Volunteering Brazil

Volunteering Brazil

Why choose Volunteering Brazil?

At Voluteering and Intern Brazil, we do our best in order to help people. As part of the company, we are here to help you succeed in finding suitable volunteering and/or internship experiences in Brazil.

We want to make a real change in the world with our volunteer programs, so we lowered our fees and are now donating part of our profits to the host NGOs. This is part of our transparency policy.

Our internships aim to provide a life-changing exchange, fulfilled with a background of personal and professional experience. Our goal is to facilitate the process and support you, offering opportunities that go beyond gaining practical skills in your field of study and learning Portuguese. Our services focus on immersion in Brazilian culture, which encourages you to become an active agent of impact at your internship company.

Join our program today to actually do a real difference in the world.

Founded
2015

Reviews

Default avatar
Sixtine
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A really great experience

I had a really great experience during the year I spent in Brazil ! I was there from November 2017 to October 2018 in Curitiba, Parana, volunteering in communications, marketing and crowdfunding in an NGO for projects of education in Kenya. Being part of an NGO there really helped me to learn on the professional aspect, as well as brazilian culture and volunteering. I also met a lot of people through this program, and got to learn a new language that I didn’t know anything about: portuguese ! Though it has been tough sometimes, I think this experience was extremely rewarding and taught me valuable life lessons that I’ll remember for a lifetime. I highly recommend this program to anyone willing to get a volunteering experience for a few months !

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Be prepared for any cultural difference ! It can be a shock sometimes !
Default avatar
Lodovica
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

L'esperienza che mi ha cambiato la vita

Translated by Go Overseas:

After a year studying in Brazil, I had the chance to come back thanks to Intern Brazil, which helped me find a perfect NGO for me.
Working in Rio de Janeiro, I was able to put into practice much of what I had learned at university, but also to decide to attend a master's degree in international development soon after, to continue to improve the world, but in a more conscious way.
Living in Rio is unsurpassed, and Intern Brazil really took care of everything: thanks to Fernando, I had a really complete support and I arrived at the first day of work prepared and ready to get to work. Moreover, this experience was really useful for improving my curriculum: the non-governmental organization where I worked is one of the best known in Latin America, as well as in the world.
In short, I recommend Intern Brazil with all my heart !!!

Original Review:

Dopo un anno studiando in Brasile, ho avuto la possibilità di tornarci grazie a Intern Brazil, che mi ha aiutata a trovare una ONG perfetta per me.
Lavorando in Rio de Janeiro, ho potuto mettere in pratica molto di quello che avevo imparato all'università, ma anche decidermi a frequentare un master in sviluppo internazionale subito dopo, per continuare a migliorare il mondo, ma in modo più cosciente.
Vivere a Rio è insuperabile, e Intern Brazil si è occupata davvero di tutto: grazie a Fernando, ho avuto un supporto davvero completo e sono arrivata al primo giorno di lavoro preparata e pronta per mettermi al lavoro. Inoltre, questa esperienza è stata davvero utile per migliorare il mio curriculum: l'organizzazione non governativa dove lavoravo è una delle più note in America Latina, oltre che nel mondo.
Insomma, consiglio Intern Brazil con tutto il mio cuore!!!

What would you improve about this program?
Translated by Go Overseas:

nothing! it is really well thought out, and associated with top quality NGOs!!!

Original:

niente! è davvero ben pensato, e associato a ONG di prima qualità!!!

Default avatar
Andrew
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Internship - Curitiba Brazil

The mentors in Intern-Brazil were wonderful in assessing my potential career future. The interviews were fantastic exploring internship possibilities. Since, I already experienced some study abroad excursions in Brazil my knowledge of the country helped. This program does not lower the bar; the program tailors an internship specifically to your situation. My Portuguese was advanced and I had already worked in the soccer industry which helped the process! The coordinators will talk to you so frequently and give you great updates about the search. The internship itself is terrific and this will propel my career! I have always had a great admiration for the south of Brazil. Intern Brazil has a great network of contacts that helped me find an internship! Thank you Intern-Brazil!

What would you improve about this program?
Brazil is very complicated with bureaucratic documents. Some internships might need a carteira de trabalho or the internships themselves might not know what documents that you need. Everything is obtainable but it can be unorganized.
Default avatar
Isaac
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Review at Curitiba

I was part of the Intern Brazil program in Curitiba for the summer of 2017. The staff of the program was extremely helpful, very nice and accommodating. The only problem I had is that the company I was going to work for told me I was going to be a specific job but once I got there the actual job was completely different.

The staff of Intern Brazil organized trips and get together so we could meet the other interns and were very helpful when asked about the visiting spots near curitiba.

What would you improve about this program?
By looking more into the exact work the interns would be doing while in the program
Default avatar
Tatiana
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Uma Experiencia Incrivel | An Incredible Experience - Curitiba Brazil

From the first phone calls with the directors of the company to the last days at my internship, the team at Intern Brazil was supportive in every step of the process. Not only could you tell that the team truly cared about placing you in an internship that fit what you were looking to learn, but they also made that extra effort to make this experience as personal as possible. Intern Brazil picked me up from the airport and helped me accommodate to Curitiba the first day. As I had been to this city before and am half Brazilian, our conversations centered more on talking about the company and familiarizing myself with its practices and people.

