Project Life
Volunteer Teaching and Travel in Central America

Volunteers have the option to take their own class, or assist other volunteers until they feel they could take their own class. It is hoped that a new volunteer will work with an experienced volunteer for one to two weeks, with the aim to take over that class once the experienced volunteer has left. Each class size can range from 5-20 children, depending on the collective ability or the attention needed by the children. Lessons include a range of subjects, from basic literacy and numbers to English, educational reinforcement to games and sports, help with homework to other activities. Full records are kept of each child’s progress on a monthly basis, to facilitate the volunteer changeover and allow the continuity of the child’s education process.

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No formal teacher-training is required as each volunteer will be supported by GVI project managers, interns or existing volunteers for the first few days. Teaching manuals, resource books, the curriculum and a variety of other teacher resource books are available for the volunteers’ use. A weekly meeting is held in the communities to discuss the class structure, swap ideas and work on the following week’s classes.

Guatemala

Once the Spanish classes have been completed (during which time you will work half-days), volunteers work full-time on their project from Monday to Friday. Days begin with an early breakfast with your host family, before you meet the other volunteers (usually up to six per community) at around 7.15am tavel to the relevant project site. Help with homework is available for the children before classes start at 9am. There is a break mid-morning for a fruit snack for the children, after which classes then continue to 12.30pm, when the volunteers will eat with a local family in the community, plan lessons and relax. Classes then restart with new children at 2pm with the fruit break mid-afternoon and finish at around 4pm, when the volunteers all return to Antigua a little after 5pm.

Honduras

On a typical day in Honduras you will wake early and have breakfast with your host family before meeting the other volunteers at 6.30am to take the transport, which passes over asphalt roads and rough terrain to the rural Chortí community. Arriving at the school, everyone begins the day saying the national oath of allegiance before lessons start at 7.30am. You will then be involved in helping a grade of children with their literacy, maths and other subjects, depending on the curriculum and necessity. Lessons continue until about 9.30am when the children have a 45 minute break for food. Lessons then continue until 12.30pm, when you will break for lunch and rest. The ‘aulas abiertas’ then commence at 1.15pm and finish at 3pm, when the pickup will arrive to take you back to Copán. In the afternoons we will supply fruit to the children in the midway break. At present, these afternoon classes take place three days a week. For the other two days you will return to Copán in time for lunch at 1pm.

Nicaragua

Volunteers work in the rural community “La Thompson” Monday to Friday located approximately 10 minutes outside of Estelí. Days start with eating breakfast with the host family in Estelí before meeting up with the other volunteers to catch the transport, arriving to start classes at about 8.30am. The day starts with a general assembly with the children, fruit is given and then classes until 10:00am, a meal is usually given and the children have recess until 10:30am, classes then resume until 12:00pm. The volunteers are back in Estelí around 12:45pm for lunch with their host family, from 3:00pm to 4.30om they meet to plan classes for the following days. Twice a week in the afternoons the volunteers go back out the community to give English classes to adolescents and adults in community from 4:00pm are back in Estelí at 6:00pm for dinner