The project where I worked, is a great project for anyone, even if you only have a day to volunteer. It´s a clinic for mentally and phsycially disabled children and it comes “ready-made” with things to do.

If you volunteer in the mornings, you will be expected to help finish getting the children dressed for the day, feed them lunch, play with them and help clean them up or put them to bed for a nap. The clinic really needs volunteers on weekends as well, especially during the evenings as there are fewer nurses available and very few or no volunteers. With less people around, the kids sit around doing very little when they could really use some stimulation.

I love this project: the kids are happy, engaging, and generally excited to see you. As a therapist with a background with special-needs kids, I have been allowed access to the therapy room and can choose which children I want to work with. It is up to me to use what kind of therapy or skills I want to provide for that child (not all children here receive therapy). Not only is there a lot of freedom in this aspect, the clinic is also flexible in regards to your schedule. When I can’t make it during the week, I was allowed to make up my time on the weekends. The children love spending time in their large playground, playing with toys in their rooms, going for walks (or wheelchair races) around the clinic.

They especially love it when volunteers bring bubbles, balloons, balls, and simple art projects. Most of the children are pretty low-functioning – about 25% can communicate or walk or attend school, whereas the rest have much higher needs. You don’t need a particularly high level of Spanish for this project as most of the kids are unable to speak or are only capable of understanding Quechua. What needs to be done is pretty clear to see in this project and it is a great project for a volunteer to be.

Tonya Pepper
United States