What qualifications do I need and do I need languages?

You do not need any qualifications to volunteer with us. You need empathy for your fellow human beings, the ability to get on with others and adapt to different cultural customs and behaviour, and a desire to make a difference in a foreign community. If you have special qualifications or experience, we will try to use these if you wish.

You do not need to be able to speak another language but we do strongly recommend that you take a basic Portuguese language course before going to Brazil and take more lessons whilst you are there. You will get much more out of your experience, and the people you are working with will greatly appreciate your efforts. Our representatives are all fluent English speakers and will be available to assist where necessary. Some projects have English speakers available to help.