Do Guatemala

Placement organization

Name of organization: Do Guatemala
Town/city: Quetzaltenango
Country: Guatemala

Website: http://www.do-guatemala.com

Student

Name of student: Monica Vink

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touragency
Organization’s activities: Making travel and volunteer arrangements. Although the company also sells a lot of seperate products, the main business is to have volunteers or travelers who arrange their trip beforehand. Volunteers are also monitored during their stay in Guatemala. Furthermore marketing activities.
Target group of the organization: Volunteers, travelers
Company culture: Informal, no different departments. Also be prepared on the fact that you’ll be working from an office which is located in the apartment of the owners!
Number of employees: 2
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? There are no actual departments present in the company as it’s a small company with just the 2 owners working there, however, my main tasks were marketing related.
Brief description of your daily activities: Marketing activities: updating social media pages, forum activity, add site on free listing websites, banner design for the website, write articles to publish. Monitoring volunteers: welcome them, bring them to their projects/spanish classes on their first day, visit them to make pictures. Look for other organisations/companies to partner up with.
Brief description of your company assignment: Market analysis, SWOT analysis, USP’s, marketing strategies
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I think there was a lack of introduction to the company for me. On my first day I was added to the company’s network so that I could access the documents, and I got my list of tasks (the same that was included in my contract), which was all. I had to explore things myself and sometimes I had the feeling that I was expected to do things that I did not know about, or that I didn’t know how to do it in later phases of the internship and I regret that I never asked for a more proper introduction to the company. You’re always allowed to ask things, but in the end it is expected that you can sort things out yourself and that you can work independently.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Photoshop
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? myself (www.casaxelaju.com)
How did you go to work every day? by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No (went of tourists visa, 90 days)
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents:
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 2 months

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes, I needed to refresh my knowledge and I was also not used to talking Spanish outside of the NHTV course, here you have to.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 900 (Ticket NL > GUA & ticker GUA > CA) If you buy a return ticket it should be cheaper, but I decided to visit my family in Canada before going home.
Accommodation (monthly): € 320
Local transport (monthly): € 50
General costs of living (monthly): € 300
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? The company paid my transport from the airport to Quetzaltenango as well as a week of (private) Spanish classes. A week of accommodation in a host family was also included, but I already arranged my accommodation myself.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I read a little about it before going, on the internet, travel guides etc. But I also kind of jumped into it and decided to see it for myself.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes, taking more time for things while normally I wouldn’t

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: monavink@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t walk alone on the streets after sunset, make sure you either walk with a bunch of people or take a taxi. Please don’t be naive! Also, don’t hesitate to contact me so we can make an appointment!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: In zona 1 there is always something to do when you want to go out, enough bars and activities. On tuesday, King&Queen has a quiznight, which is actually really fun, while on wednesdays La Parranda has free salsa classes, which is a must if you’re in Latin America! There are also enough restaurants, I recommend Panorama, where you have an amazing view over Quetzaltenango. Besides that, there are enough other places to visit, such as Montericco beach, Panajachel, Antigua and other cities, you can easily book your transport and accommodation there via a travel agency. If you have the time, I would recommend you to visit Tikal, and if you need to extent your visa, Caye Caulker, Belize is amazing!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link