NDMV International

Peru

Click here to view a presentation of volunteer opportunities in Peru

Lima

Volunteers will serve in partnership with the Fe y Alegria school in Las Delicias de Villa, Lima. Service within the school is flexible and can be tailored to the volunteer’s talents and interests. Opportunities include tutoring special-needs children in basic reading, writing, and math; tutoring secondary-school students in English; serving as teacher’s aides; creating extracurricular clubs and activities; and working with adults in the Fe y Alegria Radio School, a distance-learning program that allows adults, primarily women, to complete their primary or secondary education.

Volunteers interested in pastoral ministry can also serve in the parish “Jesus Artesano” by leading catechesis or confirmation groups, visiting the elderly and ill with the parish “health” committee, participating in the choir, offering English classes for adults, or serving in other ways inspired by the volunteer’s skills and passions.

For many of these service opportunities and for everyday interactions with the community in Lima, advanced Spanish is absolutely necessary. Volunteers with limited Spanish should consider whether their language skills and personal style of interaction with others will allow them to fully engage in the type of service that interests them.

To read a PDF article about the Fe y Alegría network , click Here.

Tambogrande

Tambogrande is a rural town of about 30,000 people located in the district of Piura, Peru, north of Lima. Volunteers in Tambogrande will serve at the Fe y Alegria School #48, a network of 31 different instructional centers spread throughout the countryside in order to give children in the most remote areas access to education. Volunteers will live in Tambogrande with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and commute two or three days per week to Fe y Alegria in the countryside. At the school, they may serve by tutoring individual children, teaching English classes, serving as teachers' aides, or organizing extracurricular clubs and activities.

On the remaining two or three days per week, the volunteers will serve at Tambogrande's physical therapy center “Sonrisas Felices,” which provides therapy to disabled children of poor families from the town and its rural surroundings. Volunteers may serve as receptionists, assist the therapists, and/or accompany center staff on visits to the children’s homes in the countryside. Volunteers interested in pastoral ministry may also serve in the Sisters’ adult faith formation program.

Kenya

Click here to view a presentation of volunteer opportunities in Kenya

Malava, Kenya - Tumaini Miles of Smiles

The Tumaini Miles of Smiles Centre, located in the rural Kakamega district of western Kenya, strives to provide for the physical, emotional and intellectual needs of each child in the community. The Center consists of a Christian primary school serving about 180 students, and an orphanage that provides a home, food, clothing, education, and spiritual and emotional care for the students who have nowhere else to go.

The volunteers’ primary responsibilities are to teach English, Creative, P.E. and other classes to students in primary school grades. Volunteers may choose the subjects they are interested in teaching. Additional service opportunities may include construction on the school and orphanage; doing office work; website design; social work; and designing fun weekend activities for the children at the orphanage. Volunteers’ various tasks are varied and always interesting, from brick-making and painting to first-aid and home visits. Volunteers live about 4 kilometers from Tumaini and commute by public transportation and a 15 minute walk.  

Michael Durkin, NDMV ’09, says of Tumaini:
“Tumaini is an amazing place to work.  The orphanage staff and the school leadership are very supportive. Most important are the children, who are amazing. I NEVER wanted to teach, but since January I have said repeatedly that 'the children will get me through this year,’ and they continue to do so.  Despite the minor hardships, I am happy to go to work every day, every single one. How many people can really say that?”

For more information about Tumaini Miles of Smiles Centre, visit www.tumainimilesofsmiles.org

 

Malava, Kenya - Saint Julie Center

The Saint Julie Programme focuses primarily on working with children with disabilities, providing help to both the children and their families so that the children can achieve their full potential.  The St Julie Centre (SJC) is where the clients come for physical and play therapy.  In addition, the programme provides financial support for surgeries, medicines, and small farming projects. 

At the SJC, volunteers will do administrative work and provide support in play therapy when needed.  Administrative tasks include filing, record keeping, accounting, and photography.  In addition, volunteers will periodically accompany or drive families to monthly health clinics.  The centre is open from Monday to Thursday with Fridays reserved for staff and volunteer meetings. 

Sisters of Notre Dame present in the region provide guidance to volunteers as they grow in understanding of the culture and issues facing the community.

Nairobi

Placement in this program is currently on hold.

The volunteers in Nairobi, Kenya serve at Rescue Dada, a centre for young girls who have lived on the street. The volunteers are helping fulfill the mission of the Centre, which is to provide the girls with a home, education, and social services. The main goal of the centre is to reintegrate the girls into society and to hopefully reunite them with their families. To do this, the Centre offers the girls training to become self-supporting, as well as giving them counseling, medical care, and overall support and love. The Centre also trains the mothers of the girls to become self-reliant and conducts a follow-up program. For more information about Rescue Dada, visit their website at www.rescuedada.org.

Nigeria

Our newest site is in Nigeria in West Africa.  Volunteers live with the Sisters of Notre Dame in the city of Enugu and serve at the Notre Dame School.  Enugu is the capital city of the Enugu State and has about two million inhabitants, ranging from very rich to very poor.  

