Reviews of Volunteer Programs in Guatemala

Day in the Life of a Volunteer in Guatemala: Roni Christensen

Roni Christensen went to Guatemala for VIDA from Jan 9th through Jan 17, 2012. Roni is from Racine, WI and goes to the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. Roni is a 23 year old female and currently works at a department store part time. She enjoys reading, music, dancing, and running.

Morning: We woke up early everyday and we'd get ready. Wear scrubs, tennis shoes, packed our day bag and filled up our water bottles. Then we'd head down for breakfast. The first part of the week we ate at the orphanage and the other half was at a hotel. At the orphanage we had fruit, toast, cereal, orange juice, and coffee. At the hotel we ate fruit, eggs, toast, beans, juice, and coffee. Then after breakfast we'd head out for the day to work with patients!

Afternoon: After lunch we'd still have a few hours left of working with patients, for me it was cleaning, scaling, and pulling teeth. After we finished for the day we would clean up our materials and sanitize our chairs and tools. We'd heave all the tools and totes onto the vans and head back to the orphanage/ hotel.

Roni got dental/medical experience while volunteering

Evening: After getting back to the hotel I would shower and change clothes to get ready for dinner. When we stayed at the orphanage we would eat with all of the kids and answer all of their questions. They'd ask things like how old we were, what the U.S. is like, and funny things like how to say certain words.

They would also try to teach me how to speak Spanish since I didn't speak a word of it. When we stayed at the hotel we would go for a walk and find a fun place to eat in small groups so dinner wouldn't take too long. It was a great time filled with great music, wonderful weather, and laughter. Sometimes the doctors and translators would come with us and we would learn great things about the local culture.

Highlights: The best part of my trip was getting the chance to assist Dr. Vivian, the dentist and learning valuable assisting and scaling skills. I hadn't ever gotten that chance before so it was very exciting to say that I got to actually assist and clean teeth. The experience really showed me that I truly want to be a dentist and will love my job once I get there!

Learn more about volunteering in Guatemala with VIDA.

Read more about the Day in the Life of a Volunteer in Guatemala

Finola McGrath, GVI volunteer alum

Finola McGrath was in Guatemala on the GVI/Phoenix volunteer project from 3-17 March, 2012 and stayed for a further week to take part in a fund-raising challenge with the project. She lives in Manchester UK, is 59 years old and works as a Local Government officer.

Morning: A typical day volunteering in Guatemala began early; breakfast at 6.30 in a home-stay with a lovely four-generational Antiguan family. We volunteers set off for a 20 minute walk across the city then travelled by minibus to St Andres Itzapa, an indigenous community in the hills, where the Phoenix project, a partner with GVI, set up the school with community and volunteer help ten years ago.

At school I helped with the morning kindergarten class and even taught them a little English. The children really put their heart and soul into their lives at school - like all kids, sometimes that was more focused on mischief and fun than learning! One playtime I was included by the kids in a make believe household when they put together pieces of wood, stones, leaves etc to make a pretend stove and food.

Sightseeing in Guatemala

Afternoon: After lunch made for us by community leaders (and delicious; all basic Guatemalan cooking) I met my four or five-strong class of six year olds needing extra help with reading and writing. I was really pleased that they all managed to put together, on their own, some letters to write simple words - I have photos of them proudly holding up their efforts.

Evening: We waved goodbye at 4pm and got back to Antigua for my hour long Spanish lesson. I'd already been learning Spanish for a few years but I benefited hugely from my lessons. I headed home for an evening meal with the family at 7pm.

It was great to experience family life and to practice listening to and speaking Spanish. Once or twice we went into town in the evening - there are plenty of bars, many of which show English language films - but, more often than not, I was happily in bed before ten.

Learn more about volunteering in Guatemala with GVI.