Volunteering in Medellin

bartolo_colon says on Dec 16, 2007, 16:56:

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001-5004
Phone
(212) 679-6800
Fax
(212) 679-7016


The Red Cross (Cruz Roja)
Cruz Roja Colombiana Seccional Antioquia
Teléfono: (57 4) 350 53 00. Fax: (57 4) 265 71 80.
Teléfono para contactar la central de emergencias: 123.
Fax Central de emergencias: 235 30 10.
Dirección: Cra 52 No 25 - 310. Av. Guayabal. Medellín. Colombiana.
E-mail: beatrizfrancotrujillo at gmail.com
NIT: 390.980.074-8 Hogar Infantil Cruz Roja Colombiana Seccional AntioquiaTelefax: (57 4) 212 63 16. Dirección: Calle 69 # 44 - 96. Barrio Manrique central.
E-mail: hinfantil at une.net.co

Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here!

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David Pristupa says on Dec 16, 2007, 20:21:

Habitat For Humanity is always open to
help. Transitions Abroad has a good portal
for volunteer opportunties. Orphanages
run by Catholic charities is another possibility.
Paying to volunteer is not right in my
book.

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tejasmarcos says on Dec 17, 2007, 07:58:

i don't think mine was rubbish i posted last week. it was in Bello and was a day's worth of great activities for disadvantaged children in the neighborhood. it was called "navidad para ti" and was set up locally and privately.

there are alot of worthy causes around the city, but you have to initiate the action and organize the event. after that, you have to drive $$ pledges so the event can occur.

what i did not realize is all the work that goes into the organization of the event. they are not easy and normally require several hundred to several thousand dollars. this means you have to have the support of other people who donate the money.

the event in Bello provided XMAS gifts to approximately 120-150 kids. it was probably funded with somewhere around $3500-5000 in total. however, this was a large event in which kids were brought in by 4 commercial tour buses to a finca where activities were planned and lunch was served. here is a repost of the pics,

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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SamGompers says on Dec 17, 2007, 17:01:

Agreed . .. .I've been investigating "volunteer vacations" and $760/wk is one of the cheaper ones. I just browsed a website that wanted to charge $2000/wk so that you could help tutor and mentor kids in Salvador, Brasil. $2000 is an excellent monthly salary in Salvador. I suppose there are some administrative costs - - the kind most any charity requires. But "volunteers" donate free labor and in most charities administrative costs are taken up by grants or other donations. I guess in the end everything is vulnerable to the for-profit economy - - even humanitarianism.

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getting better says on Dec 18, 2007, 15:39:

We charge volunteers US$12 a day for food and accomodation in our nature reserves. It covers the direct costs, and a little towards admin, there is no intention to rip them off. But it is not worth it for less than a month, it is too much hassle to organise a useful programme for them. We have only had a few so far but they range from quite useful to absolutely fantastic.

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usher127 says on Dec 18, 2007, 20:09:

Thanks for all the help.

I'm guessing that Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross would need people with some medical experience. I will investigate. The other links didn't have anything in Medellin, apart from Globalteer which I already mentioned.

Sorry, tejasmarcos, I didn't think your thing was rubbish, though I'm writing this post on behalf of my mum, who is looking to do something every day as opposed to a one off. Though, we would both be more than happy to help you with the next one.

Getting better.. where are your nature reserves? Do you have a website?

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getting better says on Dec 19, 2007, 00:42:

See http://www.proaves.org for infomration on ProAves and http://www.ecotours.com.co for info on the reserves.

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