Project themes for Experience Guatemala

Experience Guatemala is based around four themes, all of them important to the local community.

As a volunteer, you'll be linked to one of the themes.

Educational support

• Co-planning and co-delivering English language and digital literacy activities alongside local teachers.
• Supporting conversational English practice and confidence-building activities.

Staff development

• Facilitating informal workshops and collaborative learning sessions to support English language development and confidence amongst local staff.

Health and wellbeing initiatives

• Delivering community-focused workshops relating to public health, wellbeing, first aid and basic life support, where appropriate and requested by the community.

Community engagement

• Participating in cultural exchange activities, environmental projects and community events to strengthen mutual understanding and partnership development.

Expected outcomes for you

Personal growth and resilience

Experience Guatemala is all about immersion in a new environment and culture.

It will encourage you step beyond your comfort zone, foster increased confidence, independence, adaptability and emotional resilience.

You'll develop your ability to navigate uncertainty, work collaboratively in unfamiliar settings and respond positively to challenges – all contributing to personal and professional growth.

Enhanced global employability

In Guatemala, you'll be using your academic knowledge and transferable skills in the 'real world'. This is a great way to strengthen competencies that employers value, including communication, teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, critical thinking and adaptability.

You'll also gain valuable experience of working in an intercultural environment.

Intercultural competence and global awareness

Visiting Guatemala lets you engage meaningfully with local communities, indigenous knowledge, cultural traditions and lived experiences. Through this, you'll develop a deeper understanding of global inequality, sustainability and social responsibility.

We'll encourage you to explore cultural assumptions and alternative worldviews, and develop greater empathy, cultural sensitivity and global citizenship.

Reflective practice and ethical awareness

Structured, reflective activities are an important part of this programme. We'll encourage you to evaluate:

• your assumptions and perspectives
• ethical dimensions of international engagement
• inequality and privilege
• professional and personal development.

Increased civic and social responsibility

We hope you'll be inspired to engage with community development, sustainability and social justice initiatives in the future.

You'll be ready to apply what you learn in Guatemala to your personal, professional and academic life.