Projects Abroad Volunteer Programs in Argentina

The marketing for this program is slightly misleading. The descriptions portray an in-depth and first-hand experience working with doctors. Unfortunately this is not the case, most of the work was observational. To be fair, unless you are a trained medical professional, I wouldn't want you making decisions about my health either. The program does put you in the hospital, and for a go-getter personality, you can interact with the doctors; asking questions, learning about the healthcare system, and the public health concerns of the community. I found that aspect incredibly rewarding.

Everything is in Spanish, you don't need to be confident, but it helps if you can put together sentences. After spending two months there my ability to listen to Spanish increased tremendously. The Projects Abroad Staff do speak English, but why deny yourself this great opportunity. The first time I realized I was having a conversation and not 'thinking' about the words was an amazing moment!

As of the time this post is written, the medical program is not a high level of time commitment (only half day). The current coordinator is working to augment the community service component and opportunities to make more busy work. I found the people of Cordoba to be very friendly and easy to make friends. Additionally, if you have the motivation, you can find additional ways to get involved with the community (for example, I was working with AIDS Health Foundation Argentina). There is always something to do, and the night life is insane (starts at 2AM goes till 6AM)!

The program does offer housing, insurance, and guaranteed food from your host family. However, the traditional style foods or Argentina lack variety. After a few weeks, your flavor palate will crave something different, so be prepared because sometimes you may want to treat yourself to ice cream, beer, coffee, or a full-dinner.

Lastly the tourism part, it is very much doable, at your own expense. The country is HUGE and there is a lot to see. The most cost effective means of travel is bus, but expect half-a-day journey just to arrive. If you choose to fly the cost adds up, but it can be very quick. I choose to do a bus overnighter as the seats are semi-cama (half-beds) and lay flatter than an economy airplane seat. This saved on the cost of hotel for a night and mitigated travel times.

I had a great experience in Argentina with Projects Abroad. They were very helpful and easy to reach out to if I ever needed anything. I met some other volunteers who I worked with throughout my stay so it was really cool to be able to get to know people from other parts of the world. I also had some free time everyday after my volunteering in which I explored some of the city a little bit everyday. I enjoyed being able to have that free time outside of volunteering.

Volunteering in Cordoba, Argentina through Projects Abroad was an amazing experience! I specifically chose to go to Argentina because I had prior interest in Spanish and South American culture. Growing up as a huge football fan, I idolized Messi and was immediately drawn to Argentina when I found that they had the placement I wanted. My project was a two week high school special for medicine and spanish. By being in a high school special, my parents were reassured that I would be safe at all times, and I was also relieved that I would be with others since I came to Argentina knowing very little Spanish. Projects Abroad staff was amazing, and all of my questions before and during my trip were answered promptly.
I was picked up at the hospital and taken to my host family. Even with my minimal spanish knowledge, I was comfortable and became friends with my fellow volunteers. The doctors I shadowed were kind, and I learned a lot during my time there. Also, we did many outside activities such as salsa dancing and shopping at the flea market that made me connect to local Argentinian culture. I found my trip to be meaningful and still one of the greatest things I’ve done.
Volunteering abroad teaches you the differences between American culture and other cultures. Even in hospitals, I can now appreciate the advances the United States has compared to developing countries, and I will take this knowledge with me as I continue into college and further studies. Everyone that entered with an open mind succeeded in Argentina. Overall, I would definitely recommend volunteering through Projects Abroad. While it was expensive, I felt that the experience was meaningful and worth the money. Time really flew by but I loved every day I spent there.

