Volunteer Programs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

As poverty is typically viewed as the main challenge facing Rio de Janeiro and something locals are constantly fighting to overcome, many opportunities to volunteer in Rio de Janeiro are in community development, and the many fields that are related to community building. Volunteering at a community center, orphanage, or health care clinic are all examples of the type of placements you might find within this overarching realm. While specific duties will differ greatly between projects, you can expect to work directly with locals who are underprivileged or underserved in their communities during any community development volunteer placement in Rio de Janeiro.

Education is one of the most popular types of volunteer placements in Rio de Janeiro. Within this field, teaching English, or other languages, is the most common subject area, as the Brazilian population faces a unique trilingual challenge. Portuguese is the national language and medium of education, while English and Spanish are also in included in most schools’ curriculums. Teaching after-school classes or volunteering at a language center are both common education placements, which help give local students a leg up in their coursework. You’ll be surprised by how much your Portuguese improves while volunteering in Rio de Janeiro too.

Lastly, environmental sustainability is a field for volunteer work in Rio de Janeiro that is gaining popularity throughout all of Brazil. As the country continues to industrialize, there are many volunteer programs in Rio de Janeiro, and other cities, that are devoted to keeping cities green and preserving nearby natural habitats. Brazil is the most biodiverse country in the world, and environmental volunteers can help to keep it that way.