Gap Year and Solo Volunteer Community Project in Jamaica

What is the Community Volunteering Project in Jamaica all about?

Travel during COVID times

Given the special global circumstances and to ensure the safety of participants and local community members, this program has been developed with great consideration.

The program is offered for a minimum of 3 weeks, and a maximum of 12 weeks. On arrival, you will spend the first 24-48 hours (pending your airport PCR test results) in our quarantine camp in Kingston, where a structured orientation itinerary will take place enabling you to understand Jamaican Culture before participating in community development projects.

Once your PCR test results come back negative, you will be free to join community development projects in Jamaica and explore the surrounding areas during your downtime and take part in optional tours on the weekends organized by our local team.

Read all about our project reopening response to COVID-19

Read about Jamaica Travel Regulations Update

The Project

This program offers a very immersive experience of the Jamaican lifestyle. You will have the chance to engage in a daily morning exercise routine, joining the site director in her daily community walking tour and seeing Jamaica before it wakes up. You will sample authentic Jamaican food and eat just like a local. Not to mention the opportunity to celebrate Jamaican’s culture as you talk and live like a local. 

Community volunteering projects can offer you an incredible and rewarding experience as there are many opportunities to help the local community. A drive through many Jamaican communities will show poor roads, dilapidated buildings and peeling walls. The pandemic has affected the local Kingston community, like everyone in the rest of the world. Schools have been closed and students are lagging behind. Tourists have been staying along the tourism corridors, not making much of an impact on the locals near Kingston.

Role of the  Volunteer

Community volunteering in Jamaica is a great way to participate in meaningful project work and cultural immersion activities. As a community volunteer in Jamaica, you will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, including the following:

• Children and Education – be a teacher’s assistant and work with subjects in the curriculum. Popular subjects you may be asked to teach include maths, English, drama, arts & crafts, amongst others. Depending on the situation at the time of your placement, you might be required to do some online volunteering as well with Kingston underserved children. You will work with the class teacher to help the students (mostly aged between 3 and 5) with basic subjects or give the children personalized help for those in need.
• Sports coaching – whether you are an avid sports fan or you enjoy playing with children, you will have the opportunity to teach them sports you enjoy and know and help them develop their love for sports.
• Environment & conservation – participate in beach cleanups, mural painting and spend your time working outdoor with hands-on environmental volunteering projects.
• Cultural immersive activities including:
  • Jamaican Dance Class – Learn cultural dance moves and popular dances like “Lebeh Lebeh”, “Genna Bounce”, “Lowi mi nuh” and “Good things Dem”
  • Jamaican Cooking Class – Uncover local cooking secrets and learn the secret spices used for generations by a local Jamaican chef.
  • Jamaican Culture and History Class – Learn everything there is to be known about Jamaica, its history, its traditions, and its people.
  • Jamaican Night – Put into practice the moves you learn, dance like a Jamaican, talk like a Jamaican, and eat authentic Jamaican foods with your new peers.

You will also have some downtime and can spend your afternoons relaxing, getting to know your cohort, reading a book, and enjoying the Jamaican sun!

Why choose this project?

• Getaway at this stressful time to do something different and make a positive contribution to local community projects who need help.
• Immerse yourself, eat and live like a local.
• Make new friends and learn all about Jamaica and its culture at the same time.

What skills do I need to be a Volunteer?

No specific skills are required. Participants should be enthusiastic, creative, flexible and patient to be working with the children. Any skills you can bring with you will be appreciated. 

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