Long-Term Volunteering

Long-term volunteers commit to work with Common Hope for a year or longer. Their leadership, expertise, and old-fashioned hardwork are an integral part of what has made Common Hope a highly respected human development organization. No wage could motivate people to work with such dedication to care for those in poverty.

Becoming a Common Hope volunteer in Guatemala depends on many factors, including a candidate’s proposed start date, length of commitment, Spanish proficiency, motivation, and work skills.  It also depends on our work needs, physical space limitations, and volunteer openings.

Most long-term volunteers work in Guatemala, but it is also possible to be a long-term volunteer in our office in St. Paul, MN, USA. Volunteers ensure the continuing vitality of Common Hope and the work we do.

Volunteering at Common Hope is hard work. We look for mature people who are serious about making a real difference. We need volunteers who are flexible, committed to understanding a new culture, able to listen, and willing to learn. Those struggling with personal problems at home should not consider volunteering as a solution.

We prefer volunteers who can make at least a year's commitment, with the distinct possibility of staying longer. Volunteers generally become more effective over time, so the longer a volunteer stays, the better. We also prefer volunteers with a few years of solid life experience under their belt.

Volunteers usually work as nurses, doctors, carpenters, masons, teachers, tutors, social workers, agricultural experts, coordinators of Vision Teams, managers, generalists, etc.

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Preparation to Begin Working

Long-term volunteers pay for their travel expenses to and from Guatemala, and for any necessary language training they may need. Even though many volunteers arrive with little Spanish, they must become proficient. Spanish can be learned in language schools in Guatemala. Volunteers normally live with a Guatemalan host family and attend intense one-on-one language classes. Depending on a volunteer’s age and ability to learn language, this can take from 2-4 months. It costs approximately $150 a week, including room and board with a host family.

Students are usually in language training for four hours each day.  Most volunteers begin their extensive orientation to the project in the mornings or afternoons when they are not in class. Orientation can take 2-4 months. It includes working in all areas of the project, learning our philosophy, meeting the staff, and becoming familiar with the culture. Volunteers are also trained in the specific program area in which they will work.

Volunteer Life

When language studies are completed, volunteers normally live in the local villages near Common Hope’s Development Centers. Living off-site gives volunteers contact with the Guatemalan culture. Common Hope may provide a monthly living allowance, which varies by site, but is enough for a private bedroom in a shared house, food, hot showers, travel to and from work, laundry, etc. When a living allowance is appropriate, it begins after orientation and any necessary language training.

There are limited opportunities for volunteers to live on-site. A volunteer with special living needs, such as raising children, may petition to live on-site. Volunteers living on-site do not receive living allowances.

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The Second Year and Beyond

During the first year, long-term volunteers gain a lot, as they learn the language, culture, and the process of helping the poor. By the time volunteers pass through this learning curve, they have become quite effective, and are often running low on money. For this reason, those who wish to extend their stay with Common Hope, are offered health insurance and, in some cases, the volunteer's living allowance may be re-negotiated.

The Process of Applying

If you are interested in becoming a long-term volunteer at Common Hope, the first step is to read the Long-term Volunteer Guide, which is accessible through the “Long-Term Volunteer Guide” button on the left.  It will give you a good idea of what life is like as a long-term volunteer in Guatemala. It doesn’t describe details of volunteer life like how a child’s smile can light your day or how it feels to help someone without hope. Those must be discovered on your own.

Ideally, correspondence with volunteer candidates is done by e-mail. In addition to being less expensive, it is much quicker, especially considering that applicants come from around the world.

If you have read the Long-term Volunteer Guide and are still seriously interested in volunteering, please submit the Long-Term Volunteer Application.

It takes a couple weeks to review your answers to these questions and to determine if your personal situation is a logistical fit with our needs. If it is not a good fit, we will notify you by e-mail. If it seems like a possibility, we will e-mail you a Long-term Volunteer Application.

After you return the Long-term Volunteer Application, it will be reviewed by the Site Directors in Guatemala, who make the final decisions about volunteer placement. This can take up to a month. If selected, your correspondence will continue via e-mail with your Site Director. If you are not selected, we will notify you by e-mail.

It is often difficult for us to approve a volunteer position more than four months before the position would begin. This is because long-term volunteers often extend their commitments, which affects the availability of volunteer positions.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a long-term volunteer with Common Hope.

Click here to download the application (Word doc)

Please send the completed application
to this email address - weblongvol@us.commonhope.org

If you have any issues or questions regarding the application please contact us at (651) 917-0250 or send an email to weblongvol@us.commonhope.org

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