Volunteer in Guatemala

Combine Spanish Study, Adventure, and Work

By Janet Park

If adventure, Spanish lessons, and volunteering are on your travel to do list, consider The God’s Child Project, which serves the most destitute children in Guatemala. You’ll be immersed for two weeks in the country’s colorful culture and work side by side with its people.

Adults and families on the Adventure Service Team to build a small house for a God’s Child family in Antigua’s slums in eight days, then spend the next seven days whitewater kayaking, rafting, cave spelunking, and enjoying other exciting excursions.

The Classic Service Team, more appropriate for seniors, also involves building a house. (Teenagers from The God’s Child Project do the heavy work.) During free time, the group takes in cultural events and activities, such as art, dance, weaving, and museums.

The Educational Language Service Team, another 15-day program, is for students of any age who want to learn Spanish. In addition to taking lessons, students have a choice of work-related activities, including house building or helping at the program’s educational, healthcare, and community center in Antigua.

The Academic Service Team, made up of college and university students, is a 10-week course that involves assisting in classes, learning about alternative justice systems and juvenile detention, building homes and interacting with children. Numerous field trips include visiting an orphanage and a prison.

The cost to participate on a service team is $60 per day, which includes room and board. Team members, who pay their own airfare, are met at the international airport in Guatemala City and assigned housing with local families when they arrive in Antigua.

The God’s Child Project was founded by Patrick Atkinson nine years ago with the aim of “breaking the chains of poverty through education.” Today, through donations, it finances the education of more than 1,000 very poor native Guatemalan children in 87 schools. It also provides services to their families—including food, clothing, medical aid, and now housing—thanks to the volunteer service teams’ work.

Contact: God’s Child Project, P.O. Box 1573, Bismarck, ND 58502; 701-255-7956; email godschld@btinet.net , www.godschild.org or www.ana.com.gt.

JANET PARK is a freelance writer who lives in Seattle, WA. Two of her more than 80 published articles have appeared in Transitions Abroad.