Volunteer Abroad Blog

People are becoming more and more aware of our fragile world. Therefore, the World Bank launched a contest for short documentary films on the social dimensions of climate change.

Click here to have a look at the winning documentary.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Author: Fei An Tjan

Today, I read this article on the New York university newspaper, Excalibur. The article addresses, again, the ongoing discussion that paying to volunteer is not the answer. They claim amongst others that ‘Westerners who give money to go abroad are essentially taking away what could be vital employment and learning opportunities from those they want to help.‘ I do not agree.

People that come here to volunteer are in no way taking away the jobs of the locals. In the case of the English teachers for example, volunteers often work side by side with the teachers of the community. This way, they will not only transfer knowledge to the students, but will often help the teachers with their English as well. Thanks to this, local teachers will be capable of leading their own classes with a better understanding of English which will in the long run also benefit the students.

In most discussions regarding volunteering abroad, arguments are mainly focused on the effect it has on the community. And although I agree that doing good for the community should be your main motive to volunteer abroad, I’m sure most people are doing this partly for self development as well. I won’t deny that, when I decided to volunteer abroad, personal gain played a part as well. I wanted to find something that would benefit both the community as myself. Something that would be related to my studies and would look good on my CV. Finding that abroad without an inter mediating organization seemed an almost impossible task.

I feel that my time working in Bolivia has been positive for both the company as for me. My project obviously didn’t have the resources to hire someone to do their publicity for them. My work will hopefully attract more visitors, more money and therefore more resources to hire local people, and I learned a lot from it as well by being able to lead my own projects. A win win situation I’d say and I have no regrets at all that I paid to volunteer!

Read more on why pay to volunteer abroad here.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Author: Fei An Tjan

The last months I have been busy following the volunteers around on their projects. And apart from the fact that it’s a lot of fun (especially for me), it also gives me some insight in the way things are run.

The last week I have been following around our teaching volunteers, from 4th grade to adults, from beginners to advanced and no matter which level, it’s exhausting! I went to class with Adrienne and Zsuzsanna, Tom, Jordan, Laura, Moritz, Rawan and Leonie who all brought out the teacher within. And it’s really not as easy as you may think. Try to explain to someone what your birthday is when they don’t speak a word of English (or don’t know when their birthday is in the worst case).

For that reason, I though I’d write down some ideas and guidelines that might help your teaching experience being easier and better, based on what I’ve seen in the classes, my own experiences when learning English and some professional advices online:

1. It’s important to come prepared to your classes. Apart from the fact that it will be more comfortable for you, it will also help you keep your class more organized, especially when you’re working with kids. Before you start, try to make a lesson planning of things you want to do and set goals for yourself and for your class to accomplish. There are many resources to be found on the internet which I will list below.
2. Try to speak English in the classes as much as possible. Even if your students don’t know any English, they will learn a lot faster when you set an example. Only use Spanish (when you can) as a last resort.
3. Use sign language and clear gestures when talking to your class. don’t switch back too easily to explain things in Spanish, but make an attempt to explain it again in English, but slower, or in different words.
4. Make use of pictures. Pictures are a  good way to explain certain concepts, but apart from that, they are also a great way for your students to remember words and phrases as they can actually visualize the word.
5. When you start with a class that has no or very little knowledge of English, you might want to start with things that are familiar to them, like songs or phrases. (ehow)
6. Try to interact with your class. Especially when you’re working with kids, it’s important that you keep their (short) attention. You can do so by playing games or let the kids do exercises. In one of the classes, they taught the students the song: ‘head, shoulders, knee and toe’, where the kids point out every body part they sing about. By singing a song, it is easier for the kids to remember the words, plus they will have more fun studying them! Other things you can do:

• Play boardgames, like Hangman or Word snake where your class actively interacts and need to apply their English. More educative games to be found here.
• Let your students prepare a little play or presentation in groups. This way, they are forced to use their English and also their creativity. It’s very effective because they also learn to improvise while speaking and they can help each other.
• Show English movies and songs. This way, the students can also get used to different accents and it will help the students enunciate better.
• Teach your class a song or rime in English. They are normally easier to remember. More information on songs for classes are to be found here.

Keep in mind that these tips are no guarantee for success, but can help your experience getting better. More importantly, make sure that you teach with enthusiasm and have fun in what you do!

Any suggestions on how to make your teaching English Abroad experience  better are welcome!

Resources:

Volunteer Experiences

Tests and exercises 

Lesson planning

Are you sure you want to teach English Abroad?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Today I read an article on the BBC news page, covering a story from a hospital in India. It was heartbreaking to read how the people in here are abandoned by their own family. Because status and hierarchy are such important factors in India, having a family member with a mental illness is not very good. After reading I was also wondering how many of the patients actually have a mental illness..

It makes me realize how far off we are of having a peaceful world, when you can’t even count on your own family! Please read this article and let me know what you think.

Article: India’s Forgotten and Abandoned Patients

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Author: Rawan Mustafa

I’m beginning to really really like Costa Rica! This past week was ten times better for me than the one prior! Teaching English to the students has significantly improved! The kids have gotten accustomed to us, as we have to them as well! The kids are increasing becoming more and more receptive to our lesson plans and therefore things have gotten much better. However, that’s not to say that they aren’t still a pain to teach sometimes; there is a massive lack of motivation and drive from their behalf as well as a lot of disrespect. It becomes especially frustrating to teach when the kids get rowdy!!

Aside from enjoying my project more this week, I feel as though I better fit in now. I especially had a lot of fun on yesterdays ranch trip and would suggest uVolunteer organize more day trips, within the $20 range, if not less. Lastly, my Spanish has significantly improved and I’m very pleased about that.

Soon you will hear more about Rawan’s experiences in the school… Keep track of our blog!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Author: Fiorella Duran, uVolunteer Coordinator

On Tuesday afternoon uVolunteer organized a trip to San Ramon Mountains. At 13:00, 11 volunteers and 2 members of staff jumped in the back of a truck and headed to La Guaria. After a bumping fun ride and picking up some fellow volunteers on the way we arrived to our destiny.

Soon we got on the horses, but our adventure suffered a small delay because we were missing one horse. Luckily, we caught it after a while.  After everyone was set up we started riding. Once we arrived to the top of this hill, the view was just amazing and beautiful, there were some cows and the wind was fresh and nice. After getting to the top of the hill we turn around and started heading back. Most of the volunteers had nice moments of excitement when their horse decided to go for a run and no stopping. However everybody brought the cow boy in oneself out and manage to handle the horses pretty well. Della had a small problem when her saddle untied and she found herself upside down while still riding the horse; Madeline and Leonie came to the rescue and soon the small problem was fixed.

 Once we were back we were told there was a tiny zoo in the place. We saw different kinds of farm birds, some wild pigs and 2 cute monkeys who held hands with everyone, how sweet.

Later on, we tried to fish in the ponds. We tried hard, however we did not catch any fish. Tia demonstrated high perseverance, giving up is not in her vocabulary, however… nothing. Luckily the staff at the Rancho had already prepared delicious fish for us. I was amazed when they served my plate and I saw this big entire fish well cooked and prepared for me. It was delicious!

After the fish and a couple of beers everyone was ready to go back to town. We jumped in the back of the truck and drove back home. Everyone had a really good time and even though the horse back ridding was a little scary for some volunteers they truly enjoyed and realized it wasn’t that bad after all.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites