It was a daunting thought that I would be looking after a class of kids and speaking only very little Spanish myself. 
Program Volunteer Bolivia
Project: Volunteer Teaching English in Bolivia
But after my first day I realised none of that matters, play is universal!
Because that's what the experience felt like for me, even though teaching was clearly a fundamental part of the reasoning for me volunteering in the first place.
Every aspect of the teaching I did was made into a game...
It is a challenge teaching children English when you don't speak their native language well, but I think you learn as much as they do during the process. And definitely have fun every step of the way.
I stayed with Kattia and Alvaro and their family in Santa Cruz, they were incredibly welcoming and made me feel very at home living with them. They looked after several volunteers and together it felt like we were all a part of the family. One of the things I feel I can take away from the experience is being fully immersed in the culture. By staying with the family and experiencing the way that they live you really come to learn things that you would never normally get the benefit from. You also have the added bonus of making many new friends from so many different parts of the world. Living with other volunteers also guarantees you a lot of fun and people to go out with and get to know Santa Cruz for what it can be. A 24 hour party city!
I was only in Santa Cruz for 3 weeks which is a relatively short time to volunteer, but it had a profound impact on me and is definitely something I would jump at the chance of doing again, working in the school and orphanage with under privileged children gave me a tremendous sense of well being and they are memories I will always treasure.
Jack Turton
