CECAM is interested in working with volunteers that have a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. Both short-term and long-term volunteers can gain valuable professional experience, improve Spanish language skills and immerse themselves in a cross-cultural environment while making a valuable and lasting contribution to CECAM’s programs.

CECAM Volunteer and Internship Program

CECAM is interested in working with volunteers that have a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. Both short-term and long-term volunteers can gain valuable professional experience, improve Spanish language skills and immerse themselves in a cross-cultural environment while making a valuable and lasting contribution to CECAM’s programs. Volunteers and interns will have the opportunity to design and develop projects of their own, drawing upon their experience and interests, as well as contribute to CECAM’s ongoing initiatives.

SHORT-TERM VOLUNTEER

CECAM recognizes that due to work, school and other constraints, many volunteers have limited time to commit volunteer. We are committed to ensuring that short-term volunteers have a meaningful and productive volunteer experience whatever their length of stay. Short-term volunteers can assist in the construction of ecological stoves, participate in CECAM’s various workshops and various project management tasks (grantwriting, translation, project proposals, etc.). In addition, short-term volunteers can assist in environmental education and recreational activities for children living in Cochabamba’s prisons whose parents participate in our environmental technology workshops.

Requirements to join the volunteer team:

* Initiative and dynamism
* Desire to work in a cross-cultural setting
* Interest in sustainable development, environmentalism, gender equality

LONG-TERM VOLUNTEER/INTERN

Individuals able to commit for a longer period of time can complete an internship with CECAM. In partnership with CECAM staff, interns will identify a project that draws from their academic and professional experience on which they will primarily focus for the duration of their time. Interns will also be able to contribute to the ongoing tasks of the organization. Recent interns have worked with women in one of Cochabamba’s prisons to create a cooperative for the production of ecological products.

At present, we are also seeking individuals with a background in engineering and environmental technologies to assist in ecological stove design.

Requirements to be an intern:

* Willingness to work at least 20 hours per week
* Initiative and dynamism
* Experience and/or interest in project management
* Desire to work in a cross-cultural setting
* Basic level of Spanish
* Be 18 years or older
* Minimum commitment of 1 to 3 months

This program aims to equip the women with new skills and increase their income while promoting environmental consciousness in the community. The second component of the project is the development of programs for the children who live in the prisons.

For this section of the project, we need many more volunteers with a variety of skills and interests. There are many children who live with their parents in the prison system, and we will be working with children not only in San Sebastian, but in six prisons here in Cochabamba. We will be working with 6-12 year olds, both boys and girls. The children go to school either in the morning or in the afternoon, so we will have both morning and afternoon time availability at the prison for our volunteer projects. Initially we will plan an activity with the children every other week, but we plan to increase the frequency of our visits as we increase the number of volunteers working on the project.

Our vision of the project includes a variety of programs including environmental education, health education, stress management, cultural exchange, and recreational activities. We plan on developing creative, engaging approaches to teaching the kids about environmentalism, their own physical and mental well-being, and about how those themes can relate to one another. We want to encourage volunteers from other countries to share their culture with the kids and for the kids to explore their own culture, and we aim to promote self-esteem, confidence, and curiosity through games, sports, and other activities. These children live in a very challenging environment, and our goal is to provide them with knowledge and tools that will help them to develop and thrive despite the challenges they face, and to provide a fun, safe environment for them to learn and enjoy each others company.

Volunteers interested in the project could come only once for a few hours, or very regularly, and could help with any of these areas or implement programs of their own design. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions about volunteering with the project. Thank you for your time, we hope to hear from you soon