Volunteer - Camp Esperanza

TravelHippo

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Mar 24, 2008
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Hello...

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are currently recruiting volunteers for 'Camp Esperanza', a free summer camp for children in the north coast town of Cabrera, which will begin this June 2010. The camp is a part of The Esperanza Project, a non-profit organization focused on providing quality, affordable education and free extra-curricular activities for the youth of Cabrera and surrounding areas.

Volunteers should be adventurous, energetic, responsible, and enjoy working with children and youth. All volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. Past camp / volunteer experience and Spanish language skills are an advantage , but not essential.

Please see our website or send me a PM for more information.

www.esperanzaproject.ca

Thank you!
 
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TravelHippo

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I just wanted to remind everyone that we are still recruiting volunteers for our upcoming free of charge summer camp for children in the Cabrera area. Also, I wanted to let you know that February is 'Student Month' at The Esperanza Project, which means we are currently offering 10% off total volunteer fees until the end of this month. Please see our website at Esperanza Project for more information or to apply now. I look forward to hearing from you soon! :)
 

Black Dog

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May 29, 2009
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So if someone wants to volunteer but lives close by and doesn't need accomodation etc, what's the score with that?
 

TravelHippo

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This is something that will be dealt with on an individual basis, so please PM me if you would like further information. Of course, those volunteers will not have to pay the normal volunteer fees which cover housing, food, airport pick-up, orientation, etc. but we do use volunteer fees to cover other expenses such as all new program materials, property rental, transportation, advertising, etc. so there may still need to be some fees, depending on the number of volunteers we have and still need at the time.
 

TravelHippo

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Just a reminder that there are only about three weeks left to register for an unforgettable summer volunteering at Camp Esperanza in the beautiful town of Cabrera on the north coast! So, don't miss out. Email me (Fiona) at info@esperanzaproject.ca or visit our website at Esperanza Project for more information or to apply. Also, if you live in the area and would like to volunteer, but don't need the housing, airport pick up, orientation package, etc, please let me know and we can work something out. Thanks!
 

blackrainbow

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Dec 26, 2009
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i thought voluntrary work was free to both subjects, i volunteer in return for no money, but have to pay for accomodation and food,

talk about non-profit, sorry just my thoughts.

Voluntary work where i have to pay to volunteer, no thanks.
 

TravelHippo

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Mar 24, 2008
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I understand your feelings, but unfortunately, at this time we are required to have these program fees in order to cover all volunteer and camp running costs, as the camp has no other source of outside funding at this time, and the camp is offered completely free of charge to the campers. Therefore, the volunteer fees not only cover the following items (as listed on our website):

- private room in a typical Dominican home for entire length of program
- breakfast and dinner at home-stay
- all project materials
- 24 hour on-call emergency support
- airport pick-up and drop-off to and from home-stay
- orientation day upon arrival with all staff / dinner in local restaurant
- orientation package before arrival with camp t-shirt

They also cover the cost of the land rental for the camp, purchase of a shelter/small building for the camp, all new program materials (balls, nets, bats, art supplies, etc.), portable washroom rentals and maintenance, land care and maintenance, transportation, camper t-shirts, daily snacks for campers, advertising, and organization website. I think if you do the math and a bit of research on the definition of a non-profit, you will be able to confirm that we most certainly are a non-profit.

Luckily, we do have several volunteers registered for this summer who are willing to pay that amount in order to help out and make a difference where it is needed. So a huge thank you to all of them. It wouldn't be possible otherwise.
 

blackrainbow

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Dec 26, 2009
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I fully understand, and would love to be involved but these benefits should come as volunteer "bonuses",

may i ask how long is this through the summer? and how much would it cost me?

Kind Regards
 

blackrainbow

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Dec 26, 2009
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Dont worry, as much as i love what your trying to do, i simply can not afford to volunteer, strange that im putting "afford" and "volunteer" in to one sentence.
 

TravelHippo

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Mar 24, 2008
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I truly wish that all these things could be volunteer bonuses, but where would that money come from? Who would pay for all the supplies? The home-stays? The land? Etc.

In future we hope to receive grants or funding through foundations interested in helping the program, so volunteers can participate with no expenses. However, with this being our first year running the summer camp program, we do not yet have those funds. My husband and I run a low-cost (or free for some) educational program here in Cabrera throughout the rest of the year, which gets us by, but provides no extra funding to run the summer camp.

The camp runs for a total of 8 weeks through the summer (mid-June to mid-August) and would cost $1950 in total. We have offered different discounts throughout the recruiting session, such as 10% off in February and an on-going discount for volunteers traveling in pairs where you book one volunteer and the second is half off (or the total is split between the two).

I hope I have been able to answer your questions and give you a better idea of why our program must cost what it does. As I mentioned above, I do hope this won't always have to be the case.
 

blackrainbow

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Dec 26, 2009
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Thankyou, and i do really appreciate your replys, and what you are trying to do for the local children, but like you say maybe one day you may get grants or funding, goodluck into what you are doing, and truly wish you all the best

Kind regards
 

TravelHippo

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Mar 24, 2008
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Dont worry, as much as i love what your trying to do, i simply can not afford to volunteer, strange that im putting "afford" and "volunteer" in to one sentence.

It is actually extremely common for volunteer opportunities abroad to cost for the volunteers, as there are many organizations similar to us that need that money in order to make the programs happen. Unfortunately, there are also large volunteer organizations that arrange the experiences for the volunteers, but also take a lot of the money, and pass only a small portion of that down to the program itself. With us, at least I can promise you, all of it is going right to the program.

Hey.. I too was once a paying volunteer! :)
 

TravelHippo

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Mar 24, 2008
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Thank you very much. Your support of the program and understanding are greatly appreciated.