Best Rated Volunteer Abroad Programs in Latin America

I have only good things to say about Maximo Nivel, who I accidently discovered through GlobalVolunteerNetwork.com. After 2.5 weeks in their Antigua, Guatemala spanish classes, and 2 weeks in the volunteer program to work with children, I have had a wonderful experience learning more of this second language, and felt useful to the childrens' program. In a very "User-friendly" environment, and with well-organized, friendly, and helpful staff, I have had much success in learning as much as possible during my time here. In addition, the different volunteer programs that I have heard of, as well as the one that I was involved in, seem to be as well organized as possible, and once again, friendly staff walked me through the first day and provided resources and ideas throughout the rest of my volunteer time.

Centrally located in Antigua, with plenty of resources just around each corner, Maximo Nivel maintains an extensive schedule of group and private lessons, as well as tandem learning programs with native Guatemalan Spanish -speakers, and lots of extracurricular activities to encourage interaction with other native speakers and other students as well. The classes are small and manageable, and the teachers make the learning interesting and fun, and applicable to our daily activities with constant conversations and dialogue. I believe that my homestay is truly special with a family that has welcomed me and invited me to participate in family activities and meals. And everything has gone precisely according to the scheduling at Maximo Nivel! I appreciate the structure and the employees ability to maintain it! I am planning to travel to Cusco, Peru next year to enroll in more Spanish classes with Maximo Nivel, and to participate in another volunteer program. This was truly a trip of a lifetime for me!

I had a great experience at my program "Rosa de Amor" teaching English. I was on my own in the class so I had the opportunity to get to know all the girls in the orphanage. I had all support from Maximo and Guinness travel when I decide to organized an excursion to the zoo with some of the kids.

I had the opportunity to work in a free clinic in a small town. It was the perfect experience for me to practice my Spanish with patients. I was able to triage all the patients prior to seeing the doctor, including taking brief histories and physicals. Following, I would join the doctor during her visits. We would work together to make an appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan. She was very helpful in pointing out interesting physical findings and explaining cultural differences in both lifestyle and medicine. I also had the opportunity to work in the pharmacy and vaccination clinic. Working in the pharmacy was a great time for me to learn about the different medications available, appropriate dosing, and common side effects. It was also great practice giving consultations to patients about appropriate use of medications.

It is amazing how one week can change your life forever. However, for me, it happened in one second. When I walked through the gates on day 1 and witnessed 3 young children SPRINTING into the arms of some young twenty-something, with the biggest smile I had ever seen, I was changed. They were running towards me. How important and big does this make one small person feel? The emotions running through my body in that one minute are indescribable.

I am home now, but that lightening bolt is still charged. I am applying to graduate schools-- I thought I would never want to go back to school. I am a already signed up for my next mission trip. I am going to help make this world a better place. I want to spread this electric feel-- this life changing experience has got me changing lives.

Thinking about volunteering in Guatemala with disabilities?

If so, you've found the right place! I have spent the last month volunteering through the Antigua Guatemala program at an orphanage for children with disabilities. If you are thinking about volunteering with children who have disabilities, know that your experience will be challenging and rewarding at the same time.

My daily activities mainly involved doing Physical Therapy exercises for the children at my orphanage as well as helping the nannies with other small tasks.

Initially, I was extremely overwhelmed by the thought of being responsible for therapy sessions with the kids and it took me a week or two to gain confidence in what I was doing. However, I found that the most helpful opportunity was to be able to attend one of the Physical Therapy appointments for the children so that I could see what their therapists were doing with each child and then perform those exercises on a day-to-day basis at the orphanage. I would strongly recommend that anyone volunteering to do therapy with disabled children asks the nannies of the orphanage to arrange this.

If your Spanish is limited, I would strongly recommend learning simple commands like "take off your shoes please", "sit down", "stand up", "be gentle", "come here", and "no more" in Spanish. Even if the kids you are working with are non-verbal, they understand Spanish and will listen to you. It is also very important to know basic body parts (arms, legs, stomach, back, feet, hands) and to know how to ask "does this hurt" or "does this cause you pain?".

