API- Volunteer in Guatemala

My trip to Antigua was life changing and reaffirmed that healthcare is where I should be. I was not entirely sure what to expect because our program provider had never led a healthcare related trip before, but I was so impressed with every aspect of the trip: the activities planned, the organization and the extreme effort to help us get the most out of the short time we had over our Spring break.
We were prepared to work in some sort of capacity within the community and we had a vague idea of the itinerary for each day, but what we encountered was so much more than we expected. We eased into the trip with a couple of sightseeing days and "getting to know you" activities, such as hiking and zip-lining, which really got us, a motley crue of nursing students from various classes, communicating, laughing and much more comfortable.
Once our work week started we had a very structured schedule that included tours of local hospitals and clinics, attending lectures on local healthcare, assisting in passing out fresh fruit and vegetables to poor communities, teaching school-aged children about hand hygiene and dental health and, my favorite, two days of a mobile clinic. The mobile clinic gave me an experience that I had not had previously. It forced us to communicate and work through language barriers and gave us the opportunity to assess local communities and see what issues affected them on a daily basis. Although we were exhausted, the trip had plenty of fun and relaxing times too. We ate delicious local food, both provided by our host family or out on the town, we hiked an active volcano, an important and beautiful experience and we explored the town through our morning jogs.
I went on the trip believing that I would really enjoy working as a nurse internationally, but I walked away with the confidence that that career needs. I was so comfortable, adventurous and excited with every activity on the trip. Great, great job.
Since we were the maiden voyage, there were snags with being unprepared, such as a lack of certain supplies (gloves, masks, etc) but our trip allowed the next years participants to be better prepared.
Antigua felt like a home away from home and I made life-long friends on my trip: I would go again in a heartbeat (and there is talk among my group of doing just that!).

As an undergraduate student, I volunteered with Cultural Embrace during my winter break. The program was 2 weeks and I was with several other college students.

The program provided one-on-one Spanish lesson at a local partner school. I also stayed with a host family. I didn't know very much Spanish before going, but my language definitely improved after this trip. In the morning there was 4 hours of classes and the afternoon consisted of volunteer at local orphanages.

The pre-departure staff from Cultural Embrace was very accommodating as well as the local staff in Antigua, Guatemala. The overall experience was great! I would absolutely recommend this program to anyone interested in traveling to Latin America.

During my month long volunteer abroad experience I had the opportunity to live with a host family and take Spanish classes. The first week of one-on-one Spanish classes were included in my program fee (20 hours). I would definitely recommend paying the nominal fee for Spanish classes every week, I learned so much. The Spanish school, CE's partner is super welcoming with the perfect balance between professional and fun. Going to school every morning 8-12 was one of my favorite experiences. I had the opportunity to learn the language, meet people from all over the world and learn about the culture while at school.
My host family had wifi and I was able to communicate with my family and friends in the US which was very convenient.

I had excellent support from Cultural Embrace. I had a skype interview, a few phone calls and numerous emails were exchanged prior to my departure. My program coordinator was always able to answer my questions and she helped me feel comfortable traveling alone.

Flying to Guate my flight was delayed, but my CE program coordinator called the school in Guatemala to let them know. And my driver was there waiting for me without any problems.