7 Popular Volunteer Opportunities in Mexico

A country filled with friendly people, beautiful plazas, and nightly events, Mexico is a great choice for volunteering abroad. As a México volunteer, you can explore the unique culture and sights of the Yucatan—refreshing cenotes, ancient Mayan ruins, flamingo reserves, local cuisine, and much more. In any project you choose, the people you work with will be truly grateful and happy you are there, which alone is reason enough to volunteer in Mexico.

However, it is important to pick a volunteer trip in Mexico that fits your personality and skills to really make your volunteer hours worth it for both you and the local community. Here are the most popular volunteer opportunities in Mexico to take advantage of and give back through this year!

7 popular ways to volunteer in Mexico

Some volunteers like to work directly with people, others with their hands, and others with their own thoughts and ideas. Read on to learn about some of the most unique ways to become a México volunteer. Then, decide which one fits your style so you can have the best experience possible during volunteer trips in Mexico.

1. Business Development

You can have the chance to work directly with your volunteer organization to support the ongoing administrative needs these business development volunteer opportunities in Mexico. This type of volunteer project is perfect for you if you have worked or want to work for a nonprofit or NGO, as it provides a chance to develop important skills such as editing, website management, social media research, photography, and more. You will use your creativity and independence to help support an organization doing so much good across the world.

2. Caregiving

Are you the type of person who wants to help someone one-on-one? Are you a great listener and do you love brightening someone’s day? Then this type of project is a great way for you to become a México volunteer. As a caregiving volunteer, you can either work with disabled people or disadvantaged children. In both cases, you will improve the daily lives of those less fortunate simply by being there for them. Activities include games, art projects, and sports. If you have a very caring and open attitude and love helping others directly, caregiving volunteer trips in Mexico are perfect for you.

3. Construction & Infrastructure Development

If you enjoy working with your hands, then you can become a México volunteer and do light construction work for a local hospital, school, or social organization. You might complete tasks such as painting murals, improving a children’s playground, or beautifying a community center. Through light physical work, you can greatly help organizations making a difference in the local community. 

4. Education

Some of us are simply born to be teachers—and there are volunteer opportunities in Mexico just for these of us. Teaching placements are a great way for both former and future teachers wanting to serve to become a México volunteer. You will have a chance to create and deliver English lessons, which will be a great opportunity to not only help disadvantaged children who might not have access to an English education, but you can also improve your teaching skills along the way.

5. Environment

Another very important area of volunteer work in México is helping improve the environment. Maybe you are an environmental studies major or simply have a passion for protecting the planet, either way you can help! As an environmental volunteer, you can work with a local environmental group dedicated to reforestation, as well as education. You could work in a variety of tasks related to the planting process, including seed inventory, preparing the land, and planting trees. This type of volunteer trip in Mexico not only helps the community in the area of reforestation, but you could also learn much about the process to take back with you to help your community at home.

6. Health

If you are a medical or nursing student, you could spend time volunteering at a local hospital in emergency medicine, surgery, psychology, pharmacy, or a variety of other areas; medical volunteering abroad could be a great chance to get important experience in your specialty field. However, if you are not yet in in medical school, but you’re a pre-med or undergraduate in public health, you could assist with public health education. Public health volunteers often give public health workshops to local communities about hygiene, nutrition, or sexual education. Especially if you are looking to get into medical school in the future, this type of volunteer work in México will add great experience to your CV, all while helping a local community who might not have adequate access to public health services. 

7. NGO Support 

In addition to business development, volunteers interested in supporting local NGOs can also concentrate their volunteer work in México on assisting community organizations dedicated to helping those less fortunate. As an NGO volunteer in Mexico, you could spend your time working with a local food bank in receiving, controlling, organizing, and handing out food donations that come in. You could also help with administrative tasks required for the food bank’s success, such as fundraising and marketing, translation, social media outreach, and more. NGO support placements are great for individuals looking to work directly with citizens of Merida, while gaining experience in NGO and nonprofit work.

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How will volunteer trips in Mexico change YOUR life?

No matter how you become a México volunteer, you will help the local community in some way because every project makes a difference in its own way. During your trip to Mexico, your main goal should be to partner with locals and collaborate to help their community grow.

However, it’s also important to find a project that matches your skills and personality, so you can not only offer your own experience and knowledge to help them, but also grow your own skills and experience. This exchange of skills and knowledge is what makes volunteering abroad so unique – while you work alongside your host community, you will also grow as a person and become even more of a global citizen.

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This article was contributed by UBELONG, an organization that has provided thousands of volunteers with meaningful volunteer experiences abroad. Offering placements in nearly every field, UBELONG has a placement for every volunteer.