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Volunteers who choose to participate in a volunteer program in Ethiopia will journey to an East African country located in the northern hemisphere, commonly referred to as the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia shares its borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, and Sudan to the west. Ethiopia boasts a population of 84 million people, with its capital city being Addis Ababa, and the official language being Amharic, although English is also widely spoken.
In general, Ethiopia’s climate is warm and humid. The country’s various regions are situated at different altitudes, and this factor significantly influences the temperature in each location. In higher-altitude areas, the average temperature is approximately 16 degrees Celsius. Conversely, in the plains and regions closer to sea level, the average annual temperature varies between 22 and 27 degrees Celsius.
The time zone in Ethiopia is East Africa Time (EAT) (UTC+03:00).
The country’s official currency, meanwhile, is the Ethiopian birr. 1 birr equates to 0.04 euros.
The childcare volunteer program is located in Holeta, roughly 40 kilometres outside the capital city of Addis Abeba.
The stay begins as soon as the volunteer is picked up at the destination.
The meals included in the project/destination will be provided at the accommodation. Meals will not be included for the journeys to the destination, the excursions undertaken by volunteers, etc.
The stipulated pick-up times for each destination/project must be respected. Volunteers who arrive outside of this day/window will have to pay an additional cost, depending on the destination.
The childcare volunteer program is located in Holeta, roughly 40 kilometres outside the capital city of Addis Abeba. While you may find African chaos overwhelming at first, it will take you a few days to get used to the more peaceful environment of the surrounding areas, which is where the volunteer programs will take place.
Volunteers who opt to work on the childcare volunteer program in Holeta need to make their own way to the Addis Abeba Bole International Airport (airport code ADD), where they will be picked up by local staff and then transported to their accommodation.
In general, Ethiopian cuisine is characterized by largely vegetarian dishes. Volunteers will struggle to find pork, as most Ethiopian people don’t eat this food owing to their religious beliefs. Vegetables and cereals are the staples of Ethiopian cuisine.
Most dishes are based on a flatbread called ‘injera’, which is topped with a type of vegetable stew known as ‘wat’ in Ethiopian.
Volunteers can get around Ethiopia by bus. Buses are a cheap way of getting from one place to another, although the lines aren’t very regular. Taxis are another alternative for visiting some of the local tourist attractions.
Volunteers can walk from the volunteer house to the volunteer program site in approximately 10 minutes.
For the projects taking place in Holeta, arrival days for 2024 are: July 1, July 15, August 1, August 15, and November 2024.
The cost for round-trip airport pickup in Holeta is not included in the price; the cost is €160
In Holeta, the volunteer program begins every weekend, and volunteers participate in the daily tasks of the program 7 days a week. To engage in alternative activities on the weekend, it is necessary to request them in advance.
Ethiopia is crossed from the north east to the south west by the Great Rift Valley, which splits the Ethiopian massif in two parts. This phenomenon causes the appearance of a relief with many gorges, which is surrounded by various lakes and impressive deserts (which used to be lakes). This valley is one of the country’s most important nature reserves, boasting a series of beautiful landscapes.
The childcare program is carried out in a daycare center whose objective is to provide attention to those children who are orphans, abandoned or homeless.
The center is multifaceted, its functions are diversified into different branches to cover the different needs of the little ones. As two main functions, the center provides accommodation and education.
Some of the children with whom the volunteer will work with on a daily basis live in the center under its accommodation program. Volunteers must work with them on non-teaching activities, such as coexistence activities, personal care, transmission of values, etc.
Another of the center’s objectives is to provide an educational service, in this branch the volunteer will participate in the library that offers classes for the children who reside in the center and for others who attend voluntarily frequently.
It is very important that the volunteer attends with initiative, taking into account that he will participate both in teaching and childcare tasks.
IMPORTANT: In this program, the volunteer attends the daily tasks of the center 7 days a week. In the event that he would like to carry out alternative activities on the weekend, it is necessary to notify in advance.
Location: Holeta
IMPORTANT: The accommodation does not have Wi-Fi internet connection. During the orientation day, the local team will provide guidance to the volunteer, informing them of how and where to purchase a local SIM card (with an Ethiopian number) that will enable them to access the internet at any time of day.
Drinks aren’t included in any of the projects. This expense must be covered by the volunteer.
The volunteer’s accommodation is found within the daycare center. In the accommodation, volunteers will share bedrooms with other volunteers. There is a complete bathroom with toilet and stand-up shower, two kitchens (a conventional kitchen and another for making ‘injera’) and a courtyard area separating the rooms from the main building. The dining room is a multi-functional room which holds day-to-day activities, and can also be turned into a games room.
In this accommodation 3 meals a day are included.
The total cost of the volunteering program is divided into 2 parts. The inscription fee which is paid to book your place on the program, 210 euros, and the program fee which is paid afterward.
| VOLUNTEER PROGRAM PERIOD | PROGRAM FEE (EUROS, €)* | PROGRAM FEE (USD, $) |
| 2 weeks | 350€ | 395$ |
| 3 weeks | 450€ | 495$ |
| 1 month (4 weeks) | 550€ | 605$ |
| 5 weeks | 650€ | 715$ |
| 2 months (8 weeks) | 850€ | 935$ |
| 3 months (12 weeks) | 1350€ | 1485$ |
| 6 months (24 weeks) | 2550€ | 2805$ |
If your currency is not specified in the table, you can convert your costs here.
