Volunteering and Internships

The Takiwasi Center can receive a limited number of volunteers, interns and researchers from different nationalities and disciplines. We will give priority exclusively to those people who can offer a specific service to the Center and can cater to a specific internal need for Takiwasi, under certain conditions.

It should be noted that Takiwasi is a non-profit civil association with a limited yearly budget which is self-generated; it does not receive support from the government, it only eventually receives donations from foundations and individuals.

The income generated through the therapeutic activities that involve the intake of plants and through the provision of different services allow us to generate the resources to finance the treatment of patients suffering with drug addiction with limited economic resources, and to carry out other activities of social impact for the benefit of the population.

Volunteering

The presence in the Center, in contact with patients with severe drug addiction, requires specific Rules of Conduct here indicated. In addition to these general rules the following should be considered:

• The volunteering period at Takiwasi Center cannot exceed 6 months.
• The volunteer is in charge of all his travel expenses, including food and accommodation, for the entire duration of his stay. Takiwasi is not a life community, we do not provide accommodation nor food services and our primary service is dedicated to the treatment and care of drug-addict patients in residential treatment.
• The support given in a volunteering context is by its very own nature a spontaneous, optional and voluntary contribution, and therefore the Center does not provide any compensation for those who wish to live this kind of experience.

It is possible to undertake the volunteer service in one of the following areas:

• Administration
• Accounting
• Library
• Laboratory of natural products
• Therapy (in this case we will exclusively accept professionals with experience in the treatment of addictions).
• Maintenance of the infrastructure
• IT department

Volunteering does not include the intake of Amazonian medicinal plants at Takiwasi Center. If a person is interested in participating in a plants intake process, he/she will adapt to the registration process of the Retreats/Diets or Seminars that is independent from the enrollment as volunteer. This must be done at the same time but in a separate form from the request to volunteer. It is not possible to add, during your volunteering at Takiwasi, intake of plants that have not been planned in advance. Plants therapy necessarily imply concomitant psychotherapeutic accompaniment. In case of approval, the modalities and costs of plant therapy will be then determined. There is no possibility of exchanging volunteer services with plant therapy.

Internships

In the case of professional internship or research, the interested person registers their stay in a personal training process. They will then have access to the services of Takiwasi, taking from this experience a personal benefit in their professional dimension. In this case the intern should consider paying a monthly fee for the use of Takiwasi services. This is separate from plants intake and therapeutic follow-up in case of performing a personal process of this type. In the negotiation phase, an agreement will be reached with the interested party on the minimum financial contribution to be paid to the institution based on their personal possibilities.

- Therapeutic area
In this case, preference will be given to psychology students or with training in mental health and professionals with experience in the treatment of addictions. They should have the support of an academic institution, and an agreement should be signed with Takiwasi. It is essential to speak a basic Spanish to be able to intern in this area.

- Research
Preference will be given to researchers who have the support of an academic institution and who have previous research experience. If the researcher is planning to perform the investigation after having obtained a scholarship as a result of a project prepared with the support of Takiwasi, a mandatory financial compensation to the Center shall be established.
Researchers interested in studying Takiwasi’s therapeutic model should show a positive disposition towards traditional medicines and a sincere openness to the therapeutic practices employed, especially with regard to the energetic/spiritual context. Further requirements, including an interinstitutional agreement and the requirement for prior review and/or co-authorship for the publication of the research results will be indicated during the negotiation stage.

Anyone wishing to develop a research project at the Takiwasi Center must take into account the guidelines set forth by the Institutional Research Review Committee established through Multiple Memorandum Nº001-2021-TAKIWASI/PE, which ensures ethical standards for research involving human subjects.

- Other disciplines
Internships in other disciplines (botany, sustainable development, ecology and environment, public health, etc.) can be considered as long as Takiwasi deems it convenient.

For more information and to apply for a volunteering or internship, write to: takiwasi@takiwasi.com

Takiwasi is currently looking for volunteers and interns to cover the following positions: