Volunteer Projects In Bolivia

We are not currently sending volunteers to programs in Bolivia. We have decided to concentrate our efforts on our programs in Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador and Mexico.

1. Conservation

Help animals in Santa Cruz:
A conservation project is ideal if you are interested in the biodiversity of Bolivia, or fancy working with endangered South American species. You could find yourself caring for jaguars, llamas, reptiles, monkeys, toucans and even spectacled bears.

Alternatively you could work with turtles and other reptiles in a zoo environment. The Santa Cruz Zoo preserves endangered species and teaches visitors about the importance of the region's wildlife. Besides caring for the animals, you can help with general maintenance and the marketing department or helping with the web site

Preserve ecosystems in Santa Cruz:
Located outside the city, the Santa Cruz Botanical Garden preserves native, endangered plant species and showcases Bolivia's wealth of biodiversity. Its 186 hectares (450 acres) of subtropical plains and woodland have been divided into separate ecosystems including a dry forest, cactus park, palm forest, tropical forest and lagoon. This volunteer project is perfect if you enjoy the outdoors and want to try your hand at tropical conservation. You might nurture plant seedlings, maintain the grounds and guide visitors.

Forestry Development:
This project is designated to cover deforested areas along the route of the gas duct from Bolivia to Brazil. You will have the opportunity to work on maintenance of a variety of Bolivian plants. If you have any marketing skills then you can also assist with developing products as well. The project supervisor is a committed agronomist who is eager to welcome volunteers with an interest in environmental conservation.

Photo Gallery: Volunteering at Santa Cruz Zoo

2. Art and Culture

Bolivia's Art Conservation: If you're looking to get into the arts, this internship offers valuable work experience. Lots of art schools are associated in order to conserve Bolivian culture. You can be a part of this by teaching youngsters to play any musical instrument or drama skills. If you are interested in event management you can also help to organise events in the main office. They organise a huge international baroque music festival once a year.

Ethnographic and folklore museum located in Santa Cruz: : This museum preserves the Bolivian culture with a collection of indigenous masks, weapons weavings and costumes. It also organises regular workshops featuring various indigenous groups. The project requires people with initiative and good Spanish skills. You might get involved in research, design and maintenance of displays and translation.

Guarany Museum : This museum is a private investment. Masks, pottery, and other handicrafts are showed on it's small room in order to preserve the ancient Guarani culture.

3. Eco Tourism

Adventure Tour Agency: Santa Cruz is a privileged area because of it's natural wealth, several rainforests and natural parks border the city. This small tours agency works on developing eco tourism in all those regions. They need volunteers for marketing, translations, guiding, etc. You may even get the opportunity to guide visitors to one of the natural parks.

Tourist support office : You will be working in the main Tourist Office in Santa Cruz. This is a great opportunity to find out about Bolivia because you will be visiting places and working on cultural aspects that give the country its identity. There are about 8 staff working in the centre and about 20 more doing investigation and fieldwork. The project funds come from government and donations.

4. Community Development

Children´s Home: Santa Cruz has a very supportive welfare project that gives children aged three to 18 a solid grounding in English and vocational skills. About 400 children live on the campus, consisting of 11 homes. It has a day nursery, a school, a single mothers' institution and separate homes for teenage boys and girls. You can choose where you'd like to work. You can teach English, help with homework or lead arts classes. Or you could help train them in baking, carpentry or dressmaking cooperatives that also fund the home.

Help People With Eyesight Problems: This is a special school that gives support to more than 120 children and adults with eyesight problems from 0 years old they also have a clinic for blind people with limited resources. Along with traditional teaching they also use occupational therapies such as gardening and textile making (by hand). They also give orientation to parents and professionals about how to integrate blind people into the community.

Foundation For Children With Down Syndrome: This is a school for children with Down Syndrome. The project helps these children to develop skills in areas such as cooking, gardening, computers and ceramics. There are about 150 students, classified in 3 levels of progress, from 0 years old and they also do workshops for adults. There are 5 students per class, and 22 people working there. You can be a class assistant for maths, literature, sciences, history, sports, music, dances, and also in the workshops: cooking, ceramics, gardening, and computers.

Help Deaf Children In Santa Cruz: This is a small mixed-gender school for deaf students. There are about 100 students, classified in 5 levels, from 6 to 15 years old and they also do workshops for people from 15 to 23 years old. There are 15 to 20 students per class, and 10 teachers. You can be a class assistant of maths, literature, sciences, history, sports, music, dances, and also in the workshops: cooking, dressmaking, cosmetology, and carpentry.

5. Teaching

Teach English in Santa Cruz: These teaching and assistant teaching projects are located in the centre of the colonial town of Santa Cruz. You will teach in schools mornings and/or afternoons with a flexible schedule. Students range from six to 18 years in classes of about 40 students. You will help them learn English through conversation workshops, songs and other fun activities. You also have the option of joining in with extracurricular activities.

Creative Education: The project is about a study supporting school (so all the students assist to a regular school as well). This boosts their self-esteem and enables them to get better results in their studying. This project is perfect for a volunteer that likes arts, music and a boisterous time with kids and if the volunteer studied psychology it will be even better. To prepare, volunteers will work alongside Bolivian staff to make materials and learn songs and games in Spanish and English.

6. Sports

Coaching Sports In A Children´s Home: This is a project created to promote sports for children, aged from 5 to 18. Most of them come from a children's home. You can coach basketball, soccer, aerobics or dancing. If you have any sport skills this is the right project for you.

7. Media

This project is a small Editorial located in the centre of Santa Cruz, it is specialised in culture issues, they mainly produce support material for students at school and Universities. They also do box and labels designs for factories.

There are 14 persons working on it. This project is for those who are looking to enhance their particular skills within the full spectrum of media. Volunteers can get involved in activities such as:

Graphic designer: Volunteers will have the opportunity to travel and photograph Bolivian scenarios.

Photographer: Freehand and Photoshop artists are urgently needed

Marketing: Enhance your skills in marketing for the Editorial's products.