Education is the top priority for the Sisters of Notre Dame in Nigeria, so volunteers are primarily needed in the schools. At the school, volunteers may serve as teachers’ aides, tutor individual students, help with typing, filing, and other administrative work, read to children in the library, or teach their own classes.  In addition to working in the school, volunteers may also work with the Sisters at the Justice and Development Program Commission or at a health clinic.  

 

To read about our current and former volunteers' adventures and service abroad feel free to visit their blogs below! Please note that the contents of these blogs do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of NDMVP.

2009 Volunteers
A View From the Cave Malava, Kenya aviewfromthecave.com	Sue's African Adventures Malava, Kenya suesafricanadventures .blogspot.com
African Adventurer Malava, Kenya africanadventurer .wordpress.com	How Did I Get Here? Awkunanaw, Nigeria katieodea.blogspot.com

Former Volunteers
Traveling Cat Malava, Kenya travelingcat.com	Katie's Latest Tambogrande, Peru. penninga.blogspot.com
Malika Awkunanaw, Nigeria. malikatravels.blogspot.com	Explore.Dream.Discover. Awkunanaw, Nigeria. kerrybgraham.blogspot.com
Tim in Kenya Malava, Kenya. timinkenya.blogspot.com	How Kathleen Met a Llama Lima, Peru. kathleeninperu.blogspot.com
Cheetah Man Malava, Kenya. kellerinkenya.blogspot.com

There are many benefits to serving internationally with Notre Dame Mission Volunteers. Along with the basic necessities like housing and travel to and from the volunteers’ service site, we provide orientation and training, health insurance, a living stipend, spiritual retreats, and supervision and support by NDMV staff and friends. There are also intangible benefits in the spiritual and/or personal developments that take place when a volunteer is exposed to new cultures and ways of life. Below we will define and explain each benefit in more detail.

• Room and board
• Orientation and training
• Monthly stipend
• Health insurance
• Supervision and support
• Travel expenses
• Development

Room and Board

NDMV provides room and board for members. Accommodations are modest and volunteers live in community with one another. In Malava, volunteers live in a small house and in Nairobi, members reside in an apartment together in the city. In Lima and Tambogrande, the volunteers live in a Convent setting with the Sisters of Notre Dame.

Training and Orientation

Orientation takes place at the NDMV National Office in Baltimore, MD. In Baltimore, volunteers participate in workshops, trainings, and informative sessions hosted by Sisters of Notre Dame and friends of NDMV on relevant topics to their year of service. Once arriving at their service site, they also engage in a second Orientation to introduce them to their new home, service site activities, and the Sisters of Notre Dame in the area.

Monthly Stipend

Volunteers receive a monthly stipend of $100 per person. This living allowance can be utilized for food and other personal expenses.

Health Insurance

Health insurance is provided by HTH Worldwide-UniCare and covers a range of services. To download a brochure on the health insurance plan, click here.

Supervision and Support

NDMV offers strong support to its volunteers in the form of an international site director (in Kenya) and other Sisters of Notre Dame at all locations. The site director in Kenya keeps in contact with the volunteers on a monthly basis in emergencies and makes visits to the volunteers’ service sites. In Peru, the volunteers live with the Sisters of Notre Dame who offer them both supervision and support.

Travel Expenses

NDMV pays for the travel costs to and from the volunteers’ service sites.

Personal and Professional Development

Moving to a new country and immersing oneself in a new culture is a life changing experience. International volunteers often learn a great deal about themselves as well as the people they work with at their site and those they befriend during their stay.

When reviewing your application, we will look at the following criteria:

• US Citizenship
• College degree and/or professional skills needed in the missions
• Good mental and physical health
• Aged between 21 and 50 years
• Willingness to participate in a Catholic community and regular liturgical services
• Willingness to participate in fundraising for the program (with guidance from the National Office)
• Commitment to work and live with the poor.

Upon acceptance, volunteers have the following responsibilities:

• Collaborate with NDMV to raise $3000 towards program expenses
• Visit a travel clinic to obtain the necessary vaccines and medicines

An ideal candidate will also:

• Have a history of service (long-term service, like AmeriCorps or JVC, is valued)
• Have experience traveling and/or living abroad
• Speak a language used in the service region

We are currently accepting applications for the 2010 service year.

Volunteers begin their year of service in early January and typically complete their term in mid to late December.

For current and former Notre Dame Mission Volunteers:

• Submit a letter of intent outlining where you wish to serve and why
• Obtain a letter of recommendation from your NDMVA site director

For new applicants:

• Complete an application form (Microsoft Word version)
• Obtain two letters of recommendation

After completing the above, selected applicants will have:

• Personal interview(s)
• a medical exam
• an interview by our international site contacts
• familiarity with our International Handbook

Important Dates for 2010 Service:

• March 1st, 2009 - begin accepting applications
• June of 2009 - begin interview process
• January 1st, 2010 - tentative start date for departure

Thank you for you interest in the program. For further information, contact us.