*** The costs that are given in euros are estimates, owing to constant fluctuations in conversion rates.
Visa, flights, travel insurance (obligatory), vaccines, return to the airport, and other personal expenses.
(*** Volunteers in Ethiopia will generally find that €40 (approx. 50 USD) is enough to cover basic weekly expenses.)
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Our volunteers will be able to validate university credits with the aim of traveling in a more responsible and economical way.
What does volunteering focused on university practices involve?
At Cooperating Volunteers, we make agreements with different universities to validate university credits with the aim of traveling in a more responsible and economical way.
The specialties we work with are extensive: medical volunteering, nursing, education, social work, psychology, physiotherapy, engineering, architecture…
The practices can be carried out in our designated destinations for this purpose, as well as in Spain.
If you choose an international destination, it’s a unique way to live an unforgettable and enriching experience, as you will have the opportunity to continue your education in another country, with a completely different culture.
Stepping out of our comfort zone and being part of the various projects at the destination will allow us to grow both personally and professionally, creating a more extensive curriculum.
And we are fully convinced that this experience will accompany you throughout your life.
You will be able to visit hospitals, schools, centers, orphanages, and participate directly and actively in the daily lives of all those people at the destination, always accompanied by other professionals willing to collaborate hand in hand with you and guide you in daily tasks.
If your university is not part of the agreement with Cooperating Volunteers, you can contact cristina@cooperatingvolunteers.com so that we can get in touch and make this experience a reality.
Corporate volunteering consists of tailored programs for your company, designed to develop teamwork skills.
It is proven that teamwork directly impacts productivity.
Collective effort surpasses individual capabilities, promotes diversity of skills, stimulates creativity, and facilitates problem-solving in the face of various challenges.
Therefore, it not only maximizes efficiency but also enriches the work environment.
We conduct corporate volunteering programs that consist of customized programs for your company, designed to develop teamwork skills, improve performance, and foster unity among employees.
We tailor projects to the corporate identity and size of the company, and we can adjust them to any destination and time of the year.
The advantages of corporate volunteering include:
The future is aligned with a more responsible society, and participating in social projects positions our company among the list of revolutionary businesses that want to be part of the change.
If you resonate with this message, corporate volunteering is a unique experience both individually and collectively, and at Cooperating Volunteers, we accompany you throughout the process to make it a unique journey.
Quality time spent with family strengthens emotional bonds, promotes communication, and contributes to the emotional well-being of its members.
Spending quality time with family and being able to disconnect from our hectic routines is not only enriching but also necessary.
Sometimes we forget to communicate, connect, and dedicate time to each other. Each one of us lives focused on our jobs, schools… And it’s necessary to find the opportunity to pause and take care of ourselves.
Quality time spent with family strengthens emotional bonds, promotes communication, and contributes to the emotional well-being of its members. And of course, it creates lifelong positive memories.
At Cooperating Volunteers, we suggest moving away from those ‘more superficial’ trips (which can also be fantastic), but we invite you to live this experience to bring out our most empathetic and humanitarian side.
Family volunteering gives us the opportunity to be part of a positive impact, promoting values of solidarity and social responsibility.
There are many families who choose to experience these trips focused on cooperation and direct involvement with different communities around the world, where living conditions are very different and sometimes entirely precarious.
Projects are tailored to different ages, allowing us to work together.
An incredible way to fill our suitcase with memories, learning, and knowledge.
And although stepping out of our comfort zone often feels daunting, we assure you firsthand that it’s worth it.
At Cooperating Volunteers, we accompany you throughout the entire experience, from start to finish, to make it unforgettable.
At Cooperating Volunteers, we believe it’s never too late for anything, especially for volunteering and living a unique and unforgettable experience.
There are many people, increasingly so, who opt for responsible travel that involves social work.
Accustomed to organized and mostly touristic trips, at Cooperating Volunteers, we want to advocate for a more enriching experience, one that transforms us from within and allows us to be part of the change the world needs to see.
We can adapt both the destination and the duration of our projects to fit your needs.
It’s an opportunity full of emotions that allows us to significantly contribute to different communities and their evolution. And you can participate in different areas such as education, social support, or assistance in different centers.
Some of the benefits include:
Living this experience will undoubtedly be a before and after.
A volunteering initiative with leadership and impact through the educational action program.
When we talk about social volunteering, we refer to all those actions and activities carried out altruistically, selflessly, and with the aim of addressing multiple problems and needs of different communities, always focused on education and self-sufficiency.
Education is essential because it provides the tools and knowledge necessary for personal, social, and economic development.
Our goal is to create self-sufficient communities and provide opportunities for the future personal development of each member. The message is not to ‘give’, but to accompany in the process of training for self-managed provision.
At Cooperating Volunteers, many of our destinations and projects embrace this type of volunteering. Some of our projects include: community programs, education, women’s empowerment…
And although they are completely different from each other, they share a single objective: progress towards a society that can embrace us all in the same way.
If you are someone who is restless, who needs to see a change in the future, volunteering is an experience tailor-made for you.