A founding principle of our school is to give back to the community, and both of our directors have degrees in economics with a wide variety of experience working with rural communities. We offer you the opportunity to share your own skills, interests, and enthusiasm helping the people of Guatemala, while practicing and improving your Spanish. There is no additional charge to participate.
Opportunities include teaching, community health, child care, working in an orphanage, photography, news reporting, micro-business, computer and technical support, harvesting crops, counseling, building houses, and much more. The school operates some of the projects, while others are collaborations with community organizations.
With some projects, you can study in the morning at the Spanish School and work in the afternoon or vice-versa. Other projects involve a full-time commitment and can be started during a break or after you have completed your studies. Some projects are open to beginners, while others require an intermediate level of Spanish. And some are suitable for shorter stays, while others involve a longer-term commitment.
In short, there are a wide variety of opportunities. Additional pages describe the opportunities in education, business, and farming in further depth, but there are other opportunities that don't fit into those categories. Your teacher and the school staff will discuss the options with you to find a perfect match.
"I was surrounded with people who cared about my experience and the quality of the school. I can't wait to go back."
"MAA was one of the best and more rewarding experiences of my life."
"I found the program at Miguel Angel Asturias an amazing experience."
"I learned very quickly and deeply."
"I loved the one-on-one experience. I really enjoyed my teacher ... and felt that I was able to work exactly at my level."