Introduction

As long as you do your planning, working on a free or low cost volunteering program will be one of the most rewarding ways you can spend your time in South America. Lets face it, the nomad life can become a little tiring after long enough on the road. You become fed up of the constant moving from place to place and the general buzz or wow factor just seems to become routine. If you are intending to travel for a sizeable amount of time in South America, the best way to rise above this inevitable drift is to settle down and apply yourself to something for a while. Say hello to volunteering.

Volunteering in Latin America is a win win decision. You help those, unlucky enough to be on the wrong side of an unfair world and in doing so, you grow as a person, have a good laugh and experience true immersion travel. Volunteering doesn't have to be about spending large amounts of money and it really isn't as difficult as you might think to find the right opportunity. Here at CatchtheLingo we offer you a directory of the best volunteering opportunities in South America and we only present free and low cost options.

So how do I know if volunteering is right for me and what kind of volunteering opportunities are available in Argentina and Chile?

Believe it or not but there´s a volunteering position for almost every type of person. As long as you are reasonably motivated as a person, have your head screwed on right and genuinely want to help, then it is safe to say you can volunteer. What is important is that you find the right role for you.

You should seek a role that

a.) matches your interests.

b.) matches your skill set.

c.) makes a real difference.

You may believe that you cannot possibly have a negative impact when volunteering but the reality is that somebody will have to invest time and effort into managing you as a new volunteer so it's important that you are committed to your work and that you genuinely want to do whatever it is that you have volunteered to do.

Some volunteering roles seem more obvious than others. Before I worked as a volunteer, my view of volunteering was restricted to teaching children, handing out food in shelters or attending the sick. While these roles are very much in demand, in reality volunteering encompasses a wide variety of different types of work.

OK, so briefly mentioning five main areas of volunteering and discussing what qualities you might need if considering working in that area..

1. Education and health focused work: Caring and sharing is the name of the game here. Patience, goodwill and flexibility of character are key qualities you should possess for working in this field. Obviously any formal medical or education training will be of great use in this field.

2. Community and Social work: Working to improve social cohesion in a community is a field of volunteering that is only sometimes open to travellers as it generally needs experience and specialist knowledge. However without experience it is still possible to secure work in this area. You must be a strategic thinker, have excellent Spanish and not be afraid to have your voice heard.

3. Poverty alleviation and economic development work: Increasingly popular these past few years, working to promote wealth creation, sustainability and economic independence in an impoverished community is seen by many, to be the future of volunteering. You should be an energetic, ideas driven person who has an element of an entrepreneurial spirit.

4. Wildlife and ecological conservation work: Generally (but not always) this is a closed affair for individuals with a biology or ecology background. This volunteering is of great importance in South America where economic growth and population expansion is threatening many of the continents species and damaging habitats. Obviously you should have an appreciation for wildlife, the natural world and the conservation effort, to consider working in this field. Also as many of the programs are research orientated, good analytical skills and sound reasoning are important. 

5. Tourism\activity geared volunteering: Many hotels, hostels, adventure houses, activity centres and tourism projects offer volunteering positions where in exchange for free board and food you will be expected to work 20-40 hours a week. Signing up for such work can serve as a useful stop off point on your trip. You can settle down for a while without having to worry about money and actually get to know somewhere properly. If you are interested in a certain activity such as polo, kayaking or horse riding then you may find opportunities where you will be trained for free in return for helping out around the place. If you are looking for a career in tourism and need to build up your CV then considering such a role would be a good idea. For this type of work you should have strong people skills, be a good communicator and most importantly you should be flexible in your approach to hours. 

Being flexible and always being eager to learn are two key qualities you will need for any type of volunteering.

How good should my Spanish be to volunteer in South America?

This is a commonly asked question from potential volunteers. The quick answer is your Spanish should be good enough for you to understand and communicate well enough for you to work reasonably efficiently. For example, I know an English guy in Buenos Aires who is volunteering for one of the top chefs in the city because he wants to eventually become a professional chef himself. His Spanish is pretty rubbish and wouldn't know his future tense from his arm or his elbow but he made sure to learn the vocabulary needed for working in a kitchen and he can swiftly roll off the names of herbs and spices in Spanish.

However if you wish to, for instance, help teenagers who have suffered from drug addictions then you will need to firmly catch the lingo of psychologists or if you wish to work in tourism your Spanish will have to be good enough to deal with native Spanish speakers. Generally it is a good idea, even if you are already a good Spanish speaker, to take some Spanish classes where you are volunteering so that you are comfortable with the local dialect.

Why should I have to pay to offer my time for free and how much should a volunteer program cost?

There are many reasons why volunteer organisations need to charge you money. The reality is that organising people and running a project costs money.

The main groups of costs for volunteering organisations are:

1. Day to day administration costs involved in managing a volunteering program can be more that you might imagine. Starting from when you make contact with the organisation, money is being spent on communication and office costs. When you arrive somebody might have to pick you up and drive you around so fuel costs need to be counted in. The organisation may also have costs if they need legal representation or they may need to pay rent for a building they use. The list is endless.. 

2. Investment into the project. To carry out their work, the organisation may need some funds to buy materials, to equip themselves or to invest in the people they are helping. For volunteer organisations that don´t have endless numbers of donors waiting to contribute they may need to share this financial burden.

Many of organisations will absorb the costs of taking you on as a volunteer through financing the receive from donors but you should remember that even finding donors can be an expensive business. You should always be willing to pay something for your accommodation and food. 

Its difficult to estimate how much you should spend on a volunteering program but at the least, you should be willing to cover the costs that the organisation bears for hosting you. 

As a rule of thumb I would say in South America you should not be paying more than US$800 per month of volunteering.

What is the minimum amount of time I should consider volunteering for?

Depends on the role. If you are looking to work with children for instance, where building a relationship is critical, you should really try and avoid leaving before spending at least a month there. However if you are working on one specific task such as helping to build, or simply providing free expert consultancy work then there is no real minimum time you should spend there. It is important to consider how long it takes for you to become fully trained and efficient. You should spend at least three times as long trained as you spend under training.

When volunteering, am I ever right to just say no?

Volunteering is about being flexible and filling in the gaps as they appear. Maybe the work being requested of you is not exactly what you signed up for or maybe it isn't quite in your comfort zone but if it helps move forward the work of organisation then you should be reluctant to say no. Volunteers often complain of how they are under utilized or of how they are they being pigeon-holed to a single task. If you join a volunteer program you need to understand that in doing so, you are accepting the authority of the coordinator and you should try to respect their decision even if you do not agree with it. 

The importance of having set goals when volunteering 

As with any paid work, volunteering requires you to be in control and organised. If the results of the work you are doing can be measured then set yourself a target based on these results. Take note regularly of where you are with your work and above all stay focused.

As with all our guides, we don't claim to be the absolute experts and we welcome input from the community - email us at info@catchthelingo.com

For countries where we are yet to offer free volunteering opportunities we recommend you use www.volunteersouthamerica.net