great opportunity to get to know and appreciate a different culture and social structure, meet new people and see the beautiful Bolivia’s countryside as well as to learn Spanish or to improve your knowledge of it.
How can you help?
There are several different programs. You can apply for any of them, depending on your talents and interests:
1. Health services: assisting in (small) hospitals, in the pharmacy, accompanying country doctors;
2. School assistance: particularly English and computer classes, but also geography and history of your own continent, cultural exchange;
3. Youth work: offer free time activities for the children and teenagers of the villages like sports, basic crafts work, music;
4. Environmental protection: practical work, helping to develop and put to practice norms and rules, sensitization for environmental protection in school, organizing separation and disposal of waste, forestation;
5. Agriculture: practical work with farmers and experimental cultivation of a variety of vegetables like in old times, improvement of nutrition and increase in productivity;
6. Craftsmanship: helping with construction or renovation of buildings;
7. Other: basing on the talents and interests of the volunteers, for example music workshops, updating online platforms (documentation with photos and videos) etc.
For how long?
As Spanish is mandatory, you’ll first have 1-3 weeks intensive Spanish class (one-to-one lessons/small groups) staying at the
HI Hostel Sucre or you will be given two month to prepare for the internationally recognized DELE language exam. Then comes voluntary work in one or several places (depending on the length of your stay and your desires). Last but not least, you should reserve 1-3 weeks for travelling and exploring this fascinating country. Of course, that is just an idea – they are flexible to your plans and intentions.
Terms, costs and application
Volunteering is a serious and important task, so it’s important to have the spirit and motivation to help in a developing country with social work in practice. You have to be 18 years old.
You can apply easily via e-mail:
hostelling_international_bolivia@yahoo.com. Your informal application should contain a short presentation of yourself, for how long you want to work, when you want to start your voluntary work, a motivation letter of about one page in which you explain, why you want to work as a volunteer and (optional) what kind of work would you like to do.
Costs:
Accommodation in
HI centres, shared rooms, catering included, per week:
115 €. All volunteers are accommodated in our own HI Hostels in shared dormitories. The foundation
HI Bolivia is engaged in all over Bolivia and supports volunteer projects mainly in left-alone villages, but also in cities.
Spanish course (private, 15 single lessons), per week: 124 €
Furthermore flight costs to/from Santa Cruz de la Sierra (“VVI”) or La Paz (“LPB”) have to be paid (about 1200 to 1400 € from Europe).
All volunteers working longer than 12 weeks at HI Bolivia are being gifted as a thank you the seven-day tour „salt and silver“ starting at Sucre to the silver mines of Potosí and to the largest salt lake on earth (Salar de Uyuni) and to La Paz (value: 375 €).
Some additional tips
Before you go, check which vaccines and common-sense precautions are recommended. International Certificate of Vaccination, that has a proof of yellow fever vaccination on entry, is mandatory for Bolivia.
90 days tourist visa is free (entry and exit stamps are free, attempts at charging should be met with polite refusal); afterwards you need to apply for a visa in Bolivia.
Prices in Bolivia are low; however, the biggest cost will be transportation, especially getting to the country.
Weather in Bolivia is, to put it mildly, unpredictable and diverse. You will face stiffing humidity and heat and also arctic cold (depends on where you will stay). November till April is the rainy season. The most popular time to visit Bolivia is May to October, when the days are dry and clear.
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