Volunteer Program

We Offer Costa Rica Volunteer Programs

After completing their Spanish courses, some of our students wish to stay in Costa Rica and do volunteer work. With our volunteer work program students are provided with an opportunity to help several communities as well as to practice Spanish.

Volunteers have a choice to work in San José with children, elderly people, or disabled children. If the participant prefers, he/she can also choose to go to a National Park and work in ecological and conservation projects in different areas of the country.

Also, if the student has advanced studies in the medical field, we can arrange short-term volunteer work in public hospitals.

The Volunteer Department at CRLA is glad to help our students with information, assistance, telephone calls, setting up appointments, legal documents, letters of recommendation and other arrangements necessary for finding volunteer work.

We have information and contacts with several organizations that receive applicants for volunteer work in environmental and social projects such as the National Parks and Child Care Centers. However, when applying for volunteer work, please consider that most organizations which need short-term volunteers look for people willing to finance themselves completely or perhaps even make a financial contribution. Very few organizations will exchange labor for room and board.

As a general rule, it is not easy (almost impossible) to set up a job before you leave home. Most organizations will require several phone calls, visits to the organization and a personal interview before anything is decided. Most projects also require that the applicant have a medium to high fluency in Spanish.