Last weekend four of Voluntario Global’s volunteers joined an English School at their English camp! They escaped the city for a couple of days in glorious weather to help give the kids an incredible experience- learning English through games and activities at a summer camp! We interviewed two of the volunteers, David and Aurelien, to hear all about what they got up to:

In August 2016 I decided to try Voluntario Global’s Teach English Project in Buenos Aires for 3 weeks. I have always wanted to do volunteer work overseas and as I already had a basic level of Spanish I thought this would be a great place to start.

Upon arrival I was greeted with a stunning city full of life with European-style architecture, a vast avenue with a view as the eye can see, vibrant restaurants and nightlife, tango shows that break out in front of you, packed subways, breathtaking nature reserves and busy street markets. This then, would be the perfect backdrop for my volunteer project.

As you arrive at Voluntario Global, you are initiated into the program by signing your local flag on a mural on the volunteer house walls filled with the messages and names of hundreds of other volunteers, past and present. The next day my project took me over an hour out of the city to a lovely little ‘barrio’ called Ciudadela. It’s small and out of the way but I found the town quite charming and it felt like a genuine suburb away from the glitz and glamour of a capital city. There I was introduced to the team at the English school that operates after normal school hours for students of all ages.

I had 4 main classes aged from about 6 to 18. As this school was a new partner of Voluntario Global, I was lucky to have the honour of being the first Australian that many of the children had met. We began each class with a session of questions from the students about Australia and myself. I answered most questions which included from food, sport, leisure, entertainment, technology, slang, politics, geography animals, and more. I then asked each question back at the students and in no time at all, the students and I had a fair understanding of what life was like in each other’s country.

In one class we even had local snacks and drinks from Argentina and the older students and I shared a ‘mate’ in the garden under the stars as the teacher and students explained the significance of this important drink.

After the introduction lessons I set about helping the students learn, either by assisting the teacher with pronunciation and examples or by actually teaching the lesson myself. In some cases I was marking papers or homework or answering any questions about the classwork for the students.

I found myself being challenged and pushed to find ways to explain things with my limited Spanish knowledge but having that basic foundation in Spanish allowed me to explain how rules in one language were similar or different to the other, especially with the younger kids.

 I realised quickly that to teach is to learn. I found my Spanish improving with every class that I taught and the skilled staff actually helped me learn more about the English I use every day.

On my days off I was able to explore the city and try local cuisine such as Asado, choripan or the Argentinian style pizza. I went out to some night clubs, bike tours, kayaking, tango shows and explored the iconic areas like the wealthy Palermo, the Recoleta Cemetery, the Abasto Shopping mall with it’s indoor theme park, the colourful Italian barrio La Boca and more. I even took a day trip to on the fast ferry to Colonia del Sacremento in Uruguay. Even after 3 weeks I can honestly say I haven’t seen all of this city.

After some of my classes as I travelled back to the city I would stop and have a ‘pancho’ (hotdog) and a beer at Sarmiento station with all the locals, watching a futbol game on the TV and grabbing a bite on their way home from a busy day at work. I found that basic Spanish (or ‘castellano’ as is the local dialect) is almost a necessity in Buenos Aires as most locals do not speak any English. Indeed, the students at my school spoke more English than some of the residents of the volunteer house.

Back at class the students were genuinely interested in what I had seen and done in Argentina. In asking me, the students also told me more about what they like to do. I also got great tips on where to go, what to avoid and different ways to integrate myself into the local lifestyle. As a guy who has travelled to about 80 cities across 13 countries I am no stranger to new faces and new places. I still love travelling, but as I visit new countries, some of that initial element of surprise and wonder at seeing new beaches, clubs, buildings landscapes and statues has been lost on me. Little did I know that I would get that wonder and surprise back in Buenos Aires.

I realised over my 3 weeks as I did the daily commute on the packed trains, ate street food with the locals, taught lessons, saw the street art and graffiti, listened to the staff and students explain their interests and discuss all their national issues and culture that you can’t truly understand another culture until you become a part of it. By getting amongst the people in non-tourist areas and trying to understand how other people learn whilst teaching your own language, you find that you connect with people and understand the culture so much better than just seeing the typical “most important landmarks in the city” This latter has been the norm for me in past travels and I prefer this new experience much better.

To teach is to learn in Buenos Aires. With Voluntario Global you give your time, money, knowledge and experience to complete strangers and what you get in return in the most in depth experience of a foreign culture you will ever get, plus new friends, great memories, better language skills and a motivation to do more with your life and help people. The people of Argentina are proud, strong people who go out of their way to help you and have no limit to their compassion and kindness. I will certainly be back in South America and I can’t wait to try another experience with Voluntario Global someday. I fully recommend this project to anyone who wants a challenging but rewarding experience.

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.