YMCA Colombia

Why choose YMCA Colombia?

Founded in 1844, the YMCA operates in 120 countries around the world and has been in Colombia for 57 years empowering young people and impacting communities. We are present in 14 departments of Colombia, with almost 400 employees, over 900 Colombian volunteers, and 100 outreach and bilingual programs.

Website

ymcacolombia.org

Founded

1964

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Community Photos

In a YMCA Meeting with new Colombian volunteers.

Reviews

I have now been working as a Cultural Agent in Bogota for 3 weeks, and my experience thus far has been excellent. I live with a wonderful host family, and help with english instruction at a public school in Bogotá. Thus far, the family I live with has been extremely warm and welcoming, and I highly recommend choosing to live with a local family to fully immerse yourself in the culture. It is also very rewarding working with students and helping them improve their english skills. I must also mention that Colombia is an incredibly beautiful country, both the people and the landscape. Further, the YMCA Colombia organization is well-run, and offers really good support for all its Cultural Agents. I am having an amazing time in Bogotá, and would certainly recommend working with YMCA Colombia and the CoLead3rs program.

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?

My most nerve-racking moment was my first day in charge of students, as I was solely responsible for leading the activities and games we played. I had never worked with students before in an academic setting, but it was much less stressful than I imagined. It’s a very positive environment (at the school) and I believe anyone who puts in the effort and planning can successfully lead students.

Pros

Cultural exchange and immersion with host family
Working with students (very rewarding and uplifting)
Colombia (amazing country!!!)

Cons

Culture shock upon arrival
The school can be a bit disorganized, so you must be flexible and ready to adapt each day
Language barrier

I was working in Valledupar, Colombia. I worked at Areandina University. It is a good school and a nice town in Colombia. It's right next to the Sierra Nevada mountains, which ar 6000m mountains. The University offers a spectacular view of these mountains!

There is also the Guatapuri river, which is a great place to escape the heat during the day. Many locals flock here on days off.

I was working with the YMCA Col3aders program. The YMCA is very well organized and were quick to offer help and support. They provided a host family in a good location with at a very reasonable cost.

I recomend this program to anyone who is considering teaching or to someone interested in cultural exchange!

I've been volunteering as a cultural agent at the Areandina University of Pereira last semester with YMCA Colombia and it's been a wonderful experience. Teaching languages to university students plus teaching English to kids in vulnerable public schools has been quite a challenge and success as well. If I had the chance to participate again in the future I would have done it without second thought. Many useful lessons can be taught by a foreigner to a Colombian and vice-versa with YMCA Colombia, I strongly recommend this program!

What was your funniest moment?

Being the social media star of the University i taught languages!

At first, I thought I couldn't manage travelling all over the city day and night, working in a school and university then hanging out with friends all within the same day... but I could! It was incredibly exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. I learnt so much from the day to day because I was able to live within a different culture from day to day where I was able to improve my overall skillset, including in subjects I didn't even think I'd be good at.
This was an experience that not many people get to do in this world and I would suggest it to anyone who wants to obtain a better, more holistic worldview.

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?

Navigating my new city and host family I lived with. It required patience, compromise and thoughtfulness to get the most out of it. I noticed that Bogotá was an culturally rich place but with many problems surrounding the society, but with the right encouragement and company, it really brought the city to life for me.

Pros

Easy access to cheap, nice food
Parties. I love a party and Colombia does it well.
Helpful people. I had situations where people would go out of their way to help me without me asking.

Cons

Experienced some unsavoury, quite strange and difficult people that I needed to avoid quickly.
Relatively expensive to the rest of Colombia.
Such a huge city that it took long to navigate and was quite polluted.

The YMCA COLead3ers program is a cool program in which you will have a unique insight into Colombia. You will be sent to different schools where you will play games with the children. The idea behind it is that you speak English with the children and they realize that it is an important language for international relations. You also help the teachers to manage the huge classes, which consist of 40-50 children. The work was sometimes quite difficult for me as I don't speak Spanish and the children's/teachers' English is usually very poor. Generally speaking, very few people in Colombia can speak English.
However, the YMCA staff are very friendly and eager to help you!

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