During my time at Projects abroad, I had the opportunity to both participate in the medical project, and partially the human rights project. This was not my first time going abroad, however if it had been, I would have found the support staff of projects abroad to be more than sufficient. One of the nicest things to have when traveling is someone to meet and guide you from the airport. Projects abroad staff was there from the beginning at the airport and helped to get me comfortable with the city of Cordoba. While I interacted with my mentor during the medical project every day, it was rare to actually coordinate something during my six weeks with the medical staff at projects abroad. This was probably due to being the only medical volunteer for around 4 weeks. My normal day consisted of waking up around 7 and being by the bus stop around 730. Arriving at the hospital around 830, I would then observe 2-3 operations, and ask questions whenever I liked. Afterwards I would go home where my family would have lunch ready for me. During the night, I would then be free to do as I like. Often that would be going on to participate in the human rights project, where we would interact with homeless populations. This was often one of my favorite times because it meant I was able to interact with the local population in a new way. The projects abroad staff with the human rights project were extremely active with the activities. This actually was one of my favorite parts of my time in Argentina. Other volunteers were interesting to interact with as they brought many other perspectives, cultures, and languages to the table. The time spent with them felt much like the time on my exchange. The culture of argentina was also interesting to interact with as an American, and I learned a lot about how to be more relaxed with my time. It was also an adaptation to become accustomed the food or Argentina, which is very different to that in the US. Overall, it was a great experience, and I learned a lot about my future career, and own culture during my time with Projects abroad.

I loved the month that I got to spend in Cordoba, Argentina working on the High School Special Law & Human Rights. We focused on two main projects- working with an NGO that works with the homeless of Cordoba to express themselves creatively as well as a residential care center for boys. Both of these activities were very meaningful. Some of my favorite memories from the trip were getting to meet the people at both of these activities, for example, working with one homeless man to create a poem or playing soccer at the park with the boys. I felt like, even though we were only in high school, we were still able to make a real difference with the help of our coordinators. In addition to these projects, another main aspect of our project was learning about human rights, particularly in Argentina. We got to learn about the dictatorship period in Argentina, and we even got the opportunity to visit two detention centers and speak to a survivor from one of them, which was an amazing experience. We also took daily Spanish lessons, got to live with a host family to further improve our Spanish and did several activities such as cooking and dancing lessons as well as visited several interesting places such as Che Guevara's house and beautiful mountainside hikes to learn more about the local culture. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it!

My Project Abroad trip was unfortunately only a week long. I think it was the best experience I could have asked for. I feel very lucky to have been part of this program. We spent 4 days shadowing a doctor and watching surgeries in a local hospital which was an amazing experience. We also spent a day in an underprivileged community performing diabetes screenings to help raise awareness. Probably my favorite day involved dissection of a cadaver at a local anatomy museum. The projects abroad staff was there every step of the way to help with anything we needed. I think that if you are the edge of applying for this program, you should. It was one of the best weeks of my life and was worth every cent.

I chose the medical volunteering project in Argentina, and haven't looked back since! It was a wonderful experience, and my only regret is not staying longer! Volunteering in the hospital isn't particularly hands on if you're not a medical student or don't have medical experience (obviously), but you do get hands-on experience in community education aspects. I also volunteered in the human rights area as well, which was extremely hands on and very rewarding. There is also a lot of flexibility, which I really enjoyed. During the week, we were able to explore Cordoba, and during the weekend, we were able to explore Argentina, and even some other countries like Chile and Uruguay! I had the most incredible experience, and would absolutely do it all again if I had the chance.

Even with the lack of resources, and increased obstacles, the doctors continued to be extremely passionate in providing the best care possible. They would often take time to lecture parents to change their lifestyles for the betterment of their child’s health (ex. quit smoking so they can afford soap). Those five weeks taught me how passionate I want to be as a future healthcare provider.
When my time in Argentina was quickly coming to an end, I became saddened by having to leave my Kinesiology family at the hospital. Till this day I miss the eleven students that became my close friends, who taught me about life in Argentina and life in the health care world. I gained a Mother in the hospital as well, Pato, the head of the Kinesiology department, who took care of me while I was sick and taught me the importance of passion. It is comforting to know I will always have family in Argentina.
I plan to return to Argentina to visit my Kinesiology family, and I already know that some of them have booked trips to visit me this coming January.