Natasha’s Experience: HELP English in Leymabamba
Where is Leymebamba?
Leymebamba is about two hours from Chachapoyas, in the Amazonas region of Peru at about 2000 metres.
What is your role at the project?
I teach kids in the Casa Hogar three days a week. The classes are separated by age and level and are an hour and a half each. They all have either no previous English experience or a very basic level.
I also teach the women working in the artesenal two times a week. The classes are two hours each and they have no previous English experience.
The museum workers have classes twice a week for an hour. They have a beginning to intermediate level of English.
All this being said, the schedule is very customizable.
What is it like living in Leymebamba?
The standard of living is basic. You can live in the Casa Hogar for 80 soles per week. There is warm water sometimes and there is internet and cell phone reception. The town itself is very small and there is not much to do for entertainment. You will be the only foreigner in town and will be regarded with curiosity, sometimes suspicion. When you get to know the people there though, they are very friendly.
Overall Project Rating: 4.5
Louise's Experience: HELP English in Las Lomas
Can you quickly describe the school?
Las Lomas Colegio is a small state school. Eventhough the fees for the whole year are extremely cheap by Western standards (around 25 soles), the school struggles to get kids from the neighbourhood to attend school. They don't have a permanent English teacher or a kindergarten class. Most families would rather pay a little bit more in order to be able to send all their children to the same school and in Las Lomas there are only 4 classes. The 'primeros' (4-6 years old), the 'segundos' (7-9 years old), a class that mixes 4th, 5th, and 6th grade (10-14 years old), and a class of 'inicios' for 3 year olds (their attempt to create a kinder garden). Las Lomas area is one of the poorest in Huanchaco, and you rarely see people on your way to the school.
How do you get there, and how much does it cost?
It takes 10 to 15 minutes to get there from Huanchaco by bus (0.50 soles), or you can walk for about 20/25min. By bus, you need to catch a bus on Los Pinos and ask the driver if he goes to Las Lomas. The letter doesn't matter. The bus sometimes does the tour of Huanchaco, and takes Los Pinos again before going to Las Lomas. Once you are in Las Lomas, the bus can take different roads. It depends on the driver, whether the bus goes on to Trujillo or ends in Las Lomas, or if they are fixing the "road" (which happens a lot!). That is why it is better to leave Huanchaco at least 20minutes before your class starts. To walk you go along the road to Trujillo and turn left after the big private Sinai school.
What was your role in the project?
I teach English three times a week, each time for a different class. I do an hour on Monday with the 'primeros', from 12-1pm where we learn very basic English vocabulary with the objective to familiarise the children with English. We also do a lot of drawings and games. There are only few kids who come on Monday at school (some families prefer to keep them home on Mondays) and it makes it quite hard to structure and organise. On Tuesdays, I teach the 'segundos', from 11am-1pm. It is a 2 hour class which can be really long for the children and me. I prepare a lot of games with English vocabulary so the kids learn more words and can start to structure basic sentences.
The class on Wednesdays teaches older children as is really interesting as they already know some English so we can move faster. Most of them are really interested in learning English, which makes teaching them a lot easier. The students especially like to learn grammar and vocabulary through music.
Did you enjoy your experience?
Yes, definetely. Everyone is really nice in the school, even Alejandro the general handyman. The children are energetic (sometimes a little too energetic), loving and always ask for more which is extremely rewarding. It makes work really pleasant. I can't get enough of having children jumping over me everytime I walk through the door!
Any tips you would give to the next volunteer?
Be patient with the 1st grade. Have a lot of imagination and inspiration because the class may not always go the way you'd planned it!
Louise's email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Overall Project Rating: 4
Delphine, Anneleen and Ellen's Experience: HELP English in Huanchaco Library
Can you describe the project?
The library in Huanchaco used to offer free English classes to adults on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 4-6pm. After several lessons it became clear that the students had very different levels of English and so we created a system of beginner, intermediate and advanced students who followed different classes. We decided to offer two classes a week at every level.
What is your role in the project?
Our role was mainly to teach English, but we were also trying to find out about the level of English that the students already had. We were always asking the students what they though of the classes, their interests and how they felt about the way we teach. We also began advertising the classes by putting posters up around town.
Did you enjoy the experience?
Yes. Although none of us are teachers, we really enjoyed doing it and preparing classes and tests was really interesting. The classes are really good fun. We've been trying different styles and ways of teaching. The best feeling is to see how your students improve their English, and how enthusiastic they are. We love teaching using humour. We also got to know the students after a while, and it really helped to improve the lessons we were giving. It also made us think that a diploma or certificate in education is not what makes a good teacher!
Any tips you would like to give to the next volunteers?
Use humour, get to know them, play games, ask how they feel, try to find out which rhythm is the best for them to learn and what their interests are. But most of all, have fun!
Delphine's email address:
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