Work Travel Volunteer

"Honduras is one of those places where no-one really knows where it is. (Between Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador in Central America if you're not sure!) We decided to volunteer in Honduras partly to discover what Honduras' mysterious appeal was all about and also we wanted to participate in some hands on physical work to help a local community.

The community volunteer work was harder than we expected. Each morning, we'd catch a sheep truck half n hour into the highlands to our family's house. We'd then help the father carry huge tree trunks he had chopped down from the valley back up the hill to where he was building his home.

We'd then have to strip the wood using huge machetes (my favourite part - very therapeutic) and assist the family in holding beams in relevant places to nail down.

Communication was difficult as our Spanish was very limited but our range grew over the weeks we spent there. We developed a huge attachment to the children, the pet dog and also the mother's cooking - chapattis and roast potatoes. Gorgeous after four hours of heavy labouring.

Volunteering in Honduras allowed us to help in albeit a small way, to one family. We learnt a great deal about the problems the Lenca people face and the current issues in Honduras.

We also travelled to places far off the beaten track and have never felt so welcomed before."

Search our directory to find out more about volunteer opportunities in Latin America.Also have a look at our volunteer and visit Latin America pages for further information.