Volunteering Opportunities

My mother in law and wife both would say that you should go and find an order or convent of Catholic nuns regardless of your personal beliefs, or lack thereof.

Avoid any ONG (ngo) or charity associated with the western concept of the "poverty business".........by doing so, your actions will directly benefit those you would want to be seen helped. My mother in law used to do this for decades apparently.

Is volunteering legal under a tourist visa?

11/12/23    Is volunteering legal under a tourist visa?
   

    -@Drjmagic

It's probably somewhat of a gray area, but as long as the volunteer is not receiving compensation of any kind, it should not be a problem.

11/12/23    I have looked at the classified and did a "volunteer" or "volunteering" search and I got 0 results.Although retirement is about doing nothing, I will grow crazy if I keep doing nothing for a while.  Are there volunteering opportunities that expats can contribute to the community?Thank you.        -@Pablo888

A lot of the work done by private charities in North America falls under the authority of municipal governments in Brazil.  Unfortunately, "falls under the authority" doesn't necessarily mean "gets done by".

NGOs, Non-Governmental Organizations, are called OGNs, Organizações Não-Governmentais in Brazil.  A search on "OGNs (name of state)" should give you a list of contacts to start with.  If you're affiliated with a church and they have operations in Brazil, you could check with them.  In Brazil Catholic Charities is called "Caritas", as it is in many non-English speaking countries, and is easy to find in any major city, either in their own offices or through any Catholic Church.

I know a fantastic OGN in Sergipe.  In the unlikely event that anyone is looking for a volunteer opportunity in Brazil's smallest state, send me a DM.

Thank you @abthree and @gasparzhino 777... Caritas, it is - as the first step.

    I have looked at the classified and did a "volunteer" or "volunteering" search and I got 0 results.
Although retirement is about doing nothing, I will grow crazy if I keep doing nothing for a while.  Are there volunteering opportunities that expats can contribute to the community?

Thank you.
   

    -@Pablo888

Your search must be entered using Portuguese words, or you won't score squat.

The NGO equivalent in Brazil is ONG ( ORganizacao Nao Governamental ).

You can choose and pick your org depending on your values, and taste....

CVV- Samaritanos is a hot line to lend help for those suicidal types, if that is your kind of action.

In Sao Paulo, by Ipiranga, there is the Instituto Cristovao Colombo, run by Priests, and over 120 years old. They used to be an orphanage, and then became a school to impoverished kids.  By morning, the State covers teaching payroll. Over the afternoon, they rely on rent and charitable contribution.

Thinking of the above, there are places run by the Catholic Church. 

In Sao Paulo, by the Lower Cambuci where it meets Liberdade, the local parish runs a program aimed towards helping migrants

GreenPeace keeps an army of those street pesky solicitors.

But you know, non profits, while you giving it you all for free, well, the overhead is about 90% of collected donations, which leads me to think this is nothing short of a racket. Some of these directors are getting paid obscene amounts of money to sit at the Charity's Executive Office.   

Here's a list. Knock yourself down.

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoria … lucrativos

    I have looked at the classified and did a "volunteer" or "volunteering" search and I got 0 results.
Although retirement is about doing nothing, I will grow crazy if I keep doing nothing for a while.  Are there volunteering opportunities that expats can contribute to the community?

Thank you.
   

    -@Pablo888

Certainly - and there does not have to be a connection to any church, although you do have to be aware to avoid any political influence...

3 years ago a small group of foreigners (from UK, Holland and Bolivia), joined with some locals and created a registered association (CNPJ, etc) with the aims of protecting the environment, attracting tourism and creating jobs. It started with 7 of us, 1 had to leave due to moving for work, and 2 more joined this year after seeing our results and asking to be a part of it.

We all make a small monthly donation and we work for free, as well as seeking to raise further funds or other donations. We meet at irregular intervals, with the mantra "decisons, actions, results", due to previous groups more being more interested in pontificating rather than actually doing anything.

