Take Yourself to New Places
"And the end of your exploring will be to arrive where you started and to know the place for the first time." T.S. Eliot
We go away to come home. So take yourself to new places with Compañeros. Safe. Adventurous. Challenging. We’ll get you where you want to go.
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You are a student or a professional; a family member or a retired person; on your own or part of a group; younger or older; realistic yet still reaching. Reaching because the world grabs your attention and you want to give in real, practical terms. Reaching because you'll be given inspiration by going and making our local and global community a better place.
Compañeros Inc is Canada’s premier company for organizing and facilitating safe, adventurous, and challenging volunteer service and cross-cultural learning experiences in Nicaragua with Nicaraguans.
Operated along ethical principles of equality, respect, and mutual benefit, your participation results in personal growth and community development between North and Central Americans.
As a Participant you demonstrate a better way of serving, learning, and travelling. Helpful preparation resources, thoughtful trip itineraries, low ecological footprint practices, reliable in-country logistics and programs, your program fees get you friendly and professional guidance to reach your goals.
And you benefit others. By designing service projects with local partners, employing local tradespeople, purchasing local materials, hiring and training local staff, living with host families, meeting with local artists, activists, and humanitarian agencies, and enjoying beautiful tourist destinations, your participation respectfully recognizes and enriches the lives of Nicaraguans committed to improving their own country.
Register for one of our programs or contact us to custom design a safe, adventurous, and challenging experience to meet your needs. Dream of new places to take yourself with Compañeros. We'll get you there and home again.
Founder & President
Gonzalo DuarteGonzalo Duarte is the founder and president of Compañeros Inc. Since 1993 he has organized and facilitated volunteer service and cross-cultural learning experiences for over 500 hundred individual and group participants aged 7 to 77 in 8 countries.
His growth as an educator and social entrepreneur is thanks to an excellent network of relations with Canadian participants and Nicaraguan leaders in academic, church, and non-governmental organizations that improve people’s lives directly.
Originally from Toronto and an alumnus of Queen's (Education), Waterloo (Peace & Conflict Studies) and McMaster (Politics) universities, Gonzalo was a high school teacher and lay chaplain in Ontario from 1989-2000. In 2000-2001 he embarked on a voyage which resulted in the writing of Five Alive: A Family Journey in North and Central America.
Gonzalo coordinated the Future Quest program at Queen's University from 2003-2006 while completing a certificate in youth ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. Between 2007-2009 he worked with the United Church of Canada and Air Canada Jazz in Victoria, BC.
Now living in Managua where he manages Compañeros Inc, Gonzalo's capacity to design safe, adventurous, and challenging programs, and to provide attentive logistical support to individuals and groups, makes him Canada's go-to-man in Nicaragua. Contact him by email.