Programs Volunteer Exchange

In 2014, Ciudad Refugio had the opportunity to meet a German citizen who lived in Medellín and worked for the Worldwide Volunteers organization in Germany as a mentor for young German volunteers serving in Colombia. From that relationship, a relationship was established between both organizations and that year we received our first group of 3 volunteers. Since 2014, we have been receiving young German volunteers annually who serve in our programs.

The German volunteers serving at Ciudad Refugio teach English and German in our home schooling program, assist with various tasks in our restaurant and bakery, and work with our food and outreach programs in the local community. Our German volunteers also launched a fundraising initiative to raise awareness and funds for Ciudad Refugio’s programs. One day a week they bake German pastries that they then sell in affluent neighborhoods in Medellín, while distributing information about Ciudad Refugio.

In 2016, this program was expanded to include the selection, training, and sending of Colombian volunteers to serve in social service projects in Germany. Colombian volunteers in Germany serve in organizations that work with children, the elderly, refugees, and within the Worldwide Volunteers office.

Currently, Ciudad Refugio serves as a base of operations for those interested in traveling to volunteer in Germany, managing the selection, training and preparation processes of outgoing volunteers. We also advise and train German volunteers working in the Medellín area.

Germans in Colombia

Happyschooling and German class

.Our German volunteers teach German to students in our HappySchooling program as well as to Colombians who apply to volunteer in Germany. They also serve as mentors to children and young people involved in our programs.

German Bread

In 2014, our first group of German volunteers launched the “German Bread” project, where they baked German bread and cakes to sell in an affluent neighborhood of Medellin. The project continues each year with new groups of volunteers who come to our foundation and in this way we can raise funds and raise awareness about the Ciudad Refugio programs in different places in the city.

Lydia | German volunteer serving in Colombia

Serving at Ciudad Refugio as a volunteer has been one of the most beautiful things that has ever happened to me. I am in awe of all the things I have been able to see and experience during my time here in Colombia. Every funny, surprising, amazing, touching, and heartbreaking moment adds up to a year full of opportunities to serve, learn, and grow.

Priscila| Voluntaria colombiana sirviendo en Alemania

Being in Germany, I have grown in all areas. I have a growing sense of what it means to be here as a Latina, as well as the responsibility I have to be the best version of Colombia that the people around me can see. During my stay, I have learned to be proactive, to give much more than I thought I had, to know God on a deeper level, at the level of solitude, to enjoy the company of people without understanding what they say, to sacrifice my comfort to connect with people, to pay the price for the realization of my dreams, and to develop a different level in the relationship with my family and my church.

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