Please note that Safe Passage is closed for one week during Semana Santa (March 28 to April 4, 2010) and for one month for the holidays (early December to early January, dates TBA). There are no volunteers on-site during these times.

Please see our Volunteer Handbook, Volunteer FAQ (FAQ en Español), Health & Travel Handbook, and a current list of our Volunteer Positions.

Whether working directly with children at our main project site or at our early education center, both near the Guatemala City garbage dump, or by assisting in our offices in Antigua, you can make a significant difference in the lives of poor children and their families by being a Safe Passage volunteer.

Volunteers are a vital and essential part of our program. They work in collaboration with our Guatemalan staff and other volunteers to provide the educational and emotional support necessary for the children in our project to break free from their surrounding poverty through the power of education.

The qualities and skills that our volunteers share with the children are many: a sense of self-worth and dignity, the motivation and perseverance to overcome a difficult challenge, creativity, confidence, respect for others, the ability to think critically to solve problems, and how to give generously of one’s time, energy and talent.

By sharing these gifts, our volunteers affirm for the children that they are capable, competent, cared for, and loved.

We are always looking for energetic and dedicated people to be a part of our volunteer team. Please see our most recent list of volunteer positions. For answers to frequently asked questions, please download our volunteer FAQ (FAQ en Español). If you are ready to have your heart tugged, your mind stretched, your muscles exhausted, and your sense of justice for the world enlarged, contact us to find out more or fill out a volunteer application (aplicación en Español) and forward it to us. We can be reached via email at Volunteers@safepassage.org.

The application should be completed and returned to volunteers@safepassage.org, along with a non-refundable $25 application fee. To pay the fee online, please use the "Donate Now" button at left and specify on the donation form that your payment accompanies your application. To pay by check, please make your check payable to "Safe Passage," indicate on the memo line the reason for your donation, and mail to our US Office at 81 Bridge Street, Suite 104 / Yarmouth, ME 04096.

Please click here to see a video created by the volunteer department about what it is like to be a volunteer with Safe Passage.

Please click here to read a recent blog from the One Spark Film's crew during their shooting of the documentary they are creating for Safe Passage.

If you’re planning to volunteer and need to improve your Spanish skills we highly recommend La Union. La Union is located close to the majority of our homestays.  It offers 20 hours of Spanish lessons for $85, however each student is welcome to take more or less hours of classes per day. Spanish lessons are one on one with a Guatemalan teacher. Each week, a student can receive 3 free pounds of laundry service, one hour of internet, as well as opportunities to obtain college credits.  Currently, they are offering unlimited WiFi internet access to their students. Safe Passage has been working with La Union for many years. Click HERE for more information or contact them directly at info@launion.edu.gt

Please note: As of January 2010, all new volunteers will begin their volunteer work in the project on only the first or third Monday of each month. These are the two days when Training and Orientation in the project begin.