Welcome to desco’s Volunteer Programme!
Desco’s Volunteer Programme seeks to encourage the participation of young national and/or international volunteers who wish to contribute towards improving the lives of people with fewer resources. During this time, the volunteers will be able to develop their professional skills participating in the projects managed by the organization while being mentored by the organization’s team of professionals.
All the improvement implementation processes developed within the projects promoted by desco, are managed through participative work and with direct contact with the beneficiaries. The volunteers will contribute their knowledge and skills to achieving the objectives of the projects and the institution.
The area of direct intervention of the projects where volunteers can participate is in the south of Lima, specifically in four districts: Villa El Salvador, Villa María del Triunfo, San Juan de Miraflores and Lurín.
We currently have two lines of work, the Local Management Line and the Neighbourhood Improvement and Housing Line, each which its specific projects. To see more about our projects click here
Information to take into account
Types of volunteering
It can be a full time internship (unpaid) or flexible voluntary hours. We supply the equipment and materials needed to work.
Tasks to be carried out during the volunteering
As a volunteer you can participate in a great diversity of activities. These could be collecting information, support in creating communication campaigns, support in executing workshops, among other activities. You can learn more about previous volunteers experience here.
Length of the volunteer work
You can volunteer for as long as you wish, however, we recommend that the minimum period of time is at least two months so that both you and the organization have the best experience.
Cost of living
If you are coming from abroad, you can find the cost of living in the city of Lima here.
Language
If you are coming from abroad, we ask that volunteers have an intermediate or advanced level of Spanish. We don’t require certification but we will have an interview before confirming the internship.
Background studies
We receive students and volunteers from areas such as: architecture, social sciences, geography, urban studies, and media studies, among others
The volunteer work in Desco has been a very enriching experience for me, which has helped me broaden my horizons and develop my intercultural and social skills. Above all, I have learned to deal better with emerging challenges and difficulties and approach problems in a solution-oriented way. One of the things I liked most about the work with desco was the direct contact with the inhabitants of the Barrios, who are very grateful for the cooperation and support.
Bettina Engelmair
bettina.engelmair@gmx.at
My name is Olivia, I’m a French student, I study urban studies in Paris, and I came here to do my fieldwork for my dissertation.
I’ve been three months in desco, and the first month was to discover the NGO, how it works, what it does, going to the neighbourhoods to see the development of the projects, participating in some workshops and then I mainly did my fieldwork, where I did different activities using a longer and new methodology for my thesis, like collecting testimonies from the habitants of Villa El Salvador.
It helped me to do the internship with desco, because it helped me get into the area of my research, getting to know the stakeholders and go with my colleagues to do the interviews and they helped me a lot. This internship made me want to do more internships later in the topic of urban development. I worked with a very kind team, and they are very used to reeiving foreigners and they know how to help and receive people who are just discovering this country.
Become a volunteer
