Nicaraguan families are very hospitable by nature and the whole family willingly engages the students and welcomes them into their home. If you have any special dietary or personal preferences, they can usually be accommodated. NSS students are usually overwhelmed by the warmth of Nicaraguan hospitality. However, you can request to change homestays after you are placed if you have a problem with a particular setting. Nicaragua has few large institutions for social service work.
Most volunteer work is done through small local community programs, so it is more personal.
Once you arrive at your school, either your class, afternoon activities or your school director can introduce you to organizations that might be of interest to you for volunteer work. Usually, if there is work to be done that you can help with, you will be invited to participate. If you want to stay on working after your NSS program is over, you can extend your homestay with your family. NSS offers tuition reduction for groups of four or more that register together for the same program. We calculate the tuition for each person in your group and take a discount percentage off that total depending on the number of group members and the type of program.