Elderly Project

• Spread your love and care to elder people
• Gain real world experience
• Immerse yourself in the beauty and culture of Costa Rica
• Volunteer abroad safely & affordably

Project Summary

Spend your time with elder residents and make them feel special. Make them involved in leading activities, help them with their daily works or entertain them. Volunteers can also help in physical therapies, if trained.

Skills/Qualifications Needed

Beginner to intermediate knowledge of Spanish is preferred (but not mandatory). If you cannot speak Spanish, we suggest you enroll in our Spanish language course to make your stay more rewarding – both for you and for the project you are helping. There are no qualifications required to work in the elderly home other than a love for the elderly. If you have any experience in this area or in physical therapy, it would be greatly appreciated. Volunteers are expected to be reliable, flexible and patient.

Volunteer Responsibilities

The volunteers in the Albergue project assist the elderly in daily activities, entertainment, and physical therapy (if they have the training).

Accommodation/Food/Supervision

In Costa Rica, all volunteers stay with well-screened host families. Our host families are socially respected and are well versed in the art of hosting international volunteers. Host families offer a safe home, private rooms (occasionally rooms will be shared with other same-gender volunteers) and shared bathroom facilities with running water and a "western" style toilet. Volunteers have the ability to do laundry at the house or the host family may do it for you. You receive three prepared meals per day. If you will be out of the house during lunch hour, you can request a lunch "to go" that you can take with you or eat out on your own. Host families provide typical meals that are traditional to Costa Rica.

Throughout the volunteer project, our local staff stays in contact with volunteers either with face-to-face visits or via email/telephone. With longer placements, we visit our volunteers every two weeks (when possible) and volunteers are always welcome at the local office. If project placement is local, we request that volunteers stop by the office once a week to keep us posted on how they are doing with their home stay and project. If project placement is very far, then our local staff members maintain communication by either email and/or phone.