|
A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS
|
Dear Friends, The GOD’S CHILD Project sponsors several worthwhile charities in Guatemala, Central America. The main one of these, La Asociación Nuestros Ahijados, is located on the outskirts of the very poor San Felipe neighborhood of Antigua. These programs focus primarily on providing health and education services to the poor, although we are also active in community development, legal advocacy, social change and, in particular, working with the women and the families in our communities. You can learn more about the programs by visiting . When possible, the 2800 children in La Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados program have sponsors who help pay their school fees and buy school uniforms, books and supplies. In addition, we provide the children and their families with other essentials, such as clothing, medicine, foster care for orphaned children, and financial assistance to children living with a family member.
We are not a hand-out program. Children earn much of what they receive through their participation in the program and in their schools, and have the opportunity to earn an additional scholarship which supplements, or even surpasses, their family’s income. Rewarding the children for academic excellence gives the other family members (i.e. the mother or parents) a vested interest in the academic progress of their child. It is because of the support and love of the children's friends, benefactors, and sponsors that we are able to keep them alive, in school, and healthy. We are extremely grateful for their prayers, love, and support for the children. On this web-site you will find information about volunteering with The GOD’S CHILD Project-sponsored charities in Guatemala. To begin the application-and-acceptance process, a volunteer candidate needs to complete a volunteer application which asks for some basic biographical and medical information, references, and inquires why you are interested in volunteering with our program in Guatemala. You will find this volunteer application, and much, much more information about the programs, volunteering, and what life is like for a volunteer with a GOD'S CHILD Project-sponsored charity in Guatemala in our Volunteer Handbook. Contact us today to get an access code to view and download this invaluable document from this web-site. If you would like just the Short-Term Volunteer Application, . Please complete the Short-Term Volunteer application and return it to us in The GOD’S CHILD Project office in Bismarck, ND, USA, along with your $140 registration and international insurance fee. (This insurance coverage is for a 2-week period. The rate may be higher for longer stays.). Our mailing address is:
The GOD'S CHILD Project Post Office Box 1573 Bismarck, ND 58502-1573 (701) 255-7956
Also, we always like to know how our new volunteers have heard of us, so please take a minute to indicate that on your application.
When we have received your completed application and you have been accepted, we will coordinate with you and with the volunteer team in Guatemala, via fax or e-mail, your arrival time, living preferences, anticipated arrival and departure dates, and your volunteer opportunity preferences. While volunteering with us in Guatemala, most volunteers prefer to stay with local middle-class host families. These families usually speak a little English and run their homes as bed-and-breakfast (and lunch and dinner) type community houses. Living with a host family greatly enhances the cultural experience you will enjoy as a volunteer. In addition, our host families are able to help you in a wide variety of ways. We can help you arrange lodging with a host family; the cost is US $70 per week, which includes a bed and 18 meals a week (Sundays not included), which you pay directly to the host family. When it is time to begin your volunteership, you will travel to Guatemala at your own expense. If you wish, our Volunteer Team will arrange for you to be met at the Guatemala City International Airport and transported to our main Project site in La Antigua, Guatemala (a distance of about 45 KMs). The Guatemala City-to-Antigua fee is $25 per person, paid in advance to the Bismarck office. The Guatemalan charities that are sponsored by The GOD’S CHILD Project have numerous volunteer skilled and semi-skilled opportunities working in education (teacher, teacher’s aide, or in the library), nutrition (cooking and meal service), construction (doing maintenance and construction on the grounds of our community development center, or, depending on the time of the year, out in the poorer neighborhoods), health care (physician, dentist, nurse, aide, reception), and community development. In general, full time, long-term volunteers must be:
--Age 21 or older, single, or married, without dependents --Preferably able to speak Spanish or take classes at their own expense --Motivated by a desire to serve others and be self-sufficient --Be mature, flexible, in good health and with a good sense of humor
|
|