Projects
At the moment, Voluntá can offer projects in Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Scotland and Vietnam. Below you will find an overview of the organizations and projects Voluntá works with in these countries. Unfortunately, descriptions of the individual projects are only available in Dutch, on the Dutch part of this website.
In Guatemala, Voluntá works with the organization FUNCEDESCRI through Nataté, the Mexican partner organiztion. FUNCEDESCRI's activities are mainly directed towards sustainable agriculture and food security for rural communities in Guatemala.
In 2010, Voluntá has started working with the Indian organization Volunteering India. Volunteering India aims to provide a difference in lives of the downtrodden in India by ways of helping volunteers in volunteering and spending their vacation helping people in need. Volunteering India mostly works in different parts of India and focuses on vulnerable groups, such as women and children. As international volunteering is Volunteering India's core business, they can pay specific time and attention to the support of the volunteers they receive.
In Kenya, Voluntá Works with Mafanikio Community Based Organisation. Mafanikio is a Kenyan community based organization set up in 2003 to fight poverty in the marginalised regions of Kenya. Mafanikio originally started working in one specific community, but the organization is currently active in different parts of rural Kenya. Mafanikio focuses on promoting gender equality, human rights and sustainable development through a range of diverse programmes. These programmes, which include school feeding, local work camps, skills based training and community-based campaigns, contribute to an overall goal of poverty alleviation. The work camps are an enjoyable means of working together in a diverse cross-cultural setting to bring about positive, equitable and sustainable changes to Kenyan society. Besides the different work camps Mafanikio organises every year, Mafanikio also hosts long term volunteers.
Nataté is Voluntá's partner in Mexico. Nataté is a non profit, non governmental and non religious organization based in San Cristóbal de Las Casas , Chiapas , in the south of Mexico. Nataté's main goals are to developing voluntary service, international solidarity and intercultural learning and peace, to promote integral development and education, to promote ecologic and sustainable life styles, to support and empower marginalised and vulnerable groups and to promote respect for human rights and human dignity. Nataté was founded in 2006 by a group of Mexican and international volunteers brought together by a common interest toward Chiapas, its complexity and the need to foster local development and peace. Nataté cooperates with local, national and international partners in order to address the needs of the local communities and groups it works with. Nataté hosts long as well as short term volunteers.
Voluntá's partner in Peru is RESPONS Sustainable Tourism Center. RESPONS' mission is to offer, develop, stimulate and broaden sustainable tourism in Central and Northern Peru. As part of its programme, RESPONS offers so called voluntouring opportunities, a combination of tourism and volunteering. At the moment, volunteers can either spend a few days to a few weeks improving kitchens in a countryside village, or spend a longer period of time as a foreign language teacher in Vicos. In both projects, volunteers have many opportunities to talk to and share life with local people.
Voluntá's Scottish partner is Trees for Life. Trees for Life is specifically dedicated to restoring the Caledonian Forest to a target area of 900 sq miles in the Scottish Highlands. The Caledonian forest once covered a large area of the Highlands of Scotland as extensive stands of majestic Scots pines, interspersed with birch, rowan, juniper and aspen trees, but is now reduced to just 1% of its former extent. To achieve their goal, Trees for Life works in partnership with the Forestry Commission, RSPB and private landowners, and own and manage the 10,000 acre Dundreggan Estate. Each year, they run over 45 Conservation Holidays. Volunteers plant trees in protected areas and carry out other restoration work such as seed collection and propagation of young trees and rare woodland plants. Trees for Life have planted over 850,000 trees since 1989.
Volunteer for Community Development and Environment Education (VFCD) is a non-government, non-profit volunteering organization based in Hanoi, Vietnam. It's mission is to set up International Voluntary Projects that develop communities and promote conservation of the natural environment. VFCD also aims to exchange, explore cultures, broaden experiences and develop skills between Vietnamese Volunteers and International Volunteers. Last, but not least, they also aim to design and implement meaningful voluntary projects that have a real and sustainable impact. The largest part of the projects organized by VFCD is in the area of education and / or nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.