Chile Volunteer Quests

Day Care Quest
Basic Spanish Required
Volunteers work in small day care centers located near downtown Santiago. The Sala Cuna serves a maximum of 12 children between the ages of three months and two years. A larger Jardin Infantil serves children from two to five years old. The mothers of these children reside at a nearby shelter for the homeless and work during the day. The children stay at the centers from 9 am until 5 pm. In the Jardin Infantil, they eat a morning snack and lunch; participate in daily activities including: game playing, storytelling, drawing and riding tricycles; and use didactic learning materials, all supervised by volunteers. The last week of this Quest is spent in a Day Care Center in Vina Del Mar. This Quest is offered year-round except February.

A new teaching-focused opportunity in Chile for 2010 : the Cultural Awareness Project!
Minimum duration: 1 week. This Quest is offered from mid March to the end of November. It is closed the last three weeks of July due to winter vacations.
No Spanish is required but volunteers must be English native speakers or have fluent English.
This project combines two teaching-focused quests.  First you will help Chilean English teachers in their elementary and secondary school classrooms of 45 students  in a poor area of the capital city of Santiago. This will include any tasks that facilitate the work of the teacher including giving  your powerpoint CAP talks to  older students. For your last week, you will move from Santiago to Vina del Mar, a beachside city. Here you will give several CAP presentations per day to Chilean students studying English at a technical college. This is a very challenging project  where you will be speaking in public to students and  leading classroom discussions. Through your CAP presentations you will have the opportunity to learn more about Chile and its culture, in addition to teaching Chilean students about your own culture.

New Healthcare Quest for 2010
Minimum duration: 1 week
Year round except February
Intermediate Spanish Required
Volunteer at a modern rehabilitation center in the capital city of Santiago and help improve patients’ lives!  The facility provides care to  young children and teenagers with physical disabilities. To be involved in this Quest you don’t need specific qualifications, but volunteers do need to be motivated and have a strong interest in health care. Volunteers will help as facilitators and organize recreational activities for the patients while having the opportunity to learn about  specific  patient areas as they move from one area to another. This project offers is a unique opportunity to learn about physical rehabilitation in a different country.  The last week of this quest may be spent at a second rehabilitation center near the city of Vina Del Mar.

Women's Shelter Quest
This Quest is open in January, February, the last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of December. Volunteers work with women's children in the shelter, taking care of them and helping with daily tasks around the shelter.