I was placed in an internship that was geographically convenient to where I was staying, and fit the job skills that I was looking to develop. Throughout the entire experience, Intern Brazil, made sure to check in with me to make sure that everything was running smoothly. They truly aided with the professional development that I was searching for and even organized socials so that interns from different programs could meet each other. We took trips into the old parts of town and ate at local restaurants. That day listening to live bossa nova, eating feijoada and getting to know the interns in old Curitiba is definitely one of my favorite memories from this program.

I would definitely recommend this program to anyone looking to get a taste of a young professional life in Brazil with the help of a hands-on, competent and caring team. Throughout the course of this program you will get the chance to meet other interns exploring different career paths, experience a typical Brazilian office, better your professional and casual Portuguese, and broaden your international work experience in a country as vibrant as Brazil.

What would you improve about this program?
More communication with directors of the internships as to what exactly the roles of the interns will be.

Programs

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Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you choose this program?

I chose Intern-Brazil because I was interested in interning in a non-traditional country.

I have always had an interest in Brazil because in my home country it is very romanticized as this jungle, with beautiful people and amazing culture. At the same time, I think that the media can sometimes portray Brazil as unsafe.

Because of these two contradicting images, I wanted to go to Brazil to experience it myself.

What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

Intern-Brazil had the responsibility of finding the actual internship. Aside from the internship itself, I was on my own with the rest - visa, housing, flights, tickets, etc.

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

I would strongly recommend anyone who is considering to go to Brazil to take a Portuguese language course before going, or at least in some way obtain some knowledge of the language.

Knowing a little Portuguese will make your stay there much more pleasant, and I say this as a person who went with ZERO knowledge of the Portuguese language. Do not expect anyone to know English or Spanish in Brazil.

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

I had a part-time, unpaid internship so I worked Monday through Friday from 1 pm until 6 pm. I was given enough tasks to complete at the beginning of the week to keep me busy.

On a normal day, I would leave my apartment in the city center around 12:30 pm and walk my way to the office, which was in the other end of the city. On the way, I would see the most amazing skyscrapers and palm trees, which is a big deal for me, since I come from the cold North where such things do not exist!

When arriving at the office I would be briefed on what tasks I should focus on for that day and if any of them were more urgent than others. It would be different from day to day, depending on how many employees were in the office.

In between tasks, I would get offered a whole bunch of food from the employees and we would talk and have a good time in the laid-back environment. I interned in Brazil during the winter, and because the sun would go down around 5 pm when I got off work, my co-workers would always make sure that I arrived home safely.

During the weekends the girls at the office invited me to go to the cinema with them, go to lunch or to local markets.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

My biggest fear of interning in Brazil was definitely, as I mentioned, my safety. From the moment I arrived in Brazil, it was something that I was consistently concerned about.

The first two days I was scared to go to the supermarket during the day! I quickly learned that Brazil is just as safe as any European capital city, and luckily, my fears disappeared. I met so many amazing people who helped me overcome this fear and changed my views of Brazil for the better.

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Allan Ricardo Kotovei

Job Title
Information Flow Manager
Allan is a Brazilian dreamer, full of energy and nerve to go after what he wants. His creative side is one of the major characteristics displayed in everything he does.
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What is your favorite travel memory?

That's a really hard question, each travel memory has something really beautiful, interesting, or constructive, but I think my favorite travel memory is my first road trip. I was 21 years old and I felt the truly independence for the first time, sleeping on a tent at the river coast.

I was afraid of traveling big distances by my own or just with another young and inexperienced person, all this made me feel anxious and unconfident. But with this road trip everything changed, I had to do all the financial planning (it was just for 2 days, but I had never done this before), drive on dangerous roads, prepare the bed and food inside the tent in the cold (it was 8ºC), and asking for directions!

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

I would go to Florianópolis. I've been there on a road trip and it is an amazing place with lots of big and small businesses, it’s a really big city with a nice tropical climate surrounded by beaches everywhere.

Our program there is really complete, we have a great crew there and they are really committed. Personally I want to go there again, it's paradise. As an intern from our program, I honestly have no doubt that I would choose Florianopolis without hesitation. With this program, professional and personal development can be a really big, truly life-changing experience.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

I've been proud since the day I started working here, because we have an unique way to achieve our client's dreams. Our focus is on professional development, and we are the only Brazilian company that focuses on that, and actually, we are really good at doing this.

I love seeing the program's students smiling just for being here in Brazil and achieving their dreams.

This is one of the feedback that they gives that let's us know we're doing the right thing, which makes me feel proud of working here with this outstanding team full of teamwork and commitment.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Being a successful company is the result of mastering three major pillars:

- Knowledge - if you and your team can handle all the knowledge, information, and data provided by your stakeholders and processes, and can also improve your own skills and create more knowledge, you have one really strong pillar.
- Connection - the connection between you, your team, your clients and your providers needs to be really strong and fluid, you need to understand each other and have a healthy relationship, with trust and transparency, this helps the other two pillars a lot.
- Hard Work - if you have connection and knowledge, but you don’t have discipline, motivation, and goals, and do not work as much as you should, you will not succeed, you need to get things done and work hard!