Volunteer in Latin America with GVI and experience a land endowed with lush forests, pristine beaches, significant archaeological sites, flavourful food and wonderful, welcoming local communities.
If you’re looking to volunteer in an Instagrammable destination where you’ll live and work alongside multicultural, warm-hearted and friendly communities – Latin America is calling your name.
Feel the balmy humidity on your skin, inhale the dewy freshness of the jungle and hear children giggle as you practise your new Spanish words. Attend vibey Latin American festivals, try tasty local corn dishes and sit down to learn from locals as they share their wisdom and peaceful ways of living. By exchanging stories, you’ll soon realise that although we’re diverse, we all have so much in common.
When you join GVI’s award-winning community development programs in Latin America, you’ll empower and support locally-led organisations who run sustainable projects in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring actual social impact.
Whether you’re on a gap year, a volunteering holiday, a career break or doing an internship, you’re guaranteed to have a meaningful experience when you participate in our people-focused programs in Latin America.Â
With GVI, you have the unique opportunity to create a lasting impact, while having a great time with fellow global-citizens. You’ll also grow on a personal and professional level, gaining skills and experiences that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
Costa Rica is known as the paradise of Central America, and is the most popular tourist destination in the region. The main reason for this? The country’s remarkable variety of endemic wild animals, insects and birds; its national parks with rich biodiversity; and the picture perfect beaches make it an ideal place for your next – or first – volunteer program.Â
Costa Rica is also one of the most literate nations on the continent, being the first in the world to make primary education obligatory and free.
When you volunteer in Latin America and join us in Costa Rica, you’ll be staying in our hub in Cartago, which is located in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. Because of the unique history of Cartago, including being the original capital of the country, and the proximity to the capital of San Jose, Cartago is home to a mix of cultures, languages, backgrounds, and things to do.Â
Spanish is the main language that we speak in our volunteer programs in Costa Rica. If you’re keen to join us in Cartago, you’ll need to be proficient in Spanish.
With our Latin America community development programs in Costa Rica, you can choose between two different focus areas – teaching and women’s empowerment.
Teaching
Join local education-focused organisations in Cartago who run various after-school and complementary educational activities, including English teaching programs and sports programs. You can support children in their after-school programs or assist the teachers during their classes.
If you’re into sports, why not grab your cap and whistle, and help our partners to coach a variety of sports and activities to benefit children’s physical and mental wellness. Take a look at four reasons why sport is important in child development.
Women’s Empowerment
Support the GVI team and our partners on the ground to present English classes to women looking to learn a new skill that will help them be more competitive in a tough job market.
At GVI, we take great responsibility to ensure that all our programs, including those in Latin America, are run ethically and safely to benefit everyone involved.Â
We have more than two decades of experience in running community development volunteer programs, and have refined our process greatly over the years to ensure optimum social impact that’s inclusive and sustainable.
We have the following measures in place to ensure that our programs are ethical and safe:
It’s one thing to read about an exciting new location on your screen, but nothing brings you closer to reality than talking to someone who’s actually been there.
Get in touch with our alumni – you can choose to talk to someone from a specific region, age group and GVI location (like Costa Rica) to make sure they get where you’re coming from.
Head on over to our testimonial page to read through first-hand reviews from participants who have been on volunteer programs in Latin America, and all over the world.
You can also check out live stories from our hubs on Instagram, or take a look at TikToks by participants to get a feel for what it’s like on base.