Information
Where does Las Sonrisas de los Ninos work:
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Las Sonrisas de los Ninos
Brewton, Honduras
Volunteer Abroad Positions Available
regular volunteer
This is real volunteering- it is hot, tiring, and you will get dirty. Volunteers are encouraged to develop and lead group and individual activities including arts and crafts, games, sports, reading, tutoring for school, and sometimes just holding them- many if not most kids come from situations that would be considered abusive by "first world" standards and often aggressively seek safe and wholesome attention. Initiative and creativity from the volunteers is highly valued. Depending on how long you are there you might find yourself mentoring particular kids or helping their families.
Volunteer Activity
| Amour Kwok | 07/2010 |
| Karin Schmidt | 06/2009 - 09/2009 |
Cost for Volunteers
We have no volunteer fees. If the volunteer wants to stay at our hostel it costs $25 a week ($15 a week after 4 weeks) per person- basic, reasonably comfortable, you do your own cooking. The volunteer house is located in a little neighborhood about a mile from our primary village (El Cacao), a 5 minute walk from the project, and about 100 meters from our house.
Volunteer Placement Logistics
The longer a volunteer is with us the better for the kids (and us!). Short term volunteers are welcome however, even just for a few days. It is hard to say how many volunteers are needed because the numbers of kids attending varies, and we tend to attract more kids the more volunteers we have. If school is in session we generally have fewer and younger kids in the morning and older kids come in the afternoon, but school is very often cancelled so we never know on a daily basis. When we first opened our record low number of kids was four for the morning session, our record high was over 75. Typically we peak during the day with 15-30.
We believe we had a record of 13 volunteers on one day. With larger numbers of kids, volnteering is easier (but more tiring) becasue there is always something that needs to be done; fewer kids generally require more creativity and initiative on the part of the volunteer because they have to more tailor acticities for the kids.
Volunteer Skills Needed
We require no specific skills. Spanish ability is very helpful but certainly not required. Dependability, ability to live and work in an area with very limited comforts (no AC, no TV, no internet in the area of the project, no hot water), and compassion are required.
Sewing ability would be helpful as we try and develop a women's sewing co-op.