Hospitaleros

[crhutch]

Are there any associations or groups that works to place people who want to work (volunteer) as hospitaleros in private albergues?

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Are there any associations or groups that works to place people who want to work (volunteer) as hospitaleros in private albergues?

Why in a private and not a muni or paroquial?

 

[crhutch]

Why in a private and not a muni or paroquial?

. We are serving as hospitaleros in Zamora now. We have had a number of pilgrims asking about working not only in munis & paroquial but also private. I can answer for the first two but not the third.

 

[HeidiL]

Rebekah, who posts here, and at http://moratinoslife.blogspot.no/ , is in charge of getting volunteers for two albergues, and knows everyone.

 

[Jan_D]

There was a similar thread a few days ago: there don't seem to be any organisations placing volunteers in private albergues, but this is because they are businesses so not sure how many volunteers would be willing to work for free. To sum up (link below): you could e-mail a bunch of albergues privados and see if anyone responds, you could contact caminosantiago.org on the off chance they need volunteers whether 'trained' or not, you could write to Rebekah, or you could check the website 'workaday.info' where you occasionally find albergue jobs in exchange for bed and board:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...jo-temporario-en-el-camino.46275/#post-491190

 

[Pingüigrino]

The owner of La Casa de las Sonrisas in Grañon ( The "hippie albergue" ) are searching for volunteers hospitaleros who want to stay there for fifteen days. This albergue had been renovated over the month of february, and it looks like a good place to stay. This albergue is donativo and has lot of spirit, has their own "soul"
http://www.radiocaminodesantiago.co...s-sonrisas-necesita-hospitaleros-voluntarios/
lacasadelassonrisas.albergue@gmail.com
kj17_887@hotmail.com

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Rebekah, who posts here, and at http://moratinoslife.blogspot.no/ , is in charge of getting volunteers for two albergues, and knows everyone.

But not for private ones.

 

[crhutch]

The owner of La Casa de las Sonrisas in Grañon ( The "hippie albergue" ) are searching for volunteers hospitaleros who want to stay there for fifteen days. This albergue had been renovated over the month of february, and it looks like a good place to stay. This albergue is donativo and has lot of spirit, has their own "soul"
http://www.radiocaminodesantiago.co...s-sonrisas-necesita-hospitaleros-voluntarios/
lacasadelassonrisas.albergue@gmail.com
kj17_887@hotmail.com

Hello Pinguigrino! The last time we saw you was in Samos last year! Hope you are doing good!

 

[Tincatinker]

I'll state from the start: no criticism of the OP here. Its a fair question asked out of interest but my reaction is: Hmm, all it needs is a suitable website / app. Register, for a small fee, and work for free for a privately owned business that probably won't charge you much for accommodation and food. Or you could undertake a charity expedition for a donation that might cover 1% of the chief-execs salary. Or you could just hang-back for half an hour in the morning and help the volunteer hospitaler@ in the donativo unblock the toilets and mop the floors.

I can appreciate that people can walk a bit of camino and fall in love with the life-style or just want to spend more time in camino but there are plenty of places on, and off, camino that could really do with enthusiastic and committed support that aren't looking for a bottom line somewhere above break-even.

 

[julie]

One of the participants in my recent hospitalero training course wanted to serve in his favourite gite on the Le Puy route in France. The owners are pilgrims themselves and not only gave everyone a warm welcome and offered a communal meal, they drove him to a neighbouring town so he could have his glasses repaired.

After doing the hospitalero training course, he wrote to them and asked if they would accept him as a volunteer hospitalero. He received an immediate affirmative reply.

My heart is with ensuring the donativo albergues are staffed but I am aware that some pilgrims desire to serve in particular albergues be they donativo or fixed-price private ones. I would advise doing hospitalero training before offering your services - not because I'm a trainer but because at least then the owners/managers know that you understand what the role entails.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Rebekah here. "The Red" is a network of private albergues on the Camino, the person to talk to is Acacio, of Albergue Acacio and Orietta in Viloria de Rioja. Maybe he can help you. (He also coordinates the BikeLine association of albergues that welcome bicycle pilgrims. He's a marketing whiz.) http://alberguescamino.com/
Because private albergues are usually for-profit enterprises, we the trainers and coordinators dedicated to the old-school minimalist approach try to keep the trained volunteer base geared toward the non-profit sector. We cannot and do not compete with ongoing businesses, we don't take jobs away from local workers, and our volunteers don't usually feel exploited at the end of their term of service.
Our trainers are volunteers, our trainees are volunteers, and our albergues are non-profit institutions. For us to put our labor into training hospis, who then put their skills to work (for no pay) for someone to profit from our goodwill is a bit disingenuous, if not exploitative. Even when they are really nice people.
IMHO, if they are making a profit from pilgrims, they should pay their help a living wage. They shouldn't exploit the volunteer infrastructure for their private gain.