Girls and Teen mom's Shelter Supporter
Agency | Do Guatemala
This shelter offers a temporary home for girls that suffered from sexual abuse and/or domestic violence. They host about 60-80 girls and their 15-25 babies and toddlers.
This shelter is a government institution for young mothers and their children. This shelter is home to 60 mothers, girls and young children. The teenage mothers and their young infants can stay here, as well as teenage girls who have suffered from sexual abuse. The girls and mothers are all under 18 years old, and the children are aged approximately 0 to 5 years old. There is a lot of emphasis on psychology, as well as learning how to be a mother.
Typical day
Volunteers can dedicate their time to different activities;
Free-time activities
Guatemala offers many free time activities! You can do a lot of hiking to one of the many volcanoes near the city (Santa Maria, Santiaguito, Tajumulco, Chicabal). You can also choose for a cultural tour to indigenous Mayan villages, and visit the hot springs Fuentes Georginas, which are hot springs with volcanic water, located in a beautiful cloud forest.
We can also help you to organize weekend trips to the beautiful Lake Atitlan, the colonial town of Antigua, or the Mayan ruins of Tikal for example.
Program Requirements
- independent
- Basic Spanish level
- Experience with babies and children is beneficial but not required
Suitable for
Included Services
- Weekly fee for accommodation in a local host family, including private room, shared bathroom and 3 meals a day from Monday-Saturday-
A registration fee (one-time payment), including:
- Free pickup service from the airport 24/7, and transportation to Quetzaltenango
- Free volunteer intermediation and a donation to your project
- A detailed welcome package with many travel tips, received before your departure
- Free emergency service and travel consultation
- The guarantee that your whole stay in Guatemala will be organized professionally and according to your wishes by Do Guatemala.
The fee includes airport pickup from the airport in Guatemala City. You will be brought in taxi to the first class bus station, from where you take a direct luxury bus to Quetzaltenango (3,5-4 hours). In Quetzaltenango, we personally pick you up from the bus station to bring you to the host family and introduce you there.
Staying in a local host family is the perfect way to immerse in the Guatemalan local life and culture. The host families are all middle-class families, living on walking distance or in the city center. They are all recommended families, where many people had a great experience.
The host family in Quetzaltenango offers you a private room (couples can share a room), with the necessary furniture to make your home stay comfortable. Bathrooms are mostly shared with the rest of the family, but always clean, and hot showers are provided. Meals are included too.
If you are on a special diet (vegetarian, vegan, or you have allergies), the families are able to take this into account, that’s no problem!
The accommodation includes 3 meals a day from Monday-Saturday, and with the meals comes 1 drink. Snacks and additional consumption runs for the volunteers´ account.
Host families are able to accommodate volunteers with special diet requirements (vegetarian, gluten-free, allergies, etc).