Grown Up Gap Years - Who can volunteer?

Anyone who wants to make a difference in one of our volunteer programmes in Brazil and South America. We have placements suitable for solo volunteers, families, couples or groups.

You would like to volunteer in Brazil, but you feel five days a week would be too much in unfamiliar surroundings with an unfamiliar life style? Don't worry, we can arrange for a shorter day or a shorter week if you prefer. And of course it doesn’t have to be for a year – even two weeks or a month will make a difference. There will always be someone nearby who speaks good English and can help sort out any problems that may arise.

Solo Volunteering in Brazil

If you are travelling alone, you will find that our placements are suitable for solo volunteers. We only place people in well-established projects in friendly and welcoming communities. The positive experiences that our volunteers have had in the projects have built up relationships and our volunteers are made to feel very welcome.Whether you want a career break abroad or fancy the challenge of volunteering overseas in retirement, we will have a suitable volunteer placement for you.

With one of our volunteer vacations you can:

Develop deep friendships, meet other like-minded travellers
Enjoy exciting experiences in a new culture whilst being safe and secure
Enjoy a sense of deep satisfaction through helping others and making a positive difference in a short space of time
Have a life changing experience

All volunteers overseas will be given a comprehensive, pre-departure briefing and our professional representative will be on hand 24/7 to ensure that your needs and concerns are catered for. Brazilians are warm and friendly people and volunteers will be welcomed into the community with open arms.

Volunteering for Couples in Brazil

Why not swap the standard beach or bar holiday for an experience that is much more fulfilling and satisfying? For couples, volunteering in Brazil can bring them closer together whilst forging new friendships in a different culture. Most of our projects are particularly suitable for couples volunteering as they offer a wide variety of activities. For example, aside from teaching English, you can also teach dinghy sailing in Paraty, help with historical and architectural restoration in Olinda, teach gymnastics to children in the City of God, Rio de Janeiro, teach IT skills to adults and children everywhere, teaching boxing in Rio de Janeiro, help children and adults grow vegetables in Paraty. You can work separately during the day and come together to share your experiences in the evening.

Why volunteer for your annual holiday:

Work together to help others in Brazil
Share the excitement of getting to know a new culture
Learn a foreign language together
Develop deep lifelong friendships and new relationships
Share the joy of helping others whilst enjoying an exciting adventure
Share a life changing experience

For those volunteers who would like to share this very special experience with their husband/wife/partner or friend, we will make all the necessary arrangements. Our expert representative will be available to assist and advise where necessary and the local community will make all volunteers very welcome. Give us a call to have a chat with us about your requirements.

Volunteering in South America for Families

If you are looking for an interesting and fun way to spend a family holiday, why not consider volunteering in Brazil? Imagine walking along a Brazilian beach at night counting turtle nests and eggs and helping hatchlings scramble to the sea when they hatch, or working with deprived children teaching them how to grow vegetables whilst they learn English, or volunteering on an organic family farm halfway up a mountain, or helping teenagers understand how to look after their environment before putting a show for the local community, or working in an organic permaculture farm in adobe houses built by previous volunteers. Volunteering abroad with your family is a unique experience. Our volunteering holidays offer inspiration for meaningful and educational family holidays combined with exciting cultural and wildlife trips, coupled with the opportunity to learn a foreign language.

Why Volunteer with your family in Brazil:

Because you will spend quality time together and share meaningful experiences
Volunteering will help your children grow and learn
Volunteering will build everyone's confidence by stretching their horizons and developing new skills
Living in another culture will foster understanding, friendship and confidence, helping to break down preconceived barriers
Volunteering will help your family gain valuable insights in a safe environment
Because they will learn the joy of helping others

No matter which project you choose, we have a knowledgeable and professional local representative to support you and your family.

We can arrange programmes to fit in with school holidays and we can also suggest ideas for adventure travel, cultural experiences and language lessons.

Volunteering in Brazil for Career Breaks

Do you want to use your present skills to help those less fortunate than yourself? Or do you want to do something completely different, take a total break from your present job and benefit from experiences you would never normally have a chance to enjoy? Or maybe you have been made redundant and are seeking different options for the future. Either way, Bowles Volunteering can cater for your needs.

How volunteering in Brazil with us can help your career prospects:

Volunteering in Brazil with us will enrich you personally by giving you the opportunity to live in a completely different culture
You will work with people who really need your help
Volunteering will teach you new skills that will enhance your career prospects and give you unexpected benefits when you return home to your career
You will travel to exciting new places, make new friends and meet interesting new people
Volunteers to South America show that they are adaptable and flexible by adapting to a new culture, a foreign environment and working with people from a different culture
Volunteers to Brazil show their adaptability by communicating successfully without necessarily speaking the language fluently
Volunteers in Brazil will add a new language to their CV
Volunteers in Brazil demonstrate their team building ability and leadership qualities

Your placement can start at any time and can last for anything from 2 weeks to 6 months or more. We can arrange travel after your placement, and can offer courses in a wide variety of activities ranging from capoeira through bird watching, local dance and music, to surfing and scuba diving. Click on our placement details now and see what we have to offer.

50-plus or Retired - Why choose volunteer work in Brazil?

Well why not? You may even get more out of it than you would at 18. Certainly it’s been proved that people who volunteer live longer, and the older you are the greater the health benefits.

What can a grown up gap year volunteer offer?

You have your whole life’s experience behind you to help you understand and encourage those struggling just to exist
You can offer encouragement to those who need it, sympathy and understanding to those with huge problems, and a role model for those who have never seen a normal family life
Volunteers in Brazil can teach them life skills. Children living on the street need to learn to be polite, to smile, to be at ease socially.
Male volunteers can help boys learn that men can be caring too, that violence is not the only solution to problems.
Volunteers can help adults with business skills, with websites, with learning how to run an organisation and how to work together.

What will the grown up gap year volunteer gain?

Volunteers in Brazil will make new friends for life
Volunteers will learn new skills while enjoying a fabulous holiday
Volunteers in South America will experience an entirely different culture
Above all, volunteers will get a real sense of fulfilment at having made a difference to someone’s life.
If working, those who have volunteered in Brazil may even find it helps secure promotion, or a different career structure.
Volunteering in Brazil will help you get to know local people and have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the local culture in a way that is rarely possible on a 'normal' holiday.

For many, life after 50 offers increased freedom to travel, explore and enjoy new experiences. We support volunteers overseas in fulfilling a lifelong dream to volunteer abroad. Travelling and volunteering with us is easy. In every area where we have volunteers, we maintain an expert local representative who is trained to support the day-to-day needs of international volunteers. Our representatives can ensure that volunteers' special diets, health concerns and individual requests are catered for. You can travel alone, or go with family and friends (please ask if double occupancy rooms are available).

If you are concerned about your health whilst travelling and volunteering in Brazil, it has hospitals well up to US standards. It’s not all tropical either, so you don’t have to work where there is malaria or yellow fever if you don’t want to. The south of Brazil has four seasons like Europe, and can even have snow occasionally. But if you want sunshine there is the North East, where it is said there are only two seasons, summer and summer, and 26 degrees is the average temperature all year round.

Why not volunteer abroad in South America and make a difference by sharing your life experience with others? Give us a call to discuss all your options in detail.