Background:
The Red Tinku began as a socio-political and cultural network fighting for the rights of low- income families in the department of Cochabamba. Red Tinku was one of the first organizations to place volunteers in the area and has now been in operation for more than twenty years.

Objectives:
Tinku aims to improve the lives of impoverished and marginalized women and children. The organization offers education, legal, healthcare, psychological, and childcare services to the people it serves.  Tinku focuses a great deal of effort on imparting practical skills, so as to facilitate job searches. Along the same lines, women are taught how to set up micro-enterprise projects, which could potentially ensure a steady flow of income.

Who does Tinku help?
Tinku serves socially and economically vulnerable women and children who come from low income backgrounds. These families usually live on the outskirts of Cochabamba, have little or no education, and mainly work as street vendors.

Working conditions:
Tinku’s main office is in the center of Cochabamba and the organization also runs a restaurant, library and community center on the outskirts.

Tinku Programs:

Tinkuna:

The Tinkuna provides educational training and support to children and adolescents, and includes a leadership workshop and a library. A small team organize workshops, seminars, concerts and other social and cultural events aimed at providing marginalized groups with a better education. It is located about 15 minutes’ bus ride from the city center.

The Support Center for Working Women:
The center provides educational, legal, medical, and psychological support for women in the workforce. The center provides night classes and weekend workshops on diverse topics, such as family planning, violence prevention, and business strategies.

Volunteer/ internship opportunities include:

• Develop and run workshops
• Help with administration
• Fundraise
• Provide psychological, legal, or medical support (dependent upon experience)

The Training and Micro-enterprise Support Center:
The center runs workshops to help start up micro-enterprises in fields such as food and cleaning services. In addition Tinku runs a restaurant, La Cartuja, operated by the people they serve.

Volunteer/ internship opportunities include:

• Market new micro-enterprises
• Assist with workshops
• Help with finances/accounting
• Fundraise
• Research into new products/markets

Volunteer/ Internship requirements:

• Intermediate Spanish
• Knowledge/experience in field mentioned above (e.g. education, accounting, etc) desirable
• Experience/willingness to work with children, if applying for La Jardin de la Fantasia
• Open minded, enthusiastic, good interpersonal skills
• Minimum commitment period of 2-3 months