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GYC3191 - Orphanage projects Country: Cost: £995.00 Cost Includes: The price includes food and pickup from airport but does not include flight, insurance, accommodation, kit or visas    Duration: 1 Months Company Rep Nearby: All the time 0845 344 7627 or

 

	This placement would suit... people who want to help out overworked staff and spend time brightening the lives of the children. Working in an orphanage is probably one of the toughest and most rewarding things that you can do. The orphanages we work with are well run but often the staff are busy and have little time to interact with the children. Your job will be to simply spend time with the children and pay them some attention. This will involve playing games, sports and helping the children develop interests. You might start an art club, get the children interested in nature, put on a play or simply run around chasing a ball. Some of the orphanages we work in are for children whose parents have died of AIDS or AIDS related illness, many have simply been abandoned by parents and relatives. Your daily duties will really depend on which orphanage you work with. Most orphanages have mixtures of ages from new born babies up to children who are 13-14 years old, but some specialise in older or younger children. If working with younger children you daily tasks will be to help bath, clothe and feed the children, putting them down for naps but most importantly spending time playing with the children and keeping them entertained. This is perhaps the most vital role as this is really something that the staff don't have time to do. The older children go to school during the day so if working with this group your day will be broken in to two sections. In the morning you will be helping the children get up, washed, dressed, fed and ready for school. The children come home about 2pm so then you will be helping with homework and again spending time with the kids. At this time it would be great if you could take the kids down to the beach or on other trips. If you're interested in music or drama, why not get the children involved in a play. If you’re into sports why not start a team! Kindness and compassion are necessary prerequisites for all of these projects. Note all projects working with children require a background check. This is an extra cost of about £10 but we will make the necessary arrangements. Parking tickets, speeding fines, and some criminal convictions will not prevent you from joining us; we simply check if you have any prior convictions relating to harming children. Accommodation During your time with us in Mexico, you will be staying in hostel type accommodation in Puerto Vallarta. This will be in a house that we have rented from the local people. All the volunteers stay together in the same accommodation which means that you are never far away from someone to socialise with in the evenings or travel with at weekends. Usually, four people will share a room. The standard of the accommodation will good but not quite what you are used to at home so please don’t expect all mod cons, but it will be clean and tidy. The house has hot and cold running water and electricity, but this occasionally fails. There will be someone there to look after the house and they will cook your meals, which means that if you can't quite get used to Mexican food then they can cook something similar to what you are used to at home. Puerto Vallarta is centrally located for all our projects in Mexico. Travelling around this fairly small city is easy whether you are teaching or on a medical project, you placement will be easy to reach by bus or even by walking. Very occasionally, we place volunteers with local families. This is usually during off-peak times when only a handful of volunteers are with us in Mexico. If this is the case we will send you full details of your family accommodation before your departure. Our staff will be on hand during office hours if you have any general queries and only a phone call away outside office hours if there’s something much more urgent. Weekends Part of the cost of the programme in Mexico includes a basic Spanish course and cultural induction. These usually take place on evenings and are completely optional. If you already have reasonable Spanish you may elect to opt out of the lessons. Your weekends are free and volunteers usually get together to travel during this time. Puerto Vallarta has great transport links with the rest of the country and travel by bus is cheap and comfortable. This may be along the coast to visit the turtle project, in to the jungle, climbing dormant volcanoes, visiting Guadalajara (Mexico’s most Mexican city), or travelling to visit temples. Alternatively, you will never be far away from some golden beaches so if you just want to chill out and relax you’re in the right place. Puerto Vallarta is located in the stunning Banderas Bay. Hundreds of tourists flock to the region each year for its golden beaches and lush green tropical forests. This means that there’s plenty to do in the region itself. Alternatively, there are lots of hidden beaches so if you just want to get away from it and chill, a relaxing beach is never too far away. Puerto Vallarta is also home to some stunning restaurants and bars. The nightlife in PV is second to none, especially during the spring break season when the area is inundated with American college students. Feel free to enjoy (at the weekends only please!) but watch your budget as many of these places charge tourist prices. You will find a number of excellent authentic ‘local’ restaurants and bars that don’t stretch the budget quite so much, but they tend to be a little bit off the beaten track. 0845 344 7627 Joining Global Volunteer Projects is as much about learning as it is about giving. As well as gaining work experience on journalism and medical projects, you'll learn the local language and immerse in the local culture - maybe drumming in Ghana, or yoga in India. Teaching, conservation, orphanage placements also available.