South America Connections volunteers work in three main fields: Social Service; Outdoors/Wildlife; and Education. For beginning speakers, we also offer Spanish language classes through a respected institute in Santiago, at discounted rates. You can combine language study with part-time volunteer work or other classes such as yoga, cooking, art or music.
We arrange individual volunteer placements for people 18 years or older, as well as two group internship programs.
Individual volunteers typically live with a Chilean family (homestay), and we typically place you in a family with children of high school or university age, to provide a social network outsite of your volunteer site. Sometimes we can offer an alternative to the homestay in the form of a small group living situation with Chileans university students. Of course, you can also choose to live more independently, renting a room or even an apartment of your own.
SAC Internships differ from volunteer placements in a few key respects. The minimum age is 20, and intermediate to advanced Spanish is required. The start date is fixed – we are now accepting applications for the Sept. 1, 2007 programs. Room & board are provided, and at the end of your internship, you are provided with a written evaluation of your work that can serve to earn college credit. As well as college students with a couple of years’ coursework behind them, internships are ideal for graduate students and professionals who are looking for practical experience in the field of their specialty.


In the area of social service, South America Connections works primarily with infants, children and teenagers in situations of need due to family poverty or neglect and abuse. Our volunteers are welcome assistants in community day care centers and in homes for children who are wards of the state. We have carefully selected our partner institutions based on the kind of atmosphere they create for their children and their ability to make best use of our volunteers’ talents.
The work itself is as varied as you would expect with childcare, and there is always room for a volunteer with special interest in the arts, music, theater, sports or just about anything you can think of to help entertain and stimulate the children. You can work part-time or full-time.
In the area of social service, we also offer the opportunity to help adults in different situations of need. We work with a national charity that helps the homeless, and with a small private workshop for mentally handicapped adults.
Click here for a list of Social Service Placements


South America Connections offers five volunteer placements where you can work with animals or out in nature. We also offer an internship in the area of Environmental Education & Sustainable Development.
Most of our Outdoor and Wildlife placements take place in the Chilean spring and summer months – September through March.
You can help to manage a natural breeding area for penguins right at the southern tip of the world or care for rescued monkeys (year-round). In the middle of the northern winter, you can work with Chilean volunteers, mostly college students, on a variety of short-term projects in environmental protection. Or you can be a camp counselor at a bilingual summer camp – a great placement for starting out in Chile, where your English is an asset. We also place volunteers interested in organic farm work (year-round, though the winter months are slow and cold!).
If you’re 20 years or older, with relevant academic or practical experience, consider our Internship in Environmental Education. This is a small group program starting Sept. 1, 2007.
Click here for a list of Outdoor/Wildlife Placements


In the area of education, SAC works with a selected rural schools that welcome support in English language teaching. This is an area which the Chilean government has made a national priority: although English is part of the mandatory national curriculum, the reality is that most students cannot speak or understand it at all.
The rural school system in Chile is by far the poorest and the least developed. The school communities are small, and a foreign volunteer is an exciting addition to daily life! So while English teaching will be the core of your work, you will quickly find yourself involved in all aspects of community life.
SAC offers both individual volunteer placements and a 3-month internship in Enhancing Rural Education, starting Sept. 1, 2007.
Click here for more details about Teaching English


Spanish Language and other Classes
If you are a beginning Spanish speaker, you will advance most quickly if you start with intensive classroom study. Through agreements with respected institute in Santiago, Vina del Mar and Osorno, we offer discounted rates for Spanish language study. You can combine this with a class in another area, such as yoga, cooking, or art, giving yourself another setting to expand your vocabulary and improve your comprehension.
Click here for more detail about Spanish Language and other Classes