I said avoid any political influence. We meet with most of the City Hall Secretaries (Tourism, Infrastructure, Planning, Environment, etc) as necessary, as well as the Mayor. But we meet with the people holding that job title at that time, not with the political party they belong to, or we would be ignored when the next elections appoint a Mayor from different political party.

One of our secrets is that, unlike most other associations, we never ask the City for money - and they know this - so they are very keen to listen, even though some of us cannot vote. In our first full year of operation as a legal entity, 2022, we turned over R$145,000 - every penny of which was spent on good causes, including educating local children about the need to protect their environment.

It takes commitment and and some work, but no reason why anybody could not achieve this... Good luck!

Peter Iteramaca, you didn't say in which city you operate

    Peter Iteramaca, you didn't say in which city you operate
   

    -@Drjmagic

Apologies!

The city is called Ilha de Itamaracá, in the state of Pernambuo in the northeast, about an hour north of Recife, 2 hours south of Joao Pessoa. Search Itamaraca Tourism for more info...

Certainly - and there does not have to be a connection to any church, although you do have to be aware to avoid any political influence...
3 years ago a small group of foreigners (from UK, Holland and Bolivia), joined with some locals and created a registered association (CNPJ, etc) with the aims of protecting the environment, attracting tourism and creating jobs. It started with 7 of us, 1 had to leave due to moving for work, and 2 more joined this year after seeing our results and asking to be a part of it.
    -@Peter Itamaraca

That's what I was looking for - involvement in the community.... In my books, this is one of the great reasons to retire in Itamaraca....

Keep the good works coming....

Great job here.

@Pablo888 Have you considered teaching english on a volunteer basis?  There is a huge demand for this.  The average working class Brazilian can not afford lessons.  Invest a bit of time and a little money and get TEFL certified, or other certification and help Brazilian people learn some English.  There are many stray animals in Brazil.  If you like dogs or cats  I'm sure you can volunteer at an animal shelter or even better foster in your home.  If you speak Portugese you can volunteer at a hospital.  Many hospitals and retirement homes have volunteer opportunities.

11/16/23    @Pablo888 Have you considered teaching english on a volunteer basis?  There is a huge demand for this.  The average working class Brazilian can not afford lessons.  Invest a bit of time and a little money and get TEFL certified, or other certification and help Brazilian people learn some English.  There are many stray animals in Brazil.  If you like dogs or cats  I'm sure you can volunteer at an animal shelter or even better foster in your home.  If you speak Portugese you can volunteer at a hospital.  Many hospitals and retirement homes have volunteer opportunities.        -@Droplover

Great ideas on teaching English and volunteering in hospitals. 

Animal shelters can be hard to find in many parts of Brazil.  There certainly are thousands of strays (at least!) but animal control is one of those areas I mentioned above that fall under municipal authority, and that doesn't mean that it's done, or done humanely.  When Texanbrazil died, we searched high and low for a reputable Brazilian equivalent of the ASPCA or RSPCA or Humane Society for Expat.com to make a donation in his name, as opposed to the cat lady setting out food all up and down the block, and came up blank.  We finally had to settle for the Nature Conservancy's Rain Forest Project.  Fine, but not his family's first choice.

@abthree You are so knowledgeable about Brazil and  willing to share what you know which is so helpful and kind to all of us on this Brazil forum.  The organization we help at times is indeed a local NGO in Campinas.  The amount of stray animals in this area is unbelievable and I imagine that is the same or even worse in other parts of Brazil.  If only all cats and dogs would be spayed and neutered.........

All of you guys floating ideas is inspiring. 

A free labor gig, must at least be one that you don't dread doing grunt work, at least in a perfect world.

And then one that allows you to parlay your service time into networking opportunities. As the old goombah say, "Not for Nuting" if you put in time, you might as well get something out of you. 

And preferably, in a perfect world, you might want to be the head honcho of your non profit, as it allows you to pass the hat and collect money, on the long run ( boy, do I have a master mind of a racketeer or not ??? ).

