Amazing experience with incredible NGO

I volunteered here for three months (April-July 2023) and it was honestly such an amazing and life-changing experience. I felt so welcomed by all the office staff, local educators and fellow volunteers. I feel very grateful for being able to contribute to the NGO's mission, even if I was only a very small part of it. I volunteered as part of my uni Year Abroad, I study Spanish so it was really the perfect placement because I was completely immersed in the language. Nicaragua is a complex country and I was hesitant to come at first because of what I had seen on the news, but I always felt safe and well looked-after. Volunteering with La Esperanza is also great because they allow you to tailor your experience around your interests, whether that's teaching a particular subject, working with a particular age group, or working on a particular area of NGO management. I was able to spend a lot of my time volunteering in the office, where I assisted with translation, administrative tasks such as the distribution of materials to the centres, promotion and volunteer recruitment. I got to really see how the organisation functions which was super interesting. They're a really well run organisation with a really meaningful impact. The organisation also helped me find a host family, which was definitely one of the highlights of the whole experience. I really loved living with a Nicaraguan family and I had such a lovely time with them. Granada itself is beautiful, it's a city but still pretty small and its easy to get around. It's very lively with lots of bars and restaurants etc. Also it has good bus routes so you can visit other cities, volcanoes, lagoons, beaches etc on the weekends.