Accompanying volunteer in a psychiatric hospital, Sucre, Bolivia

You are the one who can assure these children to have the chance to grow up safe and healthy.

The hospital in which you will be located is the only psychiatric hospital in Bolivia. It was built by a past president when a member of his family became ill and required a lot of medical attention and he realized there was not currently a comfortable place with good facilities in existence in Bolivia. The hospital cares for up to 350 patients of all ages, but on this project you will mainly be working with adults.
As a volunteer, you will work alongside permanent staff, as well as Bolivian volunteers, many of whom are based at the hospital for part of their medical training. This is a fantastic way to gain experience in a supported environment. You will assisted with all the information that you’ll need to get around the Sucre and use the public transport, what to do and what not to do in the city, so that you will free and save to get to know Bolivia a bit better.
You will assist the medical staff with occupational therapy and physiotherapy. You will also spend a lot of time taking part in activities with the patients to ensure they are constantly stimulated and motivated throughout the day. Games, didactic materials and general interaction through conversation are all really important. There is also a garden and vegetable patch that you will work on with the patients. One area of the hospital cares for very elderly people.

Join this project and make the difference!

These patients need a great deal of support and are often unable to walk or feed themselves. You will spend time assisting with care such as feeding, but also organizing stimulating activities and simply spending time talking to the patients and accompanying them on walks. These activities help to ensure the patients are mentally and physically stimulated as much as possible.
In this project you’ll feel how rewarding it is to give your love to people that suffer under mental diseases or disabilities. Often family members and society are not prepared to face this condition or live far away, so that a lot of these people feel abandoned and rejected. Improve their quality of life, make their world better with your time and comprehension. With your empathy and open-mind you’ll discover how much you can do for the patients. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll learn from this experience.

Accommodation

Your role as a volunteer

On this project you'll have to be extremely sensitive and open minded. The people assisting to the organization went or are going though very dramatic situations and sometimes an unfortunate comment could hurt their sensibilities. You'll have to be prepared to help in any way you can and to listen to the staff that has been doing the job for a long time.

Requirements

Usual Volunteer Tasks

- Over 18 years old
- High school degree
- Health insurance, accident and liability
- Commitment to the Host Organization,its rules and tasks
- To be open mind and to have willing heart
- To be flexible, creative, enthusiastic of spirit and have lots of energy
- Any previous experience on social work will be valued
- Fulfill with all legal and formal requirements for your Volunteer*
*Latin American students applying for Volunteers in Spain must have a valid EU passport.

- Assisting the medical staff with occupational therapy and physiotherapy
- Preparing and providing workshops and stimulating activities
- Support them emotionally, sometimes just a talk helps
- Assist the staff on routine duties
- Prepare meals if necessary
- Provide new ideas to improve the activities at the organization
- Talking, sharing, laughing and working side with the staff and vulnerable people
The tasks named above will be arranged with every volunteer according to each one’s skills and special abilities.

Project Hightlights

Spend time with people that very often are forgotten by society.
Enjoying varied and busy days at the hospital as you work alongside various groups of patients to provide mentally stimulating activities as well as general conversation and company.
Make the lifes of the patients a bit easier.
Work with other volunteers and live an fulfilling experience working with disadvantaged people.

Daily Routine

Usually volunteers work from 4 to 6 hours per day, from Monday to Friday. You can be asked to work some weekends if needed. You can start your day early in the mourning, work in the afternoon shift or end up your work late at night serving dinner. Give a useful hand every time is necessary, it will be really appreciated! And be flexible enough as you won’t have every minute of your work day planned and resources are scarce.

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