VZW Intercambio

Who are we?

Vzw Intercambio is a non-profit association that guides volunteers in social projects with the aim of safeguarding the basic rights of underprivileged teenagers and in this way minimize social inequalities in the world.

Intercambio is an initiative arisen from our team's many experiences with voluntary work, in which we want to focus on quality, and thus offer valuable volunteering experiences.

Why Intercambio?

Intercambio is the Spanish word for exchange. We believe that the exchange of culture, language, and competences at a young age is valuable for the development of personality and thus offers interesting chances for life. We see volunteering programs as a form of exchange. Both the volunteer, the hosting organization and the target group (underprivileged teenagers) can learn from each other, i.e. the knowledge doesn’t go only in one direction.

We believe that it’s not up to the Western countries to impose on developing countries how they should live, but instead development work should rather be an exchange of knowledge, culture and competences. We as an organization are planning to be the facilitator of the different “exchanges“, and will support all parties during this process.

What are our missions?

1. Empowering Children through Equal Opportunities

We want to take action against the unequal distribution of wealth and consequently unequal opportunities for children in the world. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, drawn up by the United Nations, states that every child deserves a chance for a good development. If society doesn’t provide those chances, we see it as our duty to organize or enforce them.

2. Encouraging Connections Across Diverse Communities

Life is all about exchange. We want to facilitate and support exchange, because it’s our opinion that we spend too much time within our own culture. We want to stimulate people to reach out and engage with people from different backgrounds. ​

3. Sustainable and affordable Volunteer Opportunities

We offer an alternative for the commercial “voluntourism” of travel agencies. The volunteer positions at Intercambio are affordable, and all profits go directly to the ultimate goal of the projects: "self-sustainability of the local population”.