Resource - Volunteerism Action Guide

Service-Learning and Volunteerism may have become common fare for high school-ers, college students, and adults in the United States, but bringing these ideas and practices into our work in Nicaragua can be a powerful way to empower adult or youth groups in site. A service activity can bring together a group of teachers, or health workers, or members of a specific neighborhood—depending on community needs and your connections.

As part of its V2 Volunteerism initiative, Peace Corps has published a “Volunteerism Action Guide: Multiplying the Power of Service.” According to an article on the Peace Corps website…

With the V2 Volunteerism initiative, the Peace Corps seeks to help Volunteers inspire and support host country volunteerism by integrating elements of service learning into community development work. This booklet will show you how to motivate and support communities to make service a common experience.

How do I use the Volunteerism Action Guide?

This guide assists you and partners to facilitate service learning activities in your communities. It should be adapted to the setting, language, and culture in which you are working. It may be used for a short-term volunteer activity or to launch a longer term service initiative.

This first section is an introduction and overview. You may want to return to this section for definitions, standards, or service learning activity ideas.

Part 2 is step-by-step instructions on how to develop service learning projects. Each step provides tools or complimentary resources and an example of the step from a real service learning project.

Part 3 is a template you and your service partner can use to create your own volunteer action guide for your group or organization. This template can be translated into the local language and used as a basic “how to” guide for community service and action.

Click here to download the Volunteerism Action Guide in English and in Spanish.