The Vice Rectorate for Internationalization and Cooperation at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) hereby announces the call for places to participate in the 13^th edition of the UMH International Development Cooperation Volunteering Program in Rwanda for 2026. One new feature for this edition is that the places are going to be distributed in three different types of stays, lasting anywhere between one month and 10 days. Also, unlike previous editions, the dates for the stays in this edition are quite different: the first stay period is for the first half of May 2026; the second period is for summer 2026; and the third and final stay period is for the second half of January 2027. This call for applications is now open to the entire university community, which includes Faculty & Research Personnel; Technical, Management, Administrative & Services Staff; alumni; and UMH students, and the call for applications shall remain open through January 20, 2026.

The 2026 program is going to be organized by two types of volunteers, divided into three groups, who shall work in situ during different time periods. The first and final period (corresponding to May 2026 and January 2027) shall focus primarily on training, both for teaching staff at Rwandan schools, as well as for health personnel at Nemba Hospital–although other projects may also be included during these periods. Both these groups, of up to 6 people each, shall stay for approximately 10 – 14 days.

The remaining group shall travel to Rwanda in August 2026. This group, consisting of up to 7 people, shall focus mainly on raising awareness. The main tasks for this volunteer group shall be centered at Nemba Hospital and at local cooperatives and entities with which the UMH collaborates, but they may also carry out functions at schools if requested. Stays for this group shall be four weeks long, approximately from mid-July to mid-August 2026, and in accordance with the availability of the program.

The activities carried out by volunteers in Rwanda address different areas, from educational support for the entire community at various schools in the Northern Province of Rwanda, to providing support and training for Rwandan healthcare personnel at Nemba Hospital, in addition to providing social and healthcare assistance for patients and their families at the same hospital. The list of tasks also includes decorating classrooms and pediatric wards, filing medical records, among other tasks, at the same facility. Volunteering tasks may also fall within the framework of UMH needs: coordination and/or dissemination of journalistic reports and documentaries, social media coverage, plus research and technical projects.

The call for applications to participate in this program is now open and shall remain so through January 20, 2026. Details and information about this call and the program are being offered in two online informative sessions. The first is taking place this Friday, December 19, 2025, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon local Central European Time. The second informative session is then taking place after the holiday break, and is set for January 12, 2026, beginning at 3:30 p.m. CET. The first session is going to be recorded and then uploaded to the institutional channel, Global UMH, and may be watched by anybody who is unable to attend the session live. The common link for the virtual sessions is this: https://meet.google.com/chn-suxu-pno.

Further information is available here: https://internacional.umh.es/cooperacion-y-voluntariado/voluntariado/voluntariado-en-ruanda/

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