As an international volunteer program participant, you’ll get firsthand experience with South American culture and make valuable contributions to surrounding communities. Apart from the joy of helping others, your Spanish language skills will advance significantly, too.
Our volunteer programs abroad give college students, families, pre-med students and more the chance to visit and work in beautiful South American cities including Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Lima, Cusco, Santiago and Viña del Mar. Whether you volunteer for 6 weeks, 9 weeks or a full year, you’ll have more than enough time away from your everyday life back home as you shift your usual stresses and concerns to a “living in the now“ mentality abroad.
Who Should Consider Volunteer Work Abroad?
International volunteer programs through Ecela Spanish are truly for anyone. Whatever your passion may be, from healthcare and counseling to working with animals, we do our best to help students follow their unique passions. Combining volunteer work abroad with every day Spanish lessons provides more opportunities to practice the language and experience the surrounding culture in a more personal way.
We have a little something for everyone, but a few of our specialized volunteer programs abroad include:
- Medical Volunteer Abroad – Shadow local doctors, visit local health facilities and participate in your very own medical volunteer project!
- Family Volunteer Vacations – Mom and dad are always welcome to join the fun! Families and couples often come to Ecela Spanish looking for an escape that’s as relaxing as it is educational. Let us help your family plan a volunteer vacation toady.
- International Mission Trips – We’re happy help students and groups find faith-based mission trip opportunities near our six school locations.
You’ll meet plenty of interesting people in your Spanish courses alone, but when you add international volunteer programs to the mix, you’ll cross paths with all kinds of people with unique stories and diverse backgrounds. And who knows? You might even make a few new lifelong friends along the way.
Programs You Can Trust
Depending on the student, living in a new city can be tough – and living in a foreign country for several weeks isn’t any easier. That’s why at Ecela Spanish, we go to great lengths to ensure that each student feels safe and comfortable during their stay. The host families we select for homestays, the volunteer programs, the professors and more are all carefully chosen to meet our high standards as a premiere Spanish immersion school.
Memorable Experiences
I have to thank Ecela for the unique experience I had
My experience as a volunteer with Ecela Viña was amazing. I love all animals, so there was nothing better for me than volunteering during my stay at Ecela Viña Del Mar.
Helping the dogs at PAEC, rebuilding their kennel, feeding them, playing with them, grooming them, and most of all giving them love and care was more than just a job, it was an experience that helped me grow in many ways.
I have to thank Ecela for the unique experience I had, and also I’d like to thank Ernesto who helped me and taught me so much during this month of volunteering. Thank you so much for everything.
There’s a poster on the wall here that says that ECELA is an unforgettable experience, and I can’t agree more!!!
There’s a poster on the wall here that says that ECELA is an unforgettable experience, and I can’t agree more!!! My grammar and conversation classes, the cultural experiences, the volunteer projects, and living in a homestay have all helped me improve my Spanish and learn about Argentina.
In my grammar classes, we learned basic concepts in a way that made them easy to understand. We used examples to learn grammatical rules and we practiced them with oral, listening, reading, and writing activities. Also, we learned about aspects of the language that are unique to Argentina, like lunfardo and idiomatic expressions.
The conversation class was a laid-back place to practice my Spanish, meet my classmates, and have profound conversations. We talked about Argentine history, culture, traditions, and daily life, and compared Argentina to my country, the USA.
Also, we participated in cultural activities to get to know Argentine traditions. We made empanadas, danced tango, went to the mountains, saw a tango show, listened to music, went shopping, visited wineries, and volunteered.
The most useful part of my experience was living with an Argentine family. They taught me things about daily life that I could never have learned from a textbook. My family had so much patience with my grammar, and the more I practiced Spanish, the more I learned.
Thank you so much, ECELA and the teachers, for a fantastic experience.