International Volunteering

Juan Ciudad ONGD (JCONGD) is a Non-Governmental Development Organization (NGDO) created by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God (OHSJD) in Spain in 1991, which works in the social and health field from International Cooperation, for Sustainable Human Development and the defense of Human Rights, with special attention to the right to health, promoting access for all people to social and health care services, its area of action being the most disadvantaged regions of the planet.

JCONGD's counterparts are the OHSJD hospitals and social-health centres in impoverished countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

We have four areas of activity: Development cooperation projects, Humanitarian Logistics, Volunteering, and Awareness and Education for Development (EpD).

The objectives of the organization are:

Provide decent levels of health and social well-being to vulnerable populations in impoverished countries.

Implement development projects proposed by counterparts in Africa, Latin America and Asia to improve health.

To raise awareness in society in general about the challenges and needs of impoverished countries due to poverty and its social and health consequences.

Support counterparts to be distributors and multipliers of the aid they receive in their areas of influence.

The Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God of the Province of Spain is a non-profit institution of the Catholic Church, whose mission is to heal and care for the most disadvantaged people, placing them at the centre and attending to their physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions.

In Spain, the Hospitaller Order has 178 Brothers and 80 health, social, socio-health, teaching and research centres. Together with 17,492 professionals, 4,500 volunteers, and 36,285 donors and members, San Juan de Dios serves more than 2,770,000 people each year with a model of care centred on the person and adapted to the challenges of today's society and new realities. Its aim is to promote and improve people's health and quality of life, without distinction based on gender, beliefs or origin, in order to create a more just and supportive society.

Check out the volunteer options available  here , choose the volunteer proposal that best suits your profile and fill out the form. We will analyze the request and contact you.

It is not necessary to be a worker or volunteer of the OHSJD to volunteer internationally with us. However, most of the people who participate in our international volunteering are workers or volunteers from the OHSJD centres in Spain.

If you are a member of staff at an OHSJD centre, you must contact the Juan Ciudad delegate at your centre. Failing that, if there is no such person, contact the Volunteer or Solidarity Coordination at your centre.

You must select the volunteer proposal that best suits your profile and interest, learn about the process here. The Juan Ciudad international volunteer coordination will contact you. If you fit the profile, we will call you for an interview.

From December to April, proposals for international volunteering for the corresponding year will be available on our website. After these dates, you will not be able to apply for that year's international volunteering and will have to wait until the following year.

What sets us apart is that we only volunteer with centres belonging to the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God in countries in Africa, Latin America or Asia. We do not work with other organisations as local partners. These centres generally have a long history in the area, and are well-established and prestigious centres in the communities where they carry out their activities. This offers greater guarantees to volunteers during their stay.

We only work in countries where there are centers of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God and which have requested to receive international volunteers that year. You can filter by country and see the options available at that time on the Juan Ciudad-Voluntariado website. (https://juanciudad.org/voluntariado-internacional/).

No, we have some profiles from other areas (communications, IT, etc.). They vary depending on the offers each year. However, as we work with social-health centres, most of our profiles are from the health field. You can filter by type on the volunteering website. https://juanciudad.org/voluntariado-internacional/

We also have some support profiles, where it is not necessary to have a specific profession.

• Training and/or experience in the requested fields
• Availability of required time
• Good command of the language depending on the country
• Previous experience in international cooperation and/or volunteering
• People interested in participating in international volunteering are also required to:
  • Have solidarity motivations and availability for voluntary participation in favor of other people
  • Commitment to equal rights for all human beings, recognizing the differences that enrich us
  • Commitment to the organization's principles and objectives
  • Willingness to complete the procedures and assume the commitments that this voluntary participation entails

The volunteer contributes to the expenses of:
o Travel to the destination country (airline tickets and others)
o Mandatory and recommended vaccinations and prophylaxis
o Management and expenses of the visas required for the destination country
o Personal expenses, outings, tourism, others

The receiving center incurs the following expenses:
o Transfer from the airport to the center/hospital in the destination country
o Accommodation and food with available resources and according to local customs, during the time agreed for voluntary participation (according to signed voluntary agreement)

Juan Ciudad ONGD covers health care and accident insurance during the time agreed for voluntary participation.

o Adaptability, flexibility, ability to function in different cultural contexts and with fewer resources
o Intercultural communication and interpersonal relationship skills (negotiation, conflict resolution, etc.)
o Self-knowledge and emotional competence (tolerance to frustration, uncertainty, loneliness, etc.)
o Autonomy, self-esteem, self-care

If you only speak Spanish, you will only be able to go to Latin American countries where we have open volunteering options. Remember that each volunteer profile has its own skills, you will only be able to go to countries where you can communicate fluently.

As an essential part of its cooperation activity, JCONGD promotes, within international volunteering, the realization of collaborations in the medical and surgical field in the health centers of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God in different countries that request it. These are our medical-surgical campaigns or voluntary collaborations.
Joint collaboration with health organizations, medical-surgical teams or volunteer professionals with experience in medical-surgical cooperation can take different forms, such as: training support to strengthen local capacities, technical assistance, or the promotion of specialized medical-surgical care.

Regarding the promotion of specialized medical-surgical care, JCONGD differentiates between the development of campaigns or voluntary collaborations:
• Medical-surgical campaigns, involving volunteer teams with the aim of developing a medical or surgical activity requested by the OHSJD health centres, on an extraordinary basis, which entails prior organisation and coordination between the parties and assuming responsibilities that are specified in a “Memorandum of understanding” (MOU) Commitment model.
• Voluntary collaborations involve professionals with the profile requested by the OHSJD centres, who join them to voluntarily support ordinary medical and surgical activity. The management of these collaborations follows the general JCONGD protocol for volunteering.

•  Professional teams from healthcare centres of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, especially those linked through twinning programmes with centres of the Order in countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
• Organizations, societies, foundations and other entities with a healthcare profile and proven experience in international cooperation in the medical-surgical field, which are aligned with the Mission, Vision and Objectives of Juan Ciudad ONGD, as well as with the principles and values of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God.
•  Specialized professionals in the medical-surgical field, with proven experience in their field. They may be people linked to the institution, through twinning programs, or without any link to it, aligned with the Mission, Vision and Objectives of Juan Ciudad ONGD, as well as with the principles and values of the Hospital Order of Saint John of God.

You must contact the coordination of the JCONGD volunteer department juanciudad.voluntariado@sjd.es