Healthcare San Jose Costa Rica- Amazing experience for 1 week

I did the healthcare program in San Jose Costa Rica and absolutely loved it. It was the perfect combination of work and play as the placements were about 4 hours per day. The Maximo Nivel staff was so supportive once I was in the country. I was a little nervous in the beginning because I only had a week to make an impact and experienced a degree of culture shock on my first day here. However, after the orientations, meeting my host family, and the arrival of another volunteer, I felt right at home. I did not feel unsafe at any point of my program and was well prepared. It may seem as though you are heading into your program slightly blind, but you get all of the information you need as soon as you are picked up from the airport and taken to your host family. All the other volunteers are wonderful and you are all in different points of your journey so you can learn from each other. Even though I only volunteered for one week, I got to know the employees of the volunteer well and am so grateful to have met them.

In my opinion, you should have a basic level of Spanish speaking ability if you are coming for a short time. It makes the world of a difference in connecting with patients and your placement staff.

I highly recommend this experience to anybody looking to volunteer abroad in a meaningful and fun way!