|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
Welcome to VIDA
Welcome to Vida, a new and exciting non-profit volunteer program that offers hands–on, eye-opening, and mind-enriching international volunteer experiences to students and professionals of medical, dental, veterinary, engineering, and other fields. We unite globally–minded volunteers from The United States, Canada, Europe and other parts of the world to participate in sustainable volunteer projects. We provide unique and unparalleled volunteer experiences for those who want to learn about tropical medicine, discover new cultures, and share with those less fortunate while providing free health and construction services to improve quality of life for impoverished people in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.
We offer volunteer service trips, commonly referred to as medical brigades, medical missions, dental brigades, dental mission trips, or service learning trips that provide free basic medical and dental care to needy communities which includes an emphasis on public health education. We also offer veterinary medicine brigades in which we provide free spay and neuter clinics, as well as consultations, vaccination of livestock and educational information for farmers. Furthermore, we provide construction and maintenance services to communities and families with limited resources in developing nations.
We welcome individuals and groups all year round to support ongoing sustainable development projects in impoverished communities. A VIDA adventure typically involves travel and volunteer experience in two countries, such as Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Group adventures during holiday break and spring break are usually 7 nights/8 days and during summer and winter breaks 12 nights/13 days. Where do we work?VIDA currently offers the following volunteer programs in the developing nations of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. These core volunteer programs will also open in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras in 2009. Please click on the program that best suits your interests and find out how you can become a VIDA volunteer:
In order to provide consistent services to our communities, VIDA offers service trips to a limited number of communities in each country in order to support on-going sustainable development. We return 2 to 3 times a year with VIDA teams to help provide continuity with regular medical, dental or veterinary care, and to provide continual maintenance for our community service projects. Why the name VIDA?
VIDA stands for Volunteers for Intercultural and Definitive Adventures. Volunteers not only because our program recognizes the value of volunteers and their work, but because we have made it our mission to empower volunteers; we aim to make our volunteers’ experience more effective and more satisfying. This program is about volunteers and their mission. We call our adventures. Intercultural due to the nature of our programs. Through homestays, language lessons, and other cultural immersion activities, our volunteers gain understanding of different ideas, customs, and languages. As different cultures interact, more understanding between peoples is achieved, but also people learn a lot about themselves and their own cultures. As extraordinary as this might sound, we consider our adventures. Definitive because they help volunteers define who they are and what they want to do with their lives. Finally, as we have mentioned a few times in this paragraph, we aren’t talking about coming and sitting around by the pool or the beach. These trips are Adventures, full of hands-on, eye-opening, mind-enriching experiences, and unforgettable stories. These adventures not only change the lives of the many people served; they change the lives of the volunteers and everyone else involved.
|
|||||||||
|
All content © VIDA Volunteer & Travel 2007. Website design by Doh Media. |
||||||||||
● 
