Volunteers

Volunteering in Copán Ruinas

The club's projects are built by people, not by budgets. You can help without being a member and without committing to anything permanent: there is work that takes a Saturday and work that takes a year. Here is what's needed and how to start.

Activities

What is open now

These are the activities with places available. If none of them suits you, leave your details anyway: new ones come up every month.

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What's needed

Hands, trades, and spare hours

There are many ways to help, and not all of them are construction work. These are the ways people actually carry the club's projects along.

  • Health brigades

    Support at medical clinics

    Every year medical, dental, and eye brigades come to treat people free of charge. Help is needed with patient registration, keeping lines organized, accompanying people who come in from the communities, and — if you have health training — treating patients.

  • Languages

    Spanish–English interpreting

    Many of the club's partners come from the United States and don't speak Spanish. Interpreting in a medical consultation or in a meeting with a community board is among the most useful things anyone can do here.

  • Schools

    Libraries and school activities

    Setting up a school library means cataloguing books, covering them, assembling shelves, and teaching the teacher the lending system. Then comes reading with the children, which is what makes the library actually get used.

  • Fieldwork

    Installation in the communities

    Water systems, eco-stoves, school furniture. The work is done alongside the community, which provides the labor; a volunteer adds a pair of hands to theirs.

  • Professional skills

    Whatever you're good at

    Accounting, photography, design, writing, IT, logistics. A club runs on a mix of trades, and a good share of the work happens at a desk rather than in a village.

  • A bigger commitment

    Becoming a club member

    If what you want is to take part steadily and help decide what gets worked on, the route isn't volunteering but membership. That's a different conversation, explained separately.

    How to become a member
If you're visiting

Volunteering for travelers in Copán

Copán Ruinas receives visitors from all over the world because of the Maya archaeological site, and many leave with the feeling of having passed through a place without getting to know it. You can join a project during your stay, and it's worth being clear about how that works:

  • Write before you come. With your dates, how many days you have, and what you can do. A project can't be improvised on the day: brigades and installations run on a calendar.
  • There is no fee to take part. The club also doesn't arrange lodging, transport, or insurance — those are yours to sort out.
  • It depends on what's under way. If nothing is running on your dates, we'll tell you in good time so you can plan around it.
  • Spanish helps a great deal. It isn't essential — interpreting is one of the tasks, after all — but with no Spanish at all most fieldwork gets difficult.

Club meeting: Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m., in Copán Ruinas, Copán. Visiting Rotarians are welcome at the meeting: write to us and we'll confirm the exact place.

Volunteering

You don’t have to be a member to help

If you have a trade, a free day, or just the will to pitch in, tell us.

This is where your activity confirmation and the day-before reminder arrive. Please include the country code.

Pick the closest one. We can talk it through afterwards.

So we don’t call when you can’t.

For coordinating volunteering only. We don’t share your details.

Fields marked with * are required.

Do I have to be a Rotarian to volunteer?

No. Volunteering is open to anyone. Club membership is a different thing: it means meeting every week and carrying the work through the year.

Is there a minimum age?

Minors take part accompanied by a responsible adult. School activities and brigades both have tasks that work perfectly well as a family.

Does the club certify volunteer hours?

Yes, for anyone who needs it for school or work. Mention it when you write, so the record starts on day one.

How much time do I need to give?

Whatever you have. Some tasks take a morning; some run for months. The form asks about your availability precisely so we don’t propose something that doesn’t fit.

Can I donate goods instead of time?

Yes. The club accepts in-kind donations — medical supplies, school materials, books, tools — and there are other ways to help as well. They are all on Support Us.