Construction and gardening Volunteering in the Bolivia Amazon

Save to Favorites

Recruiting Organization: Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY)

Are you looking for the opportunity to work in the Bolivian jungle? This is your chance! Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY) is seeking construction and gardenin volunteers to join our team at Wildlife Sanctuary Jacj Cuisi, in Bolivia as soon as possible! Live an incredible experience in a multicultural environment with staff and volunteers from around the world, surrounded by wildlife! The volunteers must be highly motivated with a willingness and ability to live in a remote location.

Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY) is a Bolivian NGO, made up of a team of committed Bolivian and international professionals and volunteers. Founded in 1992, CIWY was the pioneer of the environmental movement in Bolivia and is recognised nationally and internationally. CIWY currently manages three Wildlife Sanctuaries: Machía (Cochabamba), Ambue Ari (Santa Cruz) and Jacj Cuisi (north of La Paz).

We offer a better life to all the animals we shelter who are victims of illegal trafficking. We offer them a better life. Some of them are rehabilitated and released and others unfortunately remain in the sanctuary forever.

We are developing an area of about 300 hectares to home rescued wildlife that is in our care. Our location is bordered by indigenous land the beautiful National Madidi Park.

Currently we have a basic camp set up and we need help to build more infrastructure, such as more sleeping quarters, bathrooms, chill out areas etc. Our plumbing needs to be redone and expanded. We have an electrician coming to plan and redo our electricity in October, though currently we have some charging outlets to use.

In the jungle, we need to build multiple enclosures to house our rescued monkeys, coatis, birds etc. We also need to repair two enclosures that can house pumas. This construction requires cutting walking trails to the building sites with machetes, carrying sacks filled with rocks, sand and cement there. We also need to carry all the fencing, posts, roofing materials etc.

For those with a green thumb, we also want to develop our plantation area so that we can be as self-sustainable as possible. Our banana trees, copoazú, avocado and pineapple are producing fruit for our volunteers. Ideally, we would want someone to join us who can grow our plantation to produce different fruits and veg all year round. Our seedlings need a lot of care and our compost system needs an overhaul.

• 3 meals a day are provided, except Saturday, your day off. The meals at Jacj Cuisi are vegetarian. Breakfast and dinner are always taken together as a group. We can cater for vegans and our meals are vegetarian. On days off many of our volunteers will put in $1-3 to buy chicken or fish to grill on the BBQ.
• We have Saturdays free but if you are staying for more than a month, we can organize some additional days if you want to explore further than the local area.
• Upon arrival, you must take a rapid Covid detection test. It costs 60 bs. and it is at the cost of the volunteer.
• Upon arrival we also ask you for 100 bs. for extra things to the main meals you eat, water, soft drinks, etc. If in the time that you are you do not consume the 200 bs, when you leave, what is left will be returned to you.
• Transportation costs to the sanctuary must be covered by yourself.

Our living environment is mostly dorm accommodation with a handful of private accommodations. If you are a builder, you can also organise to build your own private accommodation if this is important to you. We have limited electricity and charging outlets that need to be shared. Our small volunteer refrigerator and our freezer for our cat meat take priority so you may not be able to charge items every day. We take our water from the creek that originates from springs within our land. We have no hot water for showering, but as most days are hot and sweaty, we have no complaints! You are not able to cook for yourself except if you use the BBQ on the free days. If cooking is a passion for you then we can discuss this being one of your responsibilities in camp. Our location is rural and remote; there are spiders, flies, mosquitoes and the occasional snake. We ask that you come prepared with the appropriate clothing and footwear for working in this environment. It is also advised that you have appropriate health insurance.

We are offering now no charge for volunteers who are useful in construction and are willing to stay at least a month. Useful in construction means people with a trade such as plumbing, carpentry, welding, gardening etc. Also includes people who are good at getting things done, people with off grid living experience etc.

For non-skilled, short-term volunteers of less than a month, we are willing to teach you if you are willing to learn and work hard. We do ask for a payment of 40 Bolivianos (less than 6 USD) per day to cover food costs.

The volunteer must commit at least for a 1 week . The days start at around 6:30 am until 6pm everyday. You will have one day off per week.

Being here is a wonderful escape from the outside world; we have no phone signal and limited contact with others. Our buildings have plenty of ventilation and sunshine. Anyone wishing to stay with us needs to respect social distancing, use phase masks and hand hygiene when interacting with others outside of our camp. This is regardless of your personal beliefs and is out of respect for the others in our community.

What we are asking from our volunteers is a lot of hard work. In return, you will be part of creating an excellent wildlife rescue center that will provide a better life to animals illegally taken from the nature. You will have the opportunity to improve your Spanish and learn new construction skills as you work alongside our local staff and international volunteers. Depending on the work of the time, you will be spending your days in the jungle surrounded by beautiful trees and fresh water creeks where you can bathe. As mentioned, our location is close to many touristic places like National Madidi Park and on your free days, you can go explore the beauty of Bolivia.

Stipend ProvidedFalse

Training ProvidedFalse

Housing AvailableFalse

Language/Cultral Support AvailableFalse

Wheelchair AccessibleFalse

Fee RequiredFalse

Fee Amount: None

This opportunity is recurring