Opportunities in San Juan Comalapa
Volunteer and Internship Programs

In San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala, we offer full-time and part-time positions, internships for course credit, and a number of volunteer and volunteer group opportunities. If you are interested in coming down and working in one of these capacities, contact us and we can walk you through all the steps. Visit our internship or volunteer program pages for more information specific to those programs. Click here to learn about program costs and fees.

What Will I Be Doing?

The Internship and Volunteer Programs leverage in-kind labour from interested individuals from all over the world. Often these are university students who receive credit toward their degrees by living and working at Long Way Home for a semester. These are students of international relations, Latin American studies, business administration, agriculture, forestry, natural resources, environmental studies, political science, sociology, economics, youth development, physical education, botany, anthropology and others. Long Way Home has a great diversity of programming and needs, and therefore works with a wide array of students from several courses of study.

Through Long Way Home’s work with the youth in Comalapa, we discovered that the failure of young people here to reach their potential has its roots in the many obstacles of simply surviving from day to day. For example, it is almost impossible for a child to excel as a student when their health is in jeopardy or when their entire day is spent acquiring food and water for their family. To get young people to the point that they are reaching their potential rather than just surviving, several basic concerns with the overall quality of life in Guatemala have to be addressed. Working to meet the basic needs of the local children provides an opportunity for Long Way Home to empower all community members by involving them in the processes of development work.

Due to Long Way Home’s long-term presence in the community of Comalapa, the local people have come to see us as a resource for development projects. When Guatemalans solicit our help, we insist on their active participation in the project, rather than just doing it for them. Simply having projects donated to poor community members only teaches them that they must rely on outside help to improve their situation, thereby increasing their sense of powerlessness. Long Way Home seeks to end this cycle by skillfully developing programs that involve local and international volunteers in the design, implementation, and administration of each project.

The volunteers and student interns who work with Long Way Home work in the following project areas.

Community & Environment Development

The Community Development Program workers will, in conjunction with Long Way Home’s Executive Director, design year round park programming, which fulfills the mission of Long Way Home and Proyecto Chimiyá in all project areas. This position is also the secondary community liaison and is responsible for involving community members in the program design and implementation process as well as promoting the park and Long Way Home on a local and national level.

Infrastructure Development

The Guatemalan government does not provide basic infrastructure services that people living in wealthier countries might take for granted. Many areas of Guatemala lack running water, health care, and affordable education, and Long Way Home’s Infrastructure Program addresses the need for these services. Our projects here include:

Appropriate Technology

Most Guatemalans do not have access to the resources necessary to provide for their basic needs. The government in Guatemala cannot support development here the same way it does in wealthy countries like the United States. The people in Guatemala must either find a way to pay for basic resources themselves or seek alternatives such as solar energy, water catchment, improved stoves, and recycling of waste.
While there are many technologies that can improve the lives of people in poor countries like Guatemala, the technology is considered “appropriate” only if it meets certain criteria, such as:

• The local people recognize its value because:
• It is affordable
• It is made from locally available materials
• Its construction is simple enough to be easily taught to the local people

By teaching appropriate technologies, Long Way Home aims to provide alternative and affordable ways for Guatemalans to provide for their own basic needs.

NGO Development

When funding or materials are available for development projects, these resources cannot arrive in needy communities if there is no local receiving organization. In Guatemala, even when there is a local NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that can receive funds or materials, it often lacks the formal structure necessary for proper management of the resources. Through the NGO Development Program, Long Way Home aims to advise NGO’s in their management and help them establish their own successful development programs. Our projects here include:

Educational Outreach

San Juan Comalapa has more than 20 schools serving thousands of children from ages 5 to 18 that need to be taught to make a change in the quality of their natural environment. This is the program where Long Way Home volunteers integrate their Spanish presentation abilities with super human energy and teach local students a variety of topics from geography to reforestation to reuse of trash items. Our volunteers also get involved in the local schools by teaching English as a Second Language to students of all ages.

Additional Programs
LWH is often invited to help other development agencies in everything from building a foundation for a house for a landslide victim to translating in the outlying villages for visiting medical teams.

Volunteer or Intern?

This really depends on whether you are seeking college credit or not. LWH provides college credit for a specific period of commitment to the San Juan Comalapa project. To get credit, interns are usually required to work a complete three- to six-month program at the project site. The volunteer program, alternatively does not require a specific length of commitment. Take a look at the volunteer and the internship program to decide what make the most sense for you.

Additional Information

In addition to developing the educational park in Comalapa, LWH is often invited to help other development agencies in everything from building a foundation for a house for a landslide victim to translating in the outlying villages for visiting medical teams. The point is it is an excellent opportunity to learn a variety of practical skills and get your feet wet in a different area of the world. Who knows? Maybe you will like it and want to stay a while. A lot of people have found Guatemala to be a difficult place to leave.

Apply Online (Individuals)

Apply Online (Groups)

Volunteer / Intern Packet (.pdf)

• Manual
• Application
• Release Form
• Volunteer Group Form (Group Coordinators)

Volunteer Program Costs