Volunteers: Other Volunteers

In addition to the roles outlined on the volunteer pilot and healthcare volunteer pages, volunteers play three other critical roles for LMV: as interpreters or general volunteers on clinic trips, and as administrative volunteers in the US to support the day-to-day functioning of LMV. Indeed, some volunteers perform multiple such roles.

Spanish Language Interpreters
Each of our clinic trips requires at least one Spanish-language interpreter; some trips, like multiple-aircraft Mexico trips or our Central America trips, require more.

Good conversational-level Spanish is the minimum we require for service as an interpreter. We particularly value a comfortable knowledge of health-related words. LMV's member resources pages have useful Spanish language links, including vocabulary lists, if you'd like to increase or refresh your knowledge prior to a trip.

What's it like to volunteer as an interpreter for an LMV trip? In three words: exhausting but rewarding. You may be the only Spanish-speaker on a four- or five-person team running a clinic in Mexico, and although most of our returning pilot and healthcare volunteers pick up words here or there, your skills may be needed not only during patient treatment, but also to help the group order meals in a restaurant, or to interpret when the group meets with the mayor or other local officials. You'll hear the thankfulness of the people LMV treats first, and help convey it to your team. And it's the best language practice you can get.

Further questions? Ask your trip coordinator to put you in touch with one of our experienced interpreters, or contact your nearest LMV chapter.

Please note that as with all trip participants, interpreters pay a trip fee that varies according to the location of the clinic. Please visit our trip signup page for more information.

General Volunteers
General volunteers do everything on LMV trips from equipment sterilization, to generator maintenance, intake recordkeeping, photography, or report writing. Even with no healthcare training, the healthcare volunteers on your team may teach you to assist them by handing them instruments, holding a flashlight to help a dentist see inside a patient's mouth, or do any of the other dozens of tasks required to help a clinic trip run smoothly on the ground.

Because our clinics require foremost the volunteer assistance of healthcare professionals, interpreters, and (for Mexico and Oasis trips) pilots, and because team sizes are limited, we may not have space on a trip immediately for you as a general volunteer. Contributing your time and energy as an administrative volunteer (see below) will help give you additional knowledge that may make you more valuable as a general volunteer on a trip, so consider volunteering for the appropriate LMV chapter if you are able. Otherwise, please do let your trip coordinator know you're interested in continuing to be considered for a trip, and s/he will place you on a team as soon as circumstances permit.

Further questions? Ask your trip coordinator to put you in touch with one of our experienced general volunteers, or contact your nearest LMV chapter.

Please note that as with all trip participants, general volunteers pay a trip fee that varies according to the location of the clinic. Please visit our trip signup page for more information.

Administrative Volunteers
All of LMV's work is made possible by the leadership and support of the administrative volunteers in each chapter and at the central "corporate" level – our chapter board members, fundraiser event organizers, newsletter editors, membership roster-keepers, and other members who attend meetings and support LMV in myriad ways.

Every LMV chapter has administrative openings that change periodically. For the most updated openings, see the Chapter Officers & Administration sections of our chapter pages.