Overview

Chile is home to 16 million people, and occupies almost the entire western coast of South America.   This culturally-rich country boasts a great variety of natural features, from desert regions and volcanoes to fjords, glaciers and mountains, but also suffers from great poverty levels, with a huge gulf between the nation’s rich and poor. 

CDI Chile in a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) which has its foundations in the promotion of IT access and training for the people of Chile: it has so far established 44 schools of Computing and Citizenship.  

D.A.R.E.’s Chile project takes place in three regions over Chile. The projects are very much community-centred and require at least 2/3 people per area.  It is possible, therefore, that students will be separated from a larger group but, if this does happen, it will not be for the duration of the project, and the group will work together at the beginning and ends of the projects. 
 

Activities 

San Juan de la Costa:- This is an isolated rural area with two schools. The technical High School offers trade qualifications in eco-adventure tourism and gastronomy.

These students require:

- English teaching

- outdoor adventure experiences with emphasis on team work rather than the adventure aspect. 

This Foundation, aside from its two primary and secondary schools (which include boarding schools given the distance the students live) also runs hospitals for the locals. Volunteers could help to run the after-school club for the boarders, and basic core maths coaching would also be advantageous. 

La Higuera:- Three very isolated semi-urban schools in fishing villages, plus a number of completely isolated rural schools.

- English associated with computer skills

- construction of glass houses for the production of vegetables 

Illapel:- This is a provincial capital with around 26,000 inhabitants. Work in both the urban and rural primary schools.

It has a boarding school for the rural secondary school students. It is in need of repairs, modifications, painting, renewal of woodwork window frames, safe electrical installations, decent toilet spaces and drainage, reconstruction of its garden areas, etc.

Volunteers could assist with this work, and could even make up work forces with the students and parents. 

Teaching English will be very instrumental in all the activities which will be undertaken. 
 

Accommodation

San Juan de la Costa:- accommodation will be provided at one of the teacher’s rooms at the Boarding School.

La Higuera: The director of one of the schools lends her house for volunteers’ use.

Illapel: CDI assure adequate board and lodging although at some minimal cost to the volunteer. 
 

Food

Staple foods in Chile are bread, beans and potatoes. Fish and shellfish are caught off Chile's long coastline and meat, such as poultry and beef, is produced. 
 

Dates

This D.A.R.E. project runs for around 10 weeks and takes place during the summer vacation. Dates will be from the beginning of June. Due to the length of the project, this time is not flexible as the organisation has specific plans for volunteers in June. 
 

Costs

Flights to Chile can cost around £700-800. Each volunteer must pay for their own food, but accommodation is either free of charge (as stated) or is provided at minimal cost.

Every attempt has been made to minimise the costs for volunteers who donate their time and effort to CDI. 
 

Volunteer Qualities

This project is good for people who would like teaching experience, to work within the wider community, and for anyone who likes children. Volunteers must be happy to spend time with children and old people alike, and must also be capable of coping with language barriers and be positive.  

Students who are not capable of spending a long period of time away from their home comforts are not suitable for the Chile project.  There are many different things to do at the projects and it is up to the group to be pro-active and work with other members of the communities with which they are involved. 

Chile is a Spanish-speaking country, and we would highly recommend learning some basic Spanish lessons before you go. 

In addition, D.A.R.E. hopes to provide greatly-discounted T.E.F.L. (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) courses for all participating volunteers, in order to assist them with their teaching activities.  The course is not compulsory, since teaching is not the main aim of this project, but it would be extremely useful.  
 

e-mail daredundee@gmail.com with any questions, or visit www.dare-dundee.com