Volunteer El Salvador: Santa Tecla

Santa Tecla is an excellent place volunteer and an ideal base to explore the rest of El Salvador. Whilst the friendliness of the Tecleño (Santa Tecla people) and its customs mean that volunteers will quickly feel at home in this wonderful little city. Located in a valley 900 meters above sea level and known as "the city of hills" its elevation means it is one of the freshest places in El Salvador. The city is only 10 miles away from the capital San Salvador and was built in 1854 after a huge earthquake destroyed most of San Salvador. In the panic that followed the earthquake the government decided to move the entire capital to the Santa Tecla and the new city was originally known as New San Salvador. Although San Salvador eventually remained the capital Santa Tecla continued to grow alongside it spurred by the success of the local coffee industry.

Santa Tecla has all the facilities that you would expect from a modern city including supermarkets, bank offices and an efficient public transport system. The city is also only 30 minutes away from the coast, making it ideal for beach and surf lovers. The center of Santa Tecla has a wide variety of popular restaurants and although it still pays to follow common sense rules, is one of the safest areas in El Salvador. The population of the city are largely middle class, conservative and hard working so the city's night life is very limited, however the main night life of San Salvador is only 10 minutes away by car.

Santa Tecla was badly affected by the El Salvador earthquake in January 2001. A huge landslide buried an entire neighborhood killing over 300 people. The city also lost many of its oldest buildings including a number of historical catholic churches. The city recovered quickly and its now difficult to see any traces of the earthquake.

Photo Gallery: Santa Tecla

An article on the Santa Tecla orphanage that recently appeared in the El Salvadorian La Prensa Graphica Newspaper

An article on the Santa Tecla orphanage that recently appeared in the El Salvadorian La Prensa Graphica Newspaper

An article on the Santa Tecla orphanage that recently appeared in the El Salvadorian La Prensa Graphica Newspaper

More Santa Tecla images.

Volunteer Projects in Santa Tecla

Computer Teaching

As part of out El Salvador computer program volunteers collaborate with local teachers to teach children and youths IT skills. El Salvadorian's are very keen to learn computer skills as some basic IT knowledge is very helpful in improving their future job prospects, but access to qualified computer teachers in poor schools is very limited. Volunteers can help by training children and young people in computer projects including hardware and software basics, Microsoft Office programs, the internet and educational games. Volunteers can combine computer teaching with teaching English.

English Teaching

In El Salvador our volunteers work with elementary and school age children in both public and private schools in Santa Tecla. As a volunteer English teacher you will assist the established teacher in the classroom and sometimes lead and prepare lessons yourself. Volunteers work together with the local teacher to help improve basic English skills, particularly conversational English.

Orphanages

In Tecla Travel to Teach works with an orphanage run by the Catholic Church. The Orphanage is situated just outside of the town and has a huge garden where they grow all sorts of fruit and vegetable and also produce coffee for sale.

The orphanage has around 80 children, both boys and girls aged from 5 to 20 years. Volunteers can help with homework, extra English tutoring, and general care, playing games and all sorts of sports.

General Santa Tecla Info

Where Will I Stay?

Travel to Teach volunteers home stay with El Salvadoran families giving them the opportunity to experience daily Salvadoran life first hand. Our home stays are located in a nice area of Santa Tecla, close to banks, shopping centers, markets/supermarkets and cultural and historical sites. Volunteers will have a private room and will share facilities such as the kitchen, refrigerator and bathroom.

Food

The food most identified with El Salvador are Pupusas, an El Salvadoran speciality of stuffed tortilla which are filled with cheese, beans and sauces. Other popular foods in Santa Tecla include chilate, nuegados, yuca plant, atole de elote, tamales and shuco.

As well as excellent range of El Salvadoran restaurants, Santa Tecla also has Italian, French and Japanese restaurants in places like multi plaza and La Gran Via (commercial center). For those needing a fast food fix there are also a growing number of Taco Bell's, KFC's etc.

Weather

El Salvador has a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. The rainy season extends from May to October with virtually the whole annual rainfall occurring during this time mostly in heave afternoon thunderstorms. In the lowlands temperatures are hot throughout the year with an average temperature of 23°C and temperatures reaching as high as 38°C in March and April. Santa Tecla's elevation makes it cooler than the lowlands although temperatures are still consistently warm throughout the year.

Free Time

Santa Tecla’s main attraction is the old town's dazzling array of churches and cultural buildings some dating from the early days of colonization. Being only 30 minutes form the beach volunteers can also take part in bungee jumping, swimming, surfing, snorkeling.

On weekends there are a number of day or weekend trips that volunteers can take from Santa Tecla. These include the cloud forests of the Montectisto National Park. Located around 4 hours west of Santa Tecla on the borders with Honduras and El Salvador, the areas damp cloudy climate has created a number of unique micro climates and huge and diverse range of vegetation and wildlife. Wildlife includes flora, orchids, ferns, spider monkeys, anteaters and over 100 species of bird, many of which are endangered and unique to the park.

Other possible destinations include the arty colonial city of Suchitoto with its surrounding lake wildlife and volcanoes and the biggest lake in El Salvador, Lake Suchitlan. Volunteer can also take trips to El Pital - the highest mountain in El Salvador at 2730 meters - where activities there include hiking, climbing, biking, and bird watching and Alotepeque mountain chain.

In the far south east there is also the 8 islands of the Gulf of Fonseca, which make an excellent weekend trip and include Travel to Teach's other El Salvador location on Meanguera Island .

Where Is?/ Getting To Santa Tecla

There are many airlines serving El Salvador. Check American Airlines, COPA, Delta Airlines and Iberia. You can also travel overland by bus from Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Nicaragua, check with local companies for times and costs, we at Travel to Teach recommend Tica Bus.

You will either be met at Comalapa Airport or San Salvador Bus Station in Santa Tecla (depending on your means of travel) by our repres