Program Reviews

I loved volunteering with SMEF and have very fond memories of my time in Santa Maria. The students are welcoming and eager to learn, the institute really did everything to help me settle in, and my host family were just wonderful. My Spanish improved hugely while I was in Santa Maria, and I also had an incredible experience getting to know the students, developing my teaching, exploring Paraguay and going on some travel trips further afield. Definitely the most rewarding placement I did during my year abroad learning Spanish.

I had the opportunity to volunteer in the SMEF Program starting from August 2017 to December 2017. Unlike most of the volunteers, who are college students, I am a retired teacher who spent most of my career teaching elementary age children, so having the opportunity to teach students from elementary to college students was a unique and special experience. I love that the program offered enough structure that a young person with no exprerience could step in and make a difference, at the same time it gave me as an old guy the opportunity to be creative within the structure of the program. Beyond the program itself, I loved having the opportunity to meet the Paraguayan people, sharing Sunday barbecues, sitting on the sidewalk drinking tereré, eating sopa paraguaya, and sharing movie nights with Margaret, the founder of the program. Working in Santa María was like having a new extended family. Someday, I hope to go back and relive the Paraguayan experience.

I am still in touch with the friends I made in Santa Maria de Fe, which speaks for the warmth of the community you will find there. It was a rewarding experience, teaching eager and energetic students. Everyone makes an effort to make you feel at home, and when we were not off for weekends exploring different parts of Paraguay, we went for strolls in the countryside, chilled out drinking tereré with friends, went to football games and soaked up the vibrant and eye-opening culture, which taught me so much. I would whole-heartedly recommend taking the jump and joining the Santa Maria de Fe community.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time working in Paraguay. The Institute makes a huge difference to people's lives in the village, and there is a strong sense of community that you feel from the very first day. I found the Institute very flexible with regard to to taking some time off for some fun trips away (including visiting Iguazú Falls) and the classes are a wide range of ages and abilities which keeps the day interesting. The village itself is gorgeous and there is a fairly active social life - people are extremely friendly and will not hesitate to ask you to social gatherings, football matches, music festivals, or anything else. Of course, there are challenges to living in such a different environment, but that is part of the journey. My time in Paraguay was fantastic and I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

My time in Santa María was a blast and absolutely flewby. I will always have happy memories of my family, friends and students here. The teaching keeps you busy during the week and you feel like you’re making a difference, but this placement is so much more than that. Playing 5-a-side in one of the canchas, going up to the cerro and soaking up the view, trying (and not always enjoying) some of Paraguay’s more obscure culinary ‘delights’, floundering in an attempt to pronounce that Guarani expression, just sitting and chatting over tereré or a beer… it’s a wonderful little town in a captivating country. I’ve got absolutely zero regrets about going there and hope to be back soon!

I spent 5 months volunteering in Santa Maria, and had the most incredible time! I have never felt so welcomed and at home in a place as I did there. I made friends to last a lifetime and will be back to visit as soon as I am able. It is a truly special place in the beautiful Paraguayan countryside, and offers the opportunity to really become a part of a community rather than just passing through as a tourist or traveller. The host family I lived with made me feel so welcome and I really enjoyed getting involved with day to day life and actively learning about Paraguayan culture whilst also improving my Spanish (complete immersion!) and learning Guarani. If you are a studying Spanish and looking for a place to improve your language skills and also learn a lot about the unique culture of Paraguay then it's the perfect place!

I had a wonderful time volunteering with SMEF in Santa Maria. The friends I made, places that I was able to visit, and things I learned made it an unforgettable experience. Living in a small town in rural Paraguay allowed me to really get to know people and to feel part of the community. Everyone knows everyone, and people are happy to welcome you as a friend. It was the perfect opportunity to improve my Spanish because I was one few English speakers in the town, so was really immersed in the Spanish language and spoke it for hours everyday. Working alongside other volunteers and Sarah I felt very supported and part of a team. The teaching is hard work but incredibly rewarding; you teach each class everyday and so get to know your students well and have the opportunity to really make a difference. I felt like my hard work was really paying off when in the weeks leading up to the Cambridge exams I saw my students’ results rapidly improve, along with their confidence. Outside of class and at the weekends I formed some great friendships with the other volunteers, my students, and other young people from the town. There isn’t a huge amount to do in the way of cinemas, shopping or restaurants in Santa Maria, but because of this you spend your time appreciating the beauty of the local area and forming real connections with the people who live there. Some of my best memories are of chatting in Spanish and enjoying terere with friends on a hot day in the countryside. I highly recommend this experience for anyone keen to teach English, improve their Spanish and experience the culture of Paraguay.

I volunteered with SMEF for over 6 months in 2016 and I had a fantastic experience. I was 18 when I went, and before going it felt like a very intimidating prospect, but as soon as I arrived I felt incredibly welcomed by my host mother, Demetria, and by Sarah and Margaret who run the charity. My students were a joy to teach and many of them became my friends as well. Santa Maria is a small and tranquil town but there is lots of socialising to do if you make the effort to seek it out, as everyone is very friendly and happy to get to know you. I had A-level Spanish when I went out, and I was able to improve massively which has been incredibly valuable to me since then. I was also able to do music; I sang in the church choir and led some music classes. I would 100% recommend going to improve your Spanish and have a life-changing experience.

I taught English in Santa María for fourth months in 2016 and for a further two months in 2018 and had an incredible experience both times. The first time, I went with the aim of improving my Spