See below for a selection of sample placements in Maceió, Brazil.

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 :: Other

Primary School

This is a non-profit elementary school that provides extra activities for very poor children of the neighborhood. It has recently started and adds on a new class every year. There are 3 classes now, with children from 6-9 years old. Volunteers can teach English to the children, or develop educational/ recreational activities.

Aide to Street Children

An NGO that works with street children and people from a poor local community. It’s a highly organised NGO with both a central branch where they help mostly children who are addicted to sniffing glue, and a kindergarten in a very poor community. Volunteers can choose to work with street children at the central branch or with the younger children at the Kindergarten. Activities include teaching basic English, hygiene, music, arts or sports, and assisting with school work.

Orphanages

There are several orphanages in the Maceió area that receive volunteers. In the orphanage for girls, only female volunteers can participate, and the orphanage for boys only accepts male volunteers. One of the orphanages cares for children while they are in the process of being adopted. Volunteers are mostly needed to teach English to them. Two other orphanages receive children during the week, but they go home to their (extremely poor) parents on weekends. Volunteers help with homework, teaching English, arts, music or play sports with them.

Cancer Hospital

This hospital specialises in treating children with all types of cancer and adults with leukemia. The infrastructure of the building is designed to make the patients as comfortable as possible, and they try to create a family-like atmosphere. They assist around 300 children and their families. Volunteers can work in teaching, organising events, giving arts or computer classes, cleaning or helping with recreational activities. Volunteers can also assist in keeping the family of a child company while he or she undergoes treatment. Volunteers with a healthcare background and a high level of Portuguese can also help with campaigns to provide medical and psychological treatment for children with cancer and with first assessment of cancer patients. An intake interview is required before starting this placement. The placement is located about 35 minutes travelling (walking and by bus) away.

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Tourism - Travel Agency

A medium-sized travel agency. The agency has offices in two different neighbourhoods in Maceió city. Tasks involve all aspects of tourism: designing marketing information, answering client questions, selling tours, etc.

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