Best Rated Volunteer Abroad Programs in Latin America

Everyday I’m so happy to be at the daycare with the kids, they teach me so much and vice versa. The highlight of my morning is when I get there I get “ambushed” with hugs and good mornings. Honestly they are the most lovable people in the whole world. The staff at los ositos have been very helpful and welcoming. Also the kids love it if you smile at them it makes them feel happy and gives them like extra energy for the day. But honestly working with the kids makes you have to have extra energy..

I loved every second of this program and truly recommend anyone who is interested in healthcare or medicine to join this experience. The host family made me feel welcome and comfortable, the Maximo Nivel staff were helpful and friendly, and the care facility where I volunteered was happy to have us there and teach us more about their way of medicine. I will definitely do this again and recommend all my fellow healthcare people to join!

This trip was the opportunity of a lifetime. I wanted a reason to return to Costa Rica and this was the way to go! The Maximo team executed things flawlessly from the airport pickup, to the site visit and showing us how to get to and from our sites, to the amazing Spanish classes. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to give back to an amazing community while getting an amazing cultural experience as well. Make sure to plan on bringing an umbrella, drinking gatorade, and being ready to jump in at your site!

The experience was absolutely amazing! We worked construction on a school and the volunteer program was more fun than I could have ever imagined. Marco was our foreman and we felt like we created a true bond with him and the other volunteers we worked with. We took advantage of the activities provided through the volunteer website and could not have more fun. Everything was extremely planned out and we had drivers for each activity which was great and saved us the stress of having to set up those up. Thank you for everything Maximo!

Cannot wait to come back or to try another location. Next time I will for sure being completing a longer program, a week is just not long enough. This was such an impactful experience and learned so much. Not only did I improve my understanding of the geriatric medical field but I also improved my spanish significantly and my confidence speaking. The most important thing to keep in mind with this program is that you need to be open minded as your placements are somewhat random in the program that you choose. But if you come with an open mind and heart, you will have the absolute best time here. Could not speak more highly of the program.

Very disappointed!

I came to Costa Rica for a volunteer program which is managed by the Maximo Nivel group here. My volunteer program consisted of eco agriculture in the Monteverde area specifically in a coffee farm.

When arriving in Costa Rica, the people of Maximo Nivel looked for us at the airport and took us to an orientation in the San Jose offices, everything seemed to be very good until the next day when they did not bother to look for us in the house where they gave us Lodging in San Jose and they told us to take a taxi to the highest level. Later that day before leaving for Monteverde in what we thought would be a private bus from Maximo or at least a bus accompanied by someone who is part of their team, turned out to be a public bus, without company or anyone, they simply left us in the bus stop (in the most dangerous area of ​​San Jose) and they left. This took me by surprise because we paid an extra cost because the location of the project was far and they had to cover the transport costs. Which were only $ 10 bus and $ 12 between 4 people from the Monteverde station to San Luis where the farm is!

Removing the lack of transparency and all the overwhelming complaints we have heard throughout our stay in Costa Rica as volunteers coming from other volunteers in different programs, I would like to share a little more of my reason for disappointment at this moment:
The family with whom we stayed in Monteverde, did not want our presence there, it was remarkable and in more than one opportunity was mentioned.

Maximo Nivel, shows a lot of incompetence by not being close to their volunteers, most of the days we did not have any signal because the family turned off the Wifi and the telephone signal did not reach the farm, on several occasions we had to walk 7Km to the town to contact our families! Thank God nothing happened that was emergency because we would not have done it! No signal or Wifi and the family outside the house!

I do not recommend this project in the least, or anything that has to do with these people. I feel stolen (sadly). If you want to travel to costa rica do it on your own, it will be much cheaper and probably better experience.

I absolutely loved being with Maximo nivel in this program, the staff is welcoming and cares about you. You feel the support. My house family was charming and really welcoming. We felt a lot of support and love from them. My project was at Corteza Amarilla, the physio therapist was amazing to invite us into their therapy sessions and finding creative ways to make geriatric patients stay active. As a student studying health science and learning of diseases and patterns of those diseases, I found it quite interesting to see the effects and reality that people have to live with by being affected. It was very emotionally moving and I will never forget all the beautiful souls inside that residence. Pura Vida Costa Rica ! I will most definitely see you again.

Maximo Nivel provides an excellent opportunity for those who wish to seek relevant real life experience, particularly in the healthcare and medical field. Over the span of a week I was able to get real valuable experience in my medical field of interest (occupational therapy) and along the way I was supported by both Maximo staff and the staff at the project as well. Be prepared to come with an open mind and ready to take initiative in order to get the most out of this experience. For me personally this impacted my life as I was able to receive real experience and that I can apply to my field of interest. It can help me in the future as I now have relevant experience for future employers. In summary this was an invaluable experience and I definitely recommend it to anybody looking to gain great experience and looking to enjoy their time in an educational and social manner.