Mariposas Amarillas - a life-changing volunteer experience

I spent two months volunteering for the tiny grassroots organization, Fundacion Mariposas Amarillas (Yellow Butterflies) in Santa Marta, Colombia. The foundation runs three supplementary education centres in marginalized barrios for children with little opportunity to attend public schools, or whose public education is woefully corrupt and inadequate. The organization is great because it is so flexible - volunteers can stay as long as they like and create their own curriculum. As a Spanish-speaker, I had an advantage over some volunteers who were just learning, since none of the children speak English. However, non-Spanish speakers can still provide lots of help and have an amazing experience in a classroom.

I chose to teach creative writing and social studies to my class of sixteen 9-15-year-olds. We wrote stories, created a class newspaper, and enacted a mock trial. The kids are rowdy but wonderful and I learned so much from them, in addition to improving my Spanish and gaining confidence planning and running classes. I also taught adult English classes in the community.

The program is cheap - one US fifty dollar donation. However, you must pay for your own living expenses and all your teaching materials. The foundation has next to nothing, and operates purely on volunteer donations. So space is tight in the schools (very tight - I taught in a two-room building about the size of an average living room, with about forty kids there in total. One of the schools is currently located in someone's tiny backyard, but construction on a new schoolhouse has begun.

I met so many amazing people and learned a lot about the country (especially since I chose to live with a homestay family - you can also live at a hostel or search for an apartment). I really felt like I was making a difference every day, and I know that the kids made an enormous difference to my life.