It is also extremely helpful to bring a stopwatch (one on your cell phone will suffice) to help time how long each child can weight-bear or hold a position on their own. Some kids are extremely motivated simply by knowing how long they have been standing, stretching etc. and will try to beat their own goals.

One of the biggest highlights of my experience was forming relationships with the children at my orphanage. Even though only one child at my orphanage had a vocabulary that was larger than 2 or 3 words, it was so rewarding when the children began to recognize me and smile at me. These simple relationships taught me the beauty of communication without words.

One of the biggest difficulties for me was simply not being able to communicate with the children's caretakers and not knowing what each child's diagnosis was. I was able to work towards resolving these problems by learning Spanish while in Guatemala and by asking the nannies at the specific orphanage what their diagnoses were. Doing research on how to best work with a child with Downs Syndrome, versus a child with Autism, versus a child with Cerebral Palsy was extremely beneficial as well.

Last but not least, dont be afraid to ask for help. If your placement's staff sees that you are a hard worker and are taking initiative, they will trust you more and be more willing to help you.

This has been the most amazing experience of my life, as it was the first. The people have been great, and they have done everything possible to keep me comfortable throughout my stay. My most satisfying moments are when the children ask to stay behind and learn more, and give me a hug goodbye. These kids are now a part of my family, and I am very sad to leave. I hope that Maximo Nivel in the future will have a higher reach to change the lives of these children. I look forward to being a part of that progress

My partner and I spent a total of 8 weeks with Maximo in Antigua, and we had a fantastic time. We took one-on-one spanish lessons through their school (myself with Evelyn and my partner with Willy) and we highly recommend both of them to anyone who is thinking of taking lessons. I went from basically no spanish to being able to hold my own in conversation fairly well.

The staff at Maximo are absolutely superb. We had so much help from Madeline, Lori, Victor and Nancy in our time there, they were always professional, friendly and willing to help answer any questions we had. The facilities are great too, it's a very nice place to hang out if you don't have much going on during the day. The social scene around Maximo is very active and it's easy to make great friends.

Maximo set us up to volunteer with a partner organisation called As Green As It Gets doing eco agricultural work in nearby San Miguel Escobar, and through them we had a really fantastic volunteering experience. I feel like if you want to make as positive an impact as possible while in Guatemala, ask the staff at Maximo to set you up with As Green As It Gets.

We were involved in all sorts of interesting work with AGAIG - from going with the farmers during harvest and picking coffee cherries and caring for their crops, to construction of renewable energy biodigestors for the farmers, to the production and marketing process of the coffee and even external fundraising. We worked hard and really felt like part of the AGAIG family and the San Miguel Escobar coffee coop.

I will say this though, do not expect to slack off. It is very hard work - lots of early morning treks up Volcan Agua to the farmers' individual farms, lots of shovelling and machete-ing and hauling cement and block for construction. You will get tired, sore and sweaty, and you will get blisters and cuts and bruises. If you are the kind of person that rocks up to things late, this is not the program for you - because if you are dragging your feet then you are adversely affecting the farmer's productivity and not helping anybody. Expect to work hard and be on time. Give it your all and I guarantee it will be a mutually beneficial experience for you, and the people you are there to help.

We stayed in a homestay organised by Maximo with a Guatemalan lady named Claudia - it was really fantastic. We really felt like part of the family, and were included in all of the festive holidays and birthdays that went on while we were there. The food was great and Claudia and her family were very accomodating and flexible with our coming and going.

While in our homestay there was a minimum of 4 volunteers total and a maximum of 7, so it's a fairly cosy low-key place to stay compared to some of the other Maximo places which housed up to 20 volunteers. If you're less into partying and more the quiet type, ask Maximo to put you somewhere like Claudia's. It's quieter for sure, but still social - we made plenty of good friends in our two months there.

The altitude struck in Peru. This meant that a friend and I were waking up in the early hours of the morning. We had been given the contact information of the staff at Maximo and decided we would phone someone. They were very helpful in getting us a doctor and making sure that we were sorted out. We have been with Maximo for 6 weeks and the staff have been incredible throughout.