You could do Dogs, but there is plenty of such around.

You could do Migrants, but there already a few organizations you can sign up for ( well, you got to start somewhere, right ? )

Yes, we have our local chapters of  the "Salvation Army".

Now, what we do not have, is an initiative to bring trees and more green to our barren cities.  As a reference, there used to be an organization on Brooklyn NY that spearheaded a community garden drive which started in NYC and then spread nationwide ( Detroit, Boston ).

Check this out....

How radical gardeners took back New York City

https://youtu.be/_g2CaF12xxw?si=STKUBtksJFDeIrt3

If not for the initiative, this is a VOX documentary, so it is entertaining at least.

Just some food for thoughts...

    @Pablo888 Have you considered teaching english on a volunteer basis?  There is a huge demand for this.  The average working class Brazilian can not afford lessons.  Invest a bit of time and a little money and get TEFL certified, or other certification and help Brazilian people learn some English.  There are many stray animals in Brazil.  If you like dogs or cats  I'm sure you can volunteer at an animal shelter or even better foster in your home.  If you speak Portugese you can volunteer at a hospital.  Many hospitals and retirement homes have volunteer opportunities.
    -@Droplover

Thank you @Droplover... Great ideas. 

I am still on a visitor visa as I am currently hunting for my retirement home.... I think that the main thing here is to make sure to take a volunteer position that is totally and clearly unpaid.  I read somewhere that I might get into trouble if the authorities think that I am taking a salary on a visitor visa.

I guess that if there are existing expat groups like @peter_itamaraca have setup, this will allow someone to help out while on vacation...

        @Pablo888 Have you considered teaching english on a volunteer basis?  There is a huge demand for this.  The average working class Brazilian can not afford lessons.  Invest a bit of time and a little money and get TEFL certified, or other certification and help Brazilian people learn some English.  There are many stray animals in Brazil.  If you like dogs or cats  I'm sure you can volunteer at an animal shelter or even better foster in your home.  If you speak Portugese you can volunteer at a hospital.  Many hospitals and retirement homes have volunteer opportunities.    -@Droplover

Thank you @Droplover... Great ideas. 
I am still on a visitor visa as I am currently hunting for my retirement home.... I think that the main thing here is to make sure to take a volunteer position that is totally and clearly unpaid.  I read somewhere that I might get into trouble if the authorities think that I am taking a salary on a visitor visa.

I guess that if there are existing expat groups like @peter_itamaraca have setup, this will allow someone to help out while on vacation...
   

    -@Pablo888

It is a lofty undertaking, granted you are set out to  work  with impoverished children. 

But if you do so, you need to pratice your mettle in a controlled environment, meaning a charity of some sorts, that can provide facilities, supervisioning ( annoying to deal with but necessary). 

Striking out on your own might invite you to liabilities, after all you are dealing with minors.  Even if their parents are from humble means. 

You also can do this as a group session with adults, on specific groups who actually stand to benefit in learning English.  Folks such as waitsfaff , prostitutes, taxicab drivers, retail clerks, street vendors, even low level computer jocks.

@Pablo888 I would love to do something to help the stray dogs in North Eastern Brazil.

As far as occupying my time I have two YouTube channels to do. Unfortunately half my equipment is in the USA which I cannot go to until my Permanent Residency Visa is approved. In the meantime I am brushing up on my skills on Skill Share.

Roddie in Retirement

@Droplover All Great Suggestions. I used to teach English for CAMBLY, the smartphone app. Most of our students were from Brazil as well as Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It is a bit easier to do it from your computer without the local regulations.

When I finally get my Permanent Residency Visa by Spouse. Hopefully in this DECADE. I can get the remainder of my You Tube equipment in the USA and launch my Learning English Channel.

As for the Stray Dogs. If in this world I am successful enough I am going to arrange with a non-profit to place Fountain Water Bowls in the neighborhoods for strays to keep hydrated. They currently scrounge through trash to find food, but in this heat I have no idea where they get water.

Roddie in Retirement