Our volunteer from the USA, Adriana, leaves us this week after 2 months volunteering at one of Voluntario Global’s projects working with children. We decided to visit her at the project in her final few days to talk with her and reflect on her time volunteering.
For Adriana, the highlight of the volunteer journey has been meeting and bonding with the kids. Volunteering five days a week for 8 weeks, she has really connected with the children at her project and has become very close with them. She has loved learning about the culture here in Buenos Aires through volunteering and admires how much time everyone spends outdoors. Dancing, ball games and origami- Adriana recommends everyone spends some time volunteering with children!
Volunteering with children is very rewarding, giving volunteers the opportunity to help children and teach them new skills. Reflecting on how Adriana’s work has benefitted the children she has met, she told us how she taught them more about the wider-world - about where she was from and all the different countries where other volunteers lived. Adriana also taught the kids English and gave them the chance to practise with a native speaker. Most importantly, however, Adriana felt that she had offered the children a new friend and someone that they could trust.
Volunteering also brings many benefits to the volunteer, for example Adriana told us that her experience with Voluntario Global has given her perspective. She thinks differently about what we need to be happy and the most important things in life.
Finally, Adriana left us with some advice for others wanting to volunteer with children. She told us “the kids are awesome, and be prepared for lots of playing”. She advised that volunteers go into these projects with a very open mind and a positive perspective, prepared for a new culture and a different way of doing things. She also recommended that volunteers put as much time as possible into developing their Spanish to improve their bond with the kids. Adriana summarised “all you need is love and patience”.
The first day as a volunteer in a new city can be a daunting but eye-opening experience. I for one was feeling a little nervous and very excited!
As a communications volunteer I was heading out to visit two of Voluntario Global’s projects to take some photos and experience a day in the life of a volunteer. I was most worried about having to travel around this huge city using public transport- I happen to be very good at getting lost and it was my first time taking busses, trains and the subte here. However, with the help of the coordinator, Milena, and other volunteers I mastered the use of my SUBE card in no time and really enjoyed the chance to see new parts of the city from the window of a bus or train. The journeys were the perfect opportunity to reflect on the projects we had visited, catch up with the volunteers and practice listening to Castellano! Visiting the projects was really good fun, meeting some inspiring, lovely people and getting the chance to immerse myself further into the culture and language. I am really looking forward to many more project visits during my time here!
We also got the chance to have a chat with English volunteer, Emma, on her first day at the kindergarten and John, from the US, on his first day helping to teach English. Emma explained how she was feeling very intrigued and open-minded before arriving at the kindergarten, and really enjoyed her first day, her favourite part being playtime with the younger group (despite a very messy lunchtime!). Emma told us that volunteering at the kindergarten is different to any other experience she’s ever had and she is looking forward to engaging the children in some new activities and helping out more.
John was feeling ‘nervously excited’ on the train to his teaching English project, but settled in right away. He really enjoyed comparing his Spanish language-learning experience with the kids’ English learning experience and having a joke about accents. Inspired by the quality of the staff at the project, he is excited to introduce some new, fun activities to the students.
We wish John and Emma good luck on their volunteer journeys, and hope they continue having lots of fun!
As I was going to Buenos Aires, I planned to visit all the interesting places I heard of and to take as many pictures as possible.
Without fail, every time I walk into the community soup kitchen, I am greeted by a handful of women who remind me of my grandma.
Durant les deux mois que j’ai passés à Buenos Aires en tant que bénévole au sein del’équipe de communication de Voluntario Global, j’ai eu l’opportunité de visiter de nombreux projets avec lesquels l’association travaille, notamment deux crèches, un orphelinat, une soupe populaire, une école d’anglais et une radio communautaire.
My experience with Voluntario Global was very positive and rewarding. Milena was very helpful and supportive through out this entire process. My project was to work with pre-school children and Stella is the founder of the facility. Milena brought me to the school, introduced me to Stella, and stayed with for me the day. I was assigned to work with Vanina and Caro assisting them with a class of about 25 two year olds. I was very pleased to work with these two wonderful women. They are kind, loving, patient, and very dedicated to the children. It was apparent that the children love and respect their teachers. I was also very impressed by how well the children behaved. Consequently the children were learning how to properly interact with others. This was a classroom full of love and good intentions. Vanina and Caro are two committed, and outstanding human beings. It was an honor to work with Vanina and Caro. The chidren, Vanina and Caro hold a very special place in my heart.
On 4th of July, my Facebook and Instagram newsfeed were flooded with pictures of my friends from back home at the pool, watching fireworks, day drinking, etc. and I yearned to be partying with them because that signifies summer for me. The independence day in Argentina is on July 9th so of course, I was looking forward to these festivities after seeing my friends go hard on all social media platforms.
I had the opportunity to go to the small English school of Pablo Nogues several times, accompanied by the volunteers that teach English in the school, Chealsea, Samara and Sophie, because I wanted to know a little bit more about their experience, their feelings and their expectations.
What was particularly interesting was that at this time they were all living different steps of their pathway, as Sophie was only starting her first week, Samara was experiencing her last one and it was exactly half of Chelsea's time working for Voluntario Global. If the travel by subway and train to the school is a little bit long according to them, it was the perfect moment for me to interview them!
Hopefully, these three volunteers had a lot of things to share with me, starting with their own personal experience and their reasons for coming here and to be part of the Voluntario Global adventure. I started talking with Samara, from England, and Sophie, from Australia, because they shared a similar path as they both decided to travel and discover Argentina and South America. They saw this volunteering project as a way not only to enjoy and receive but also to give back to the community. This program was also a way for them to discover a new city and a new culture while working with children and learning Spanish.
I also spoke with Chelsea, a young Scottish girl who is studying at the University to become an English teacher and is experiencing this volunteering program as her first real professional experience.
The common thread of all the interviews was the pleasure to teach English to children that are enthusiastic and who show them everyday how much they really want to be there and learn. They also indicated that the organization of the school is based on older students teaching English to the younger, so the help of native speakers is really worthy for them, as they also still have to learn a lot. If this part of the volunteering job is at first surprising, it is also why the volunteers feel useful.
Indeed, the teenaged teachers often ask them for help with pronunciation or grammar rules, so the volunteers actually feel like they assist them and they are part of a quality and rich teaching which mixes up the experience of native speaker and the relationship between students and the teenaged teachers who know them, understand them and are able to take control of the class while being so young. The volunteers also run some classes, mainly with the older students that are planning to take international exams and need a specific teaching only proper teachers or native speakers can give them.
These three volunteers also made me understand the impact they can have on the community and what they can learn from this volunteering experience. They feel helpful and have a main purpose to share and teach new things, what they definitely do when I see the children's admiring eyes and hear them saying how much they would like to be like them later and have to opportunity to travel and to volunteer as well.
The volunteers are examples for these young children, and their main aim is to have an impact on them so they want to continue on studying and dreaming.
However, the sharing isn't only in one way. Indeed, as Sophie said, this experience is immensely challenging and volunteers usually learn great lessons from it. While working at the English school, Sophie is expecting to improve her Spanish and to develop new skills, what Samara did because she explained to me that not speaking Spanish shouldn't be seen only as a barrier, it can also be the opportunity to find new ways to communicate, what is inspiring and sometimes also really funny! Moreover, Chelsea added that it was a way for them to improve their skills, such as getting more confident while talking to an audience and being patient.
I think they all gave me a good summary of what being a volunteer means and how much it is worth while, for the community and for themselves, as this experience is both beneficial and rewarding.
After two weeks volunteering as an English teacher at the English Institute, Sophie (Australia) left Buenos Aires to continue on her trip through South America.
Her memorable “beautiful smile” will stay in the students' mind, as the director of the school said during the little party the school organised for her last day. On the flag that all the students signed and offered her, we can read messages such as “thank you Sophie”, “Good luck” and “Good travel”, what is the greatest and sweetest way for them to express their gratitude.
At the beginning of her volunteering experience, she expected it to be challenging and rewarding, and also to be the opportunity to give back to the community after receiving so much. Her main purpose was to have an impact on the students, and teach them things they don't know.
When she went back to the Voluntario Global guest house after her last day, she felt she succeeded in sharing a part of her knowledge with the students. She didn't even want to leave, because she was now much more confident and the students were truly listening to her and learning from her presence there.
Thank you Sophie for giving your best during your two weeks here and for being such a good volunteer !
VOLUNTARIO GLOBAL
Voluntario Global helps local communities by being available to discuss anything that local organizations need, and offering ideas for further change and development.
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CONTACT
Location: General Pacheco. Buenos Aires. Argentina
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