Volunteer Work in Rio

Hi Laura,

You have to be very careful about volunteer work if you are on a Tourist Visa. Remunerated work of any kind is not permitted on a VITUR, so if there is any kind of stipend paid for such things as lodging, meals or anything like that you could run into some problems with the Feds. As long as you would receive no money at all there should be absolutely no problems with volunteering.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi Laura, do you have any updates about this? I'm looking for something similar!

Thanks!

Rgds

Sandra, you can look for Vera in Saúde Criança, please take a look on the site:
saudecrianca.org.br/

Hi Laura,

There is a very good organisation called i2i (Dois Irmãos) based in Rocinha where you can work as an unpaid volunteer.  They do out of school hours education for the kids from the favela, and is a charity I really believe are doing valuable work in the community.

I also came to Rio to volunteer late last year with the intention of volunteering through Iko Poran (they also partner with IVHQ) who in my opinion are NOT a worthwhile charity.  It's more "voluntourism" for kids on their GAP year who feel like partying in Rio - not my thing.  Lucky I didn't pay for any lodging or anything before I arrived, as after seeing a little bit of what they were about I decided it wasn't for me!

Good luck & let us know how you go!

Megan

If you're looking to volunteer with youth in favelas, a few organizations I can personally recommend (from knowing people who volunteered there or work there) are:

- Two Brothers Foundation in Rocinha
- Rocinha Surf School in Rocinha
- Alzira de Aleluia in Vidigal
- Saúde Criança (previously mentioned) in favelas throughout Rio

Also, Favela Adventures has a good list of some other favela-based volunteering opportunities.

If anyone has questions about volunteering, send me an email at [email protected].