Volunteer Programs in El Salvador

There are two main mountain ranges in El Salvador that comprise about 85 percent of the country, which meet in the middle to create a central plateau. The central plateau is where the capital city of San Salvador is located, along with its neighboring cities. The remainder of the country is referred to as the Pacific lowlands. There are a handful of major towns and cities across the country, so it is possible to volunteer in El Salvador in a number of locations.

San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, is also the largest city in the country and provides the largest number of volunteer opportunities. The most common types of volunteer placements in San Salvador include public schools, family shelters, and orphanages. Volunteering in San Salvador is the best way for volunteers to positively affect communities in the most significant way, based on the sheer number of people living within the city. The city of San Salvador is small geographically, roughly 28 square miles, but it is dense, with a population of over 570,000 people.

Santa Ana is the nation’s second largest city, and is home to many teaching volunteer opportunities. Santa Ana is much more spread out than San Salvador, but has a much smaller population. The city is surrounded by a number of mountain ranges that give way to more rural areas. The top industries in the city are retail and manufacturing, specifically the processing of coffee beans. Santa Ana is in close proximity to some national parks and small rural towns, allowing volunteers to get the best of both an urban and rural environment.

There are also many opportunities to volunteer in the rural areas of El Salvador. These towns are typically fairly spread out from one another, and located within mountainous regions, making for a very secluded volunteer experience. Placements, such as farming and agriculture, not typically found in the cities are more commonly available in rural areas, but programs run on a much smaller scale. Volunteering in El Salvador’s rural areas will give volunteers the chance to create more personal relationships with locals and immerse more fully in a local community.