At a glance
- This is a volunteer opportunity with Projects Abroad. Devxchange will assist you in choosing the right fit, raising funds with your own campaign page, issuing tax receipts to donors if project meets CRA criteria as a charitable activity. Devxchange will also assist you in onboarding with Projects Abroad.
- This project takes place outside of a hospital environment, focusing on vulnerable communities in the Cebu province.
- Work with doctors and nurses to do basic health checks during home visits and outreaches.
- Run workshops to help promote healthy lifestyle choices and hygiene practices whilst learning skills like measuring blood pressure.
Details
- Conduct screening outreaches
- Raise awareness about healthcare, nutrition and hygiene
- Present cooking classes making healthy, affordable meals
- Record, analyse, and report data
Includes/Excludes
Food and accommodation
- Food (three meals a day)
- Airport pick-up and drop-off
- Full induction and orientation by an experienced staff member on arrival
- Transport to and from your work placement
- In-country support and 24-hour back-up from our team of full-time local staff
- Emergency assistance from our international emergency response team
- Project equipment and materials, including access to our database with thousands of resources
- Training and workshops from our experienced local staff
- Regular social events and community activities with other volunteers and interns
- Access to our local office with internet connection
- Certification of project completion
- Access to our alumni services and discounts
- Visa support and advice
- Fundraising support, including your own personalized fundraising website with DevXchange
- Tax Receipts for your donors if activity meets CRA criteria for charitable activity.
- Pre-departure preparation by your own specialist Volunteer Advisor
- Personalized MyProjectsAbroad website, with all the information you need about your project, accommodation and destination
- A free cultural awareness course
- Membership to our volunteer social media groups, to share information and to get in touch
- Support to help you complete registration or internship documents, if applicable
Not Included
- Flights
- Visa Costs (where applicable)
- 10% Admin fee for donations involving tax receipts.
Itinerary
This project is ideal for anyone looking to pursue a career in healthcare. You’ll gain gain hands-on experience conducting basic health checks. You’ll work alongside medical professionals on a daily basis, who will offer you guidance and supervision.
Use this experience in the Philippines to add some practical work experience to your CV. Talking about what you learned during your internship in interviews will also give you an extra edge. Gaining public health work experience in the Philippines is also great for students interested in applying for medical school.
You don’t need any prior experience. We’ll teach you everything you need to know.
Our Public Health internships in the Philippines run year-round and require you to participate for a minimum of one week. We encourage you to stay longer, so you can see and learn as much as possible.
Joining our Public Health Internship in the Philippines is a great way to gain practical experience in basic healthcare outside of a hospital environment. Here are some of the tasks you’ll help out with
- Conduct health checks for families in their homes
- Raise awareness about healthcare, nutrition, and hygiene
- Give cooking classes, focusing on healthy and affordable meals for families
- Record, analyse, and report clinical data
A typical day will run from about 8am to 5pm, with an hour and a half set aside for lunch.
You will normally start your day by meeting your fellow interns, supervisor, and coordinators at the office. From there, you will set out for your morning house visits.
If you’re working close to your host family’s home, you can head home for lunch and a bit of a rest. On days you’re working in communities further away, you will get a packed lunch.
Afternoon shifts are normally dedicated to community workshops and cooking classes.
You will also get one day a week to record, analyse and report on findings along with coordinators and inputting this information into our Global Impact Database. Some time can also be set aside to create educational presentations or attend skill improvement workshops.
You’ll either work in Bogo City or the Municipality of San Remigio. These two locations are around 12 km apart, so it’s not far to travel between them if needed. They are situated on the far north of Cebu Island, which is surrounded by 167 smaller islands and islets to form Cebu Province.
Cebu is a tourism hotspot and draws almost 2 million tourists every year. With its palm-lined, white-sand beaches and magnificent diving locations, it’s easy to see why. If you enjoy hiking and the outdoors, you’ll have loads of opportunities to do some mountain tracking. Keep your eyes peeled for cute and curious tarsiers as you go!
Bogo City
Bogo may be a relatively small city, but it’s got everything you need to live comfortably, including shopping centres, ATMs, and restaurants. It’s also got a few impressive heritage sites that are definitely worth seeing while there.
You will be working in several disadvantaged communities within and on the outskirts of the city.
San Remigio
Home to Cebu’s longest coastline and clear, cobalt blue waters, it’s any ocean-lover’s destination. Immerse yourself in this little slice of paradise during your free time over weekends and after work.
Like Bogo City, you’ll also work in disadvantaged communities with limited access to healthcare services.
Food and accommodation
You’ll stay with a host family in Bogo City. They will welcome you into their home, eager to share their customs and have you teach them about your own culture. We believe that this is the best way to immerse yourself in the culture of the Philippines and have a truly unique experience.
On our High School Specials, we will always try to have you share a room with at least one volunteer or intern of the same sex and approximate age. Your room will be modest, but comfortable, clean, and safe.
Your programme fee includes three meals a day.
Free Time and Leisure Activities
The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands, so naturally there are some beautiful beaches where you can relax during your free time. However, there are plenty of other activities to keep you busy during your trip.
With white-sand beaches come all the exciting activities associated with living close to the sea. You can go snorkelling through the pristine waters, play volleyball, or relax on the sand as the sun sets.
In Cebu City itself, you can explore the traditional Carbon Market. For an insight into the country’s history, you can visit Fort San Pedro and Magellan’s Cross. Here, you’ll learn more about the Spanish conquest.
The Spanish influence is also felt in the regular fiestas and street parades held in the Philippines. If you volunteer around the end of January, you’ll even get to experience the Sinulog Festival, a nine day Mardi Gras-style party.
With so many volunteers joining us throughout the year, there will likely be other volunteers in the Philippines during your trip. You can connect with them and explore as a group or travel independently if you prefer.
