June Keohane from Co Cork has spent 4 months in Guatemala volunteering for ADISA, a centre caring for people with special needs.

I don't know what it was that drew me to Guatemala but reading up on the volunteer options with EIL I knew that was where I wanted to go. I think the history of the country appealed to me and I really wanted to experience the culture for myself. I believe now that I made the right choice. Guatemala is such a beautiful and diverse country with a mix of cultures and beliefs. My work there was in Santiago Atitlan in Solola, a Mayan community on Lake Atitlan.

I was volunteering with ADISA, an association for people with disabilities in the area. I worked at the school for special education, visited children's homes as part of an early education program and also an after school program for those children who attended their local schools but needed extra help keeping up with their coursework. I was even asked to act as a chaperone when some of the children were travelling to Coban to take part in a sports tournament for children with disabilities. Our soccer team from San Juan La Laguna won their match and will be in the finals of the games in Nicaragua in 2009.

As well as their work with children ADISA also run a physiotherapy centre, and an adult workshop for those in the community cannot otherwise find employment due to disabilities. In the workshop we were making handicrafts to be sold both in Guatemala and the United States so that the people working there could make a living and have some independence.

I felt that I was really accepted by the people I was working with and that they appreciated the effort I put in to the work I was doing. I also felt very much a part of my host family. They were so welcoming and made me feel at home, they were also very patient with me as I learned Spanish and even helped me when I got stuck and wasn't sure how to say something. I really feel that if I was to return to Santiago Atitlan in the future I would be welcomed back in to the community by all the people I can now call friends.

My volunteer experience was something I will never forget and has even helped me to discover what I want to do with my life. It felt so right working with the children at ADISA that I have now started studying to become a special needs teacher. I hope now that the next time I travel to do volunteer work I will have more to offer those I am working with and will be able to make a real difference to their quality of life.

June Keohane