Voluntario Claver

This week I have started my visits with non-profit/non-governmental organizations in Spain. The purpose of my research is to obtain more information on the way these NGO's are managed in Spain, some of the programs they put on, and how they focus on immigration. The first organization I visited yesterday was Voluntario Claver. Located off one of the main streets in Sevilla, the office is secured very well behind a locked gate with a long walk way. The office was great, very spacious with several rooms used for the different programs that the organization sponsors. The organization focuses on bettering the lives of immigrants. It wasn't an original organization that I planned to use but was suggested by one of the directors at my study abroad program and it seemed to be a perfect fit. The main program the NGO offers is an "Escuela Encultural" which is a school for adult immigrants that offers courses like economics and language classes along with annual programs that offers tours of the city, information about the government, and cultural classes to become familiar with the Spanish culture. They do four of these different outside activities a year. They also offer courses for the children of immigrants which include math, english, and language courses. The classes run from Septmeber to June and students usually attend 3 times a week. The organization also helps with job placement so students can work and go to school. I beleive they help students find jobs within the school or at the local university but I need to double check this fact to make sure. Immigrants are usally from several countries including Paraguay, Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, and a few from Africa, but mostly from Bolivia and Ecuador. The demographics of the school usually run around 100 adults, with 30 young people, 15 women, and 10 children.

This is just a quick summary of some things I wrote down while talking to one of the directors at the organization. I was able to get a few pamphlets with more information on their programs and purpose and will be sure to expand and target a couple of those programs when writing my larger research paper. I was also able to get a lot of great information from the director's answers to my surveys as he took the time to type the answers and email them back to me with great answers to all of them. I will have plenty of material to use when writing more about this in the fall and I am so grateful that everyone so far has been so supportive of my research. It has been a challenge trying to listen very attentively while the NGO employees speak very quickly but a positive challenge that has helped me practice my spanish and ask even more questions. It is also a great feeling of accomplishment when I leave knowing even more about an organization that is making such a great difference in Spain and the way I can use my research in the future.