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My Family and I Want to Volunteer in a Safe Latin American Country. Any Tips?

Dear Rolf,

My family and I want to travel abroad, but my overriding concern is the safety of my wife and kids. I’m a former pro baseball player and my wife is a teacher. Our two kids are 6 and 8. We want to teach/volunteer in Central/South America. It seems everyone is going to Costa Rica. I’ve heard very good things about Panama. I really like the Pacific Coast. We dream of finding a safe and welcoming area for all of us. Any recommendations?

-- George

Dear George,

I highly recommend travel and expat living with your family. It’ll be a great experience for your kids.

As for where to go, there are plenty of options. I wouldn’t worry about politics. People the world over seem to like Americans on a one-on-one basis, geopolitics aside. And traditional cultures tend to be even more welcoming when you have kids in tow. Just be friendly and curious (while taking the normal commonsense precautions) and you should be fine.

In Central America, Costa Rica is indeed popular, but I might recommend Panama or Nicaragua. Both countries are mad for baseball, and a lot of Americans live there (yet not too many, as it feels sometimes in Costa Rica). With your wife’s teaching qualifications and your pro baseball background, I’m sure you can find a great spot.

What I might recommend, before you make specific plans, is to take a couple weeks off and visit Central America just for fun. Go to Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua by car or bus. Talk to people living and working there, and basically have a good time. After those two or so weeks, you’ll have a much better sense for what you want to do, and where you want to do it!

Columnist Rolf Potts is the author of Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel.

Send your questions to . If you want to know whether Rolf has already answered your questions, see the Ask Rolf archive.

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* Samantha Brown’s Travel Guides to Latin America

I do have to agree, Panamanians and Nicaraguans love baseball. But here in Costa Rica, kids are very open to learning new things and are certainly *very* open to meeting new people—especially people who are willing to take time out of their lives and come to volunteer.

I run a non-profit volunteer organization and we had a family take an RV down from Canada recently. At first when they told me they were going to do that, I thought they were out of their minds. But they had an absolutely amazing time.

They saw beautiful (and shocking) things along the way and really enjoyed themselves. But what they say they most benefited from was the opportunity to slow down and to get to really know the people, the cultures and truly experience what they were seeing instead of having a sort of drive-by or really, fly-through, vacation.

No doubt you’ll have a great time no matter where you end up. Central America is a wonderful place. I also agree with Rolf when he says not to worry about the politics. Just enjoy the ride.

If baseball is important, Costa Rica and Panama are good destinations but they are crowded with Americans, both tourists and expats.

If you want to go further south, where seasons are reversed, forget baseball and immerser yourself in futbol, where Spanish is nearly pure, live in a very advanced society (think healthcare for everyone) with a booming economy and low crime, look at Chile. Santiago comes with European living at bargain prices, with majestic mountains, great seafood, produce, wines (check your local store), national parks and little population once you get out of the big city.
I also like Buenos Aires and Argentina, although it is very flat for hundreds of kilometers until you reach the foot of the Andes, for the same reason as Chile but the economic and political situations in Argentina are a little more unpredictable.

And forget Nicaragua. It is becoming a little Colombia.

Hi, I would recommend Belize for english speaking volunteer. Not the capital Belize city, which is not so safe, but some other places in the rural area or smaller cities. Like in Toledo district in south, there is need for volunteers in the maya villages. There is school called Tumul K’in center of learning for example.

Nicaragua is a great place for voluntourism. My co-author and I list many opportunities in our books (Living Abroad in Nicaragua and Moon Nicaragua) and host an entire thread devoted to volunteering in Nicaragua on our website, gotonicaragua.com

Suerte!

Have a look at http://www.volunteerlatinamerica.com

Hi,
Having spent months at a time in Nicaragua, I say there is no place like it.  As for baseball, you have to see how the men from the mountains travel all day once a week on Sunday to play.  Also in Jinoteca, the Police National have a great team and they are wonderful regular family guys. 
If you really want to see Nicaragua stay away from the “big “ towns.  People are very down to earth and I have found always friendly.  I know my visits there have surly made my life much richer.  Cindy

do u want to teach in small village in africa (ghana)
see http://www.orphantec.cfsites.org

Volunteers wanted to help teach in a small village school in Ghana. Accommodation provided in a wonderful host family.

Teachers of all subjects welcome. No teaching experience necessary.

Please note that this positions are voluntary and unfortunately the school cannot provide any payment.

Do you or some one you know who is looking for an internship or volunteering position in Africa? We need you!?
On behalf of Action to Support Orphans and Disadvantaged (ASOD) Uganda, I wish to submit this question to the readers. We are asking if you or any one you know who is looking for an internship position in Uganda Africa. Action to Support Orphans and Disadvantaged (ASOD) Uganda is seeking for a willing student/volunteer to work in our project in Kampala Uganda. Is a concern for the organization to promote the affairs of vulnerable kids orphaned by the HIV/AIDS and wars in the North.

The mission of ASOD is to make substantial contribution towards the fight against HIV/AIDS and improve health status of the disadvantaged community, through interventions in three integrated sectors of education, health and HIV/AIDS. Thus build human capacity and create synergy between sectors.
We are interested to have Volunteer(s) who are self motivated and willing to serve in our community. If you are interested, kindly contact Country Director, or http://asod.kabissa.org