Drug & Alcohol Recovery Volunteering in Guatemala

I really enjoyed this misson trip. I am very grateful that I was able to volunteer my skills and time and provide care for underprivileged individuals. It was very fulfilling! The time spent was very scheduled and the program in its entirety was very well planned and laid out.

Things ended up just about as good as I could have hoped. I was a dental volunteer and helped a dentist 8am to 11 or 12 in the afternoon. Lots of extractions and fillings, good shadowing time, and eye opening to Guatemalas oral health culture. My experience was much better because I speak spanish, and could ask lots of questions and truly know what was going on. My homestay family was great, and I apreciated being able to stay with people in the volunteer program that were new like me. A couple things to improve is that I did not know I would only be volunteering for half the day. If you want to learn spanish in some of the classes they have in the afternoon, that would be perfect. But I just ended up planning things to do on the fly to pass the time and explore. I also know that not all dental volunteers were as lucky as me, and did not see as many patients.