See below for a selection of sample placements in Córdoba City, Argentina.

Please note that volunteer students must use their initiative for all the below-mentioned jobs. There are set assignments that can be full-time, and others that last 3-4 hours per day. Therefore volunteers should be adaptable to the hours required.

Education :: Social/Healthcare :: Nature

Education Where Needed - Teaching of English, care & lots of fun

Education Where Needed started in 1991 as a tiny kindergarten in order to care for young children while their mothers were working. Since then the project has grown a lot and has become an educational center, offering important communitarian services. Today, during the mornings, it functions as a day-care for more than 50 children in the age of 1 to 3 years old. In the afternoons, it is a kind of shelter for approximately 25 children between the ages of 6 to 14 years old. All children in the neighborhood can enjoy a variety of workshops such as art, handcrafts and homework support. This last workshop may seem insignificant at first sight, but it is very important because it helps the children as well as the teachers in their school progress. Last but not least, they offer a handcraft-workshop for women and mothers. In this workshop, they teach women how to knit and sew, among other important crafts. The project would really like to develop a new (and extremely needed) workshop for the children: English classes.

The volunteer’s commitment to the project is of a minimum of 4 weeks and there is place for 1 volunteer during the mornings and 1 during the afternoons.

Children, Art & Science - Assisting in a museum especially designed for children

Children, Art & Science: This project is run in a museum for children, where they can play and learn about science, their bodies and the world they are living in. The museum was founded as a creative and pedagogical alternative for children in Córdoba City. Besides providing games, it teaches the children the basics about physics, art and culture. The museum also tries to show the children some worldwide problems, like for example pollution. The main goal of the museum is the transmission of knowledge, values and skills through the use of educational, pedagogical and creative games. There is great emphasis on the interaction between the children themselves and between the children and the staff. This way of knowledge transmission is irreplaceable. To achieve continuous interaction with all the children (also with the little ones) it is necessary for the staff members and the volunteers to offer constant attention, care and guidance to the visiting children.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 6 weeks and volunteers should at least have an intermediate level of Spanish. There is place for 2 volunteers at the same time.

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A Place to Play - Teaching, helping & assisting in an impoverished neighbourhood

This project started 12 years ago to provide educational support to children living in Las Violetas neighborhood. One of its main goals is to make good education accessible for everybody, no matter their financial status. These days it is a professional day-care, officially recognized by the government; it has a center for teenagers that offer them workshops and leisure time activities; the project also offers homework support to the children who need it. The project tries to finance itself and it is also supported by other non-governmental organizations.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 4 weeks. Volunteers (1 at the time) can help in the day-care during the mornings and one volunteer can help in the workshops for the teenagers, which take place in the afternoons.

An English School - Helping in a professional environment

The project is a private institute and is very interested in working with volunteers, thus receiving people from far and different countries around the world would not only create an opportunity to share the Argentinean culture, customs and traditions but also to learn from theirs. The idea of this project is to receive young and enthusiastic people who are native speakers or have a good level of English in order to act as helping teachers in our classes. As the lesson plans will be shared with the teacher in charge of the class, this could be a very fruitful experience for those who are planning to work in the field of teaching. The children attend classes twice a week after school and their ages go from 6 to 18, but the school teaches adults as well. The staff is made of people who love working as a team in a very friendly atmosphere.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 6 weeks and knowledge of Spanish is not required.

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Little Shoelaces - A professional day-care centre for children

This private day-care offers, besides daily care while children’s parents are working, all kinds of workshops to the children such as workshops about music, nature, introduction to science, English and a weekly workshop about how to express themselves using their own little body. The 180 children are divided in a morning and an afternoon group and every child stays for about 4 hours per day at the day-care. The mission of this day-care center is to educate the children in a warm and cosy environment so that they can become independent, self-confident and happy people.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 8 weeks and volunteers should have at least an intermediate level of Spanish. Volunteers who have work-related experience will be truly welcome. This project is not located in an impoverished neighborhood.

Our Grandparents' Home - Helping & taking care of the elderly

Our Grandparents’ Home is a private home for the elderly, located in a quiet neighborhood of Córdoba City. It’s situated in a large house with a big garden in order to create a warm atmosphere. Here, about 20 grandparents find their daily care and, of course, someone to share the Argentinean mate. The main vision of the home is to provide the elderly with a place where they can enjoy the next steps of their lives in a harmonious atmosphere.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 8 weeks and volunteers should at least have an Intermediate level of Spanish. There is place for 1 volunteer at the same time.

Home For The Children - Playing, educating & caring for children

Often mistaken for an orphanage, this home was originally founded in March 1960 by Jorge Powell and his wife Myriam as a place for all children who needed a place to grow in a safe environment since they had nowhere else to go. It started with only 3 children who found their refugee in the cosy houses of Cruz Chica, nowadays there are 25 children who live there permanently. The caregivers have changed over time, but the altruist spirit of the day-care is still the same. Volunteers can help with the daily care and education of all the children. Activities like helping the children get dressed, playing with them, helping the older ones with their homework, teaching basic English and helping the local volunteers with the laundry (which is a big task, remember that there are 25 children!) are some of the things volunteers will do.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 8 weeks and volunteers can stay there since this home has its own accommodation for the staff! Since it is located in the mountains, nature-lovers will be surely overwhelmed by the beautiful surroundings. There is place for 3 female and 1 male volunteer at the same time.

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Salt & Light - A community centre which inspires people in a variety of ways

The project Salt & Light is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides several services and protection to that part of Cordoba’s population that suffers from (severe) poverty. The main objective of the people who work in this project is to foster a sense of dignity, transmitting a feeling of self-assurance. Most of all; they want to provide the population of the neighborhood with tools and knowledge, so that they can improve their own situation. The complete program of Salt & Light consists of a variety of programs such as: a food program, a small but skilled factory of pastas, a second-handed clothes shop, workshops and a day-care for about 70 children.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 4 weeks and volunteers are welcome to help everywhere. Professionals are also welcome to set up a new workshop while they are volunteering. Knowledge of Spanish is not exclusive, but it does help to make your experience a lot easier and unforgettable. There can be 3 volunteers at the same time, helping in different areas.

Just Enjoy & Learn - A day-care, school & recreation centre for the disabled

This project has been recognized by the government and it has been created for people who are mentally and/or physically disabled. It has a professional day care, a school (primary and high school), a recreation center as well as professional workshops. The students that attend this center participate actively in the society and present exhibitions, for example, in art galleries all over Córdoba City. Apart from the educational and recreational areas, the center also delivers lectures and provides information to families and caregivers of disabled people in order to erase the society’s stereotypes about disability and to help the family and caregivers understand their reality.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 8 weeks and volunteers should at least have an intermediate level of Spanish. There is just 1 placement at the same time in this wonderful project.

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On My Own - A home which teaches disabled teenagers to live independently

This organization is a home which provides disabled teenagers with education and recreational activities in order to teach them how to live on their own. Although all the residents are mentally (and some of them also physically) disabled, the approach adopted tries to show society that having a disability doesn’t mean that a person can’t work and live on his or her own. The house is professionally led by a psychotherapist and a psycho-educationist who are really passionate for their work. The home has a warm and harmonious atmosphere and besides being an educational home, it is also a day-care for those disabled who do not have the possibility to stay at home all day. None of the residents lives indefinitely at the home because the main goal is that every one of the teenagers could some day say: “Now I can live on my own”.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 12 weeks and volunteers should be able to speak Spanish at an intermediate level. Here can volunteer 2 participants at the same time.

Our Kitchen - Helping cooking the daily meal in an impoverished neighbourhood

Having lived and still undergoing themselves the difficult results of Argentina’s crisis in 2001, a group of mothers in Ignacio Díaz neighborhood in Córdoba decided to open a big soup kitchen to all the neighbors who where suffering hunger. What they didn’t know was that their decision would lead to giving food to more than 280 children, teenagers, adults and the elderly. The project is quite professional but has few financial resources which are reflected in the material with which they work. It is a lovely & lively group of mothers which have to cook for an enormous group of persons and, therefore need a (international) helping hand. The children eat at the projects; the adults take their meal to their homes. After dinner the children can attend workshops.

Since this project is located in a very impoverished neighborhood, the minimum age is 22 years old and there is a minimum commitment of 4 weeks. The cooking takes place during the afternoons and around 18.00 they distribute all the meals. Two volunteers are more than welcome to help with chopping vegetables!

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Catching Dreams - A professional bakery which gives hope & work opportunities to the disabled

While the disabled are still fighting to gain a place within the Argentinean society, this project shows a great example of how goodwill can create a workplace, giving the disabled dignity and at the same time providing food to the neighborhood. A group of 15 (multiple) disabled youngsters work every day in a professional bakery in an impoverished neighborhood and sell their bread to all their neighbors. In this way, they create their own refunds which give them the possibility to take a sport class once a week and to organize small excursions and trips. They are assisted by some volunteer-mums and bake the best bread you have ever tasted. The people who work at this project like laughing and sharing nice moments with each other; an example of this is that while they are preparing the bread they sing loudly along with the radio. Volunteers can help with everything they are interested and will surely adapt quickly due to the great atmosphere at the project. They say for example that they are not disabled but that they have special abilities, which is in fact quite true!

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 4 weeks and volunteers who speak a little Spanish are also very welcome, but there is just place for one at the same time.

A Good Old Day - Instead of growing old on the streets, the elderly find here a warm place to live

This project was set up by a couple who, more than 30 years ago, got in contact with the elderly who were living in the streets for a variety of reasons. They were so touched by this image and shocked at the thought that those elderly had nowhere to go that they decided to “adopt” them. Since then they have had many guests in their house. Nowadays, only Osvaldo is working for the elderly, since his beloved wife has passed away at the beginning of this year. The project opens its doors to all those elderly who have no place to go and who need special attention and some extra love. Volunteers can help with their care and friendship; they can also help with the meals and other household tasks.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 4 weeks and it is really important that the volunteers enjoy working with the elderly. The people at this home are vulnerable for the, sometimes horrible, pasts they have lived but they and the project enjoy receiving foreign volunteers and the person in charge, Osvaldo, is truly inspiring. There is place for 2 volunteers at the same time.

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Plants, Food & Hope - More than just a vegetable garden; an opportunity to help the needy

Plants, Food & Hope is a project of a NGO in Córdoba City. This is a small backyard in an impoverished neighborhood, which is used as a vegetable garden. Three families live from the crops of that little garden, and the idea is that they also help weed and maintain the garden. The owner of that backyard is an older man with a poor physical condition and the families, who have to work to earn some money, can’t maintain this beautiful garden. That’s why volunteers are needed to help them. The volunteer is done in the outskirts of the city, in a middle to low class neighborhood. Working in this project will help the volunteer understand a lot about Argentina, Argentineans and their culture.

The volunteer's commitment to the project is of a minimum of 4 weeks and having previous experience in keeping a vegetable garden would be great! There are two volunteers’ vacancies at the same time, so green fingers are more than welcome!

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