Steven Page, Portsmouth Grammar School

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I am a graduate of Modern Languages (Spanish, French & Catalan) and am a fully qualified secondary school teacher with 20 years of Spanish teaching experience with students of 11-18 years old in England.

As a teacher, my aim was always to convert my experiences of volunteering in Voluntario Global's projects into a new initiative involving organising a regular school trip to give young students an opportunity to see, at first hand, what life in Argentina is like for its inhabitants, not least those living in barrios lacking the resources and facilities that they, at home, take for granted. With the enormous help and co-ordination of the team at Voluntario Global, the dream became a reality and I have accompanied school groups to Buenos Aires to work with Voluntario Global in 2009, 2010 and 2014 - over 50 students in total. But the initial idea has become so much more than a mere "school trip".

Students have also returned independently to work with Voluntario Global in 2010, 2011, 2012, and next in January 2016. Voluntario Global have supported this initiative 100% and have enhanced our plans taking us to projects in La Boca, Isla Maciel & José Leon Suarez. Understanding, trust and co-operation have been the keys to our mutual success. In 2015 I had the chance to welcome 2 students from Argentina to experience life at my school and gain teaching experience. I look forward to working with Valeria and the whole team of co-ordinators again in the near future. I cannot recommend highly enough the professionalism and care that Voluntario Global shows to its foreign volunteers.