Teletón
Teletón is an organization founded in Chile that is dedicated to helping children with physical disabilities. Through different workshops, children of all ages (until the age of 21) are able to find physical therapists, doctors, and a strong sense of community. Amidst all this, the volunteers perform a role that is crucial to the overall function of the organization. The volunteers organize events outside of Teletón, such as visiting Valparaiso and other places in Santiago, and assist with various other programs. The volunteers are placed in three different areas: occupational therapy, kinesiology, and art class. In these areas, students are able to assist the therapists and teachers as well as interact with the kids.

“I very much enjoyed my placement at Teletón. I loved the people there and even though I did not feel like I made a grand impact on their lives or really did something great for the patients, I met a lot of interested people and really enjoyed the work that I did.”
 –Matt Sachs, HSI ’09 participant                  

Mi Club Domingo Savio
This orphanage is home to 11 children, ages 7-14 years old. It also offers before- and after-school programs that serve approximately 15 children between the ages of 7 and 10 in the morning and another 15 children between the ages of 11 and 13 in the afternoon. Students can participate in workshops aimed at developing the children’s intellectual curiosity and knowledge base......

“Hogar was a great experience and one that we will never forget. I personally learned the role of preventative care and the role of love and patience with children in their spiritual and emotional development.” –Priyanka Mitra, HSI ’09 participant

Fundación Nuestros Hijos
Fundación Nuestros Hijos is a non-profit organization that works with children that suffer from cancer and need continuous treatment or are hospitalized. It works in conjunction with two hospitals that provide oncological treatment for children in Santiago. In addition, they have two children’s homes where they receive their parents that come from different areas to accompany the children. This organization provides education to the children, giving them class in the hospital and in schools as well.

“Fundación Nuestros Hijos is such a loving, caring place that completely changed my view on cancer and cancer treatment, and is great for volunteers as they are very welcoming to all volunteers (both the kids and the other volunteers there). I absolutely loved it!”  –Leah Seifu, HSI ’09 participant

Fundación Santa Clara
Santa Clara Foundation develops an important social work, delivering daily assistance to HIV positive children and their families. The purpose of the Fundación is to provide a welcoming home for children with HIV whose families cannot take good care of them.  They provide medical care, physical therapy, food, clothing, educational help, and psychological services to the children and work with their families to ease the transition back to family life. Most of the children are infected through vertical transmission.
**Quote coming soon**

VE Global
VE Global is an organization that places volunteers in various institutions for children who are orphans or are unable to live at home for reasons such as poverty, abuse, and neglect. The volunteers help out with various tasks and also design and run workshops, or talleres, at the institutions. The talleres are designed to teach the kids something new that they may not be learning elsewhere and also just to be fun.

“Interning at VE for eight weeks, we asked to plan and present several talleres about health at two institutions for girls. We were allowed a great deal of freedom in choosing specific topics and in making the taller engaging and interactive. At one of the institutions, we were permitted to talk about sexual health, a very important topic as sexual education is often lacking in Chile, although at the other we were not. We gave four talleres in total and spent the weeks leading up to them brainstorming, planning, and researching in preparation. The children we interacted with were very friendly and inquisitive, and it was a rewarding experience to have created something on our own that will hopefully benefit the girls in the future. In addition, the VE community was very warm and welcoming, with many other young volunteers from abroad to hang out with.” –Cait Visek, HSI ’09 participant