|
|
|
Amazon Teaching Project
The traditional tribes of this particular area of the Amazon rainforest were brought abruptly into the modern world when a road was built through their territory connecting the city of Puyo with Arajuno. Now, stuck in between the new and the old, this project is working to bring about a stable and effective education for the children of these communities so that they can develop the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure that they can go out and find a respectable job in an ever developing Ecuador in the future. As a volunteer you can try out your teaching skills and benefit these children by providing a balanced and constant learning environment.
Project Age Limit
Minimum 18 years, maximum decided on potential participants’ health.
Project Requirements:
Teaching experience is not necessary for getting involved in this project, but volunteers will need to be enthusiastic, creative and must want to work closely with children. A basic level of spoken Spanish would be an advantage.
Programme Information
This project is based in the Amazon Jungle, working with the schools and communities along the Arajuno Road. The building of the road in the 1960’s brought the traditional Amazonian locals directly into the modern world, something that they were not ready and certainly not prepared for due to a lack of education and skills. The aim of the project is to bring these once remote communities into the modern world through teaching and campaigning whilst keeping alive traditional values.
While the schools in the area do get government funding for teachers’ salaries, they have no money to buy resources. The help of volunteers allows the project to double the annual budget of the schools, which can, in turn, fund the supply of essential educational and sporting equipment. The project also campaigns to supply additional equipment to the jungle schools, such as the Book Campaign, working to build up a mobile library to benefit the school children along the Road.
Another issue faced by the schools is a lack of teachers. Although numbers at each school are not particularly high, it is normal for one teacher to be teaching 30 children of all different age groups and levels all at once. Volunteers allow schools to be split into classes, allowing the teacher to focus on one age group at a time, while the volunteers can take English, arts, sports or music classes, broadening the children’s education immensely. In line with this, the project works to a structured curriculum with the jungle schools to make sure that volunteer teaching has the utmost benefits for the children. To make it easier for one volunteer to pick up where another left off and build on previous work, the use of structured lesson plans is central to a volunteer’s time on the project.
Building a stable learning environment is really important for the jungle community children as it will give them so many more prospects in the future, and this is what the teaching project is aiming to do.
Your Role as a Volunteer
You will primarily be working in one of eight schools along the Arajuno Road. Prime examples of the schools that you will be working at are:
Km 35 School – Located 35 km along the road, this school serves a small, roadside community and has around 30 students a year. The school has two classrooms, a nursery and a storeroom, modern toilets that are out of use and currently has no electricity supply. One teacher teaches all 30 children at once.
Lower El Triunfo School – This school has around 60 students a year from nursery age to children preparing to go to secondary school taught by two teachers. This school also has two classrooms and a working toilet block. Although no provision for sport exists here, there is a sports arena that can be used for free by the community.
These two schools are where initial volunteers are placed, although this will expand to a further six in due course.
School hours are from 7am to midday from Monday to Friday and volunteers will be asked to assist with teaching for 2½ to 3 hours a day. In the mornings, you will take classes of children giving the teacher/s the opportunity to concentrate on one particular level. During this time you will use your structured lesson plans to teach English – very important for improving future employment prospects – arts, music and sports. You will be allocated lessons and assignments according to your strengths, so you will be giving the children a varied learning environment and really improving their education. In the afternoons, you will be placed into teams with the other volunteers and you will spend some time with the project coordinators planning your lessons for the next day according to the structured curriculum.
Project Support
Throughout your stay in Ecuador you will have the full support and guidance of the onsite project coordinators. You will be provided with competent assistance and help with any questions or advice you may need during your stay.
In addition you will have access to our 24-hour emergency number in the UK, so you can always contact a member of our UK team should you need to.
Project Orientation
You will be given an orientation upon arrival. This will include detailed information about Ecuador and the surrounding area. The orientation will also cover all the relevant information about the project and the work that you will be doing, including safety issues, to ensure that you feel confident and happy in your new surroundings.
Accommodation & Meals
You will stay in a comfortable communal house on the Arajuno Road. The house provides spacious dorm rooms, a kitchen, living area, working area and hot showers. Food costs are included in the project price and volunteers take turns to prepare evening meals. Bedding is also provided. The volunteer house is a social environment and will give volunteers the chance to relax and unwind as well as getting to know volunteers from other schools and what is going on in the different communities.
All schools can be easily accessed by foot or by bus from the volunteer house.
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
