Opportunities to Volunteer

Direct Voluntourism with Buenas Cosas
Buenas Cosas is all about direct voluntourism. We do not work with sending organizations nor do we pay commissions. We directly engage our volunteers and their donations support direct, sustainable, social development in our Guatemalan Partner Communities.

We currently serve 10 Partner Communities with 2,750 families in Peten Guatemala. We work with local community stake-holders and customize our programs and projects to meet each Partner Community’s unique culture, ecosystem and needs.

We offer 3 levels of voluntourism participation: Poco, Grande and Maximo. Below is a sampling of our programs and projects…

Good Water – Poor water quality is a major cause of illness and disease. Water quality for the rural poor of Guatemala needs some love. Help us produce and distribute low-tech, highly-effective concrete/ceramic water filters to Guatemalan families. Help us improve the quality of drinking water and reduce associated disease and illness for Guatemalans. Good water is a good thing.

Digital 4 Good – Bring your electronic device/s and train people in our Partner Communities to use digital technology for good. Do you know digital design, programming, PHP, Ruby, WordPress, Joomla, a/v editing, Internet… the list goes on an on. This is one-on-one, no classrooms. Basic conversational Spanish strongly suggested. In any case, this is a great opportunity to improve your Spanish and help bring tech to the good people in our Partner Communities. We prefer open-source technologies.

Adopta Tree – It all started with a bag of seeds. A few years ago a friend of ours gave us a bag of seeds. The seeds were from the guanacasta tree. They’re really pretty. We filled a large white bowl with the seeds and they sat on our table. It felt good to put your hands in all those seeds. Years later, we planted the seeds and had a bunch of guanacasta trees. Like gardening, consider Adopta Tree.

Clean Stoves – The majority of the people in Guatemala use firewood (leña) to cook. Very few Guatemalan families have a proper cook stove, wasting wood/time/money and filling their homes with carcinogens. We’re helping with construction and installation of ultra-efficient, low-cost, home-made wood stoves. These stoves burn 75% less wood, save money and drastically reduce pollution. learn more here … learn even more here … learn even more about wood stoves here

English for Kids – Working with Elementary School Directors in our Partner Communities, we provide our ‘native English speaking’ volunteers an opportunity to teach conversational English to kids. These English classes emphasize fun, songs and games – conversational English. This is one of the favorite programs with our volunteers. No teaching experience or certification is required. Beginner conversational Spanish is strongly suggested.

Build Good – Many of the homes in Guatemala are little more than mud, sticks and plastic wrap topped with a few sheets of leaky, rusted sheet metal. Handy-person projects abound. Build a kitchen for an elementary school. Install a new roof for elderly widow. Lay some block. Mix some cement. Saw some wood. Pound some nails. Install running water or a new bathroom. Good things.

Organic Gardens – Organic gardens average 2×3 meters and are self-sustaining through community and volunteer participation. Produce from our organic gardens is eaten, shared and excess is sold to support our various non-profit programs and projects: English classes, clean-burning stoves, construction, tree adoption and more. If you like to garden, this is a perfect for you.

Happy Animals – Our free-range/organic chicken and goat project provides cheese, eggs and poultry for our community. Goats are also loaned/rented to landowners to eat weeds, instead of chopping and burning. Of course, our chickens and goats are an excellent source of 100% organic fertilizer for our organic gardens. Fresh, free-range, happy chicken eggs are a very Good Thing.

Good Doctors – With the generous support of medical facilities and health-care professionals of Peten Guatemala: Hospital Shalom and Regional Hospital of San Benito. Bringing medical equipment, supplies and drugs is most appreciated. Please consider soliciting donations from your friends and associates and bring some Good Things with you to Guatemala. Certification and a minimum of intermediate Spanish fluency is required to participate in this program. Minimum 3 week commitment.

Good Nurses – With the generous support of medical facilities and health-care professionals of Peten Guatemala: Hospital Shalom and Regional Hospital of San Benito. Bringing medical equipment, supplies and drugs is most appreciated. Please consider soliciting donations from your friends and associates and bring some Good Things with you to Guatemala. Certification and a minimum of intermediate Spanish fluency is required to participate in this program. Minimum 3 week commitment.

Good Teachers – We work with the generous support of educational facilities and teaching professionals of Peten Guatemala. Public education in Guatemala needs a lot of help. You’ll work one-on-one with Guatemalan students in their classrooms to help them realize significant improvements in their educational experience. Our volunteers are constantly amazed at these kids’ hunger to learn. Their dedication and enthusiasm is waiting for your gentle guidance and encouragement. Certification and a minimum of intermediate Spanish fluency is required to participate in this program. Minimum 3 week commitment.

Bikes for Good – this program has two main focus points, giving kids in our Partner Communities something good to do and encouraging clean/healthy transportation in our Partner Communities. If you like to ride bikes, if you like to work on bikes, if you like the idea of one less car and alternative transportation, you’ll love this program: bike races and training rides, bicycle maintenance and repair, bike-based eco-tourism development, bike share and more.