- Learn Spanish in Antigua
- Study in Guatemala
- CdL Spanish School
- Spanish Courses
- Activities & Excursions
- Lodging & Meals
- Volunteer in Guatemala
- Prices & Dates
- How to Apply
- FAQ
- Learning Abroad Books
- Study Abroad Programs
Casa de Lenguas wants to contribute to the social and cultural development of Guatemala, focusing on investing in children and youth, and assisting them in becoming active in deciding their own futures. We do this mainly through supporting education, good health, employment programs and also a sustainable environment.
As a Guatemalan company made up of teachers and staff with backgrounds in social development cooperation, we are eager to take on our responsibility and to involve you, as a student, in it through the following programs:
Volunteering is a great example of how YOU can contribute to the social development of Guatemala. Being a volunteer, you can contribute to the local organization and at the same time you can receive a unique understanding - about yourself as well about the structure and workings of an organization in a developing country. In many cases you get to practice and learn new tasks, a new language, a whole new culture, and with all this experience it is no wonder that your future employees will be interested to see this on your resum� (curriculum vitae).
The local organizations and Casa de Lenguas also hope that you will remember the social reality of Guatemala and be able to continue to act for Guatemala even after you have returned home: by keeping in touch, trying to influence political and economical decisions affecting the poorer countries or just generally promoting a positive attitude towards Guatemala.
Casa de Lenguas works with many organizations all around Guatemala where volunteers are very much appreciated. The organizations are spread all around the country, from Antigua and its surrounding villages to the more remote destinations in the inlands of Guatemala. Depending on your interests, skills and the needs of the organizations we can find you a suitable volunteer placement.
The registration fee that you pay for your Spanish Program goes to Casa de Lenguas Social Responsibility Foundation. Guatemalan organizations, associations and institutions are encouraged to apply for funding for small and medium sized projects, which ideally become self-sustainable, involve an element of cooperation between two or several small organizations and are co-funded by the applying organization.
There is a profound need for various materials for example in schools, clinics and hospitals. If you bring donations when you come to study with us at Casa de Lenguas, we offer $25 off the program cost to show that we appreciate your initiative.
Since we have a close relationship with many organizations and institutions in Guatemala it is easier for us to channel donations to appropriate projects and also to help you decide exactly what kind of donations are good to bring. You can also make cash donations to be used for the Casa de Lenguas Social Responsibility Foundation, for projects or sometimes to cover costs of large shipments of donations. In 2005 we channeled over $225 000 worth of donations.
We are constantly in a process of finding new ways to have as little negative impact on the global environment as possible. At the school we recycle as much as possible, we use real towels in the bathrooms instead of paper towels, we minimize the use of electricity when we can and the garden is tended with a minimum of pesticides.
At the Travel Agency you can join our OK Travel program: we calculate the amount of trees that is needed to compensate the use of fuel for your particular trip. With your contribution we support reforestation and wildlife organizations in Guatemala. For a return flight to Tikal, if you pay $2 towards this program, it gets tripled! We put in another $2 and TACA airlines, our first partner in this program, will also put in $2 - a total of $6, which is enough to compensate your trip by planting more trees and educating the population living in these areas about the importance of keeping the forests alive.
We always welcome new suggestions of how we can be as environmentally friendly as possible.