Volunteer with children Honduras

Volunteers directly contribute to the development of disadvantaged children in the local community. Due to a severe lack of funding, the local school in the small town of La Esperanza needs a steady stream of voluntary support for this project, which is locally owned to directly benefit the local community, both socially and economically. Through providing much needed enthusiasm, inspiration and practical skills volunteers can really make a difference to the local environment and local children's lives.

The La Esperanza Centre hosts around forty disadvantaged children. Its goal is to give them attention, love, care, nutrition and shelter. INHFA has a feeding centre, a general medical clinic, and a distribution centre of humanitarian resources. The role of volunteers is very hands-on as they work closely alongside the children; some from very deprived areas. The main responsible aims of the project are to help volunteers to leave a positive impact on the local community by supporting the children with their development and helping to improve their quality of life, which will in turn provide a brighter future for them and enable them to contribute to the efficiency of the local economy in the future. Through supporting worthwhile projects aimed at training young people in specialist areas of industry, agriculture and the tertiary sector, volunteers help children contribute to their country's integral development.

Direct support to help keep the children entertained is provided from volunteers through a wide range of activities including cooking, carpentry, pottery and sewing. There is also an opportunity to teach English to the staff at the Centre, to increase their chances of a brighter future, as well as assisting in the medical clinic. Many volunteers have been helping out on regenerating the centre, helping building and brightening up the rooms. Volunteers have the full support of a local in-country coordination team, who are fully trained staff that liaise with the locally owned project in-country and are on-hand 24/7. They provide volunteers with a full orientation on arrival.

The accommodation is locally owned and run by local staff. By staying in locally-owned accommodation volunteers are doing a great deal to benefit the local economy and cause a minimal impact on the environment. It is a comfortable homestay with a local family and includes local food in the form of two nutritious meals a day (breakfast and dinner), which are prepared by the host from locally sourced ingredients. Facilities are basic to reduce the impact on the environment. The maximum number of volunteers at any given time is eight, to ensure the project receives the aid it needs whilst not negatively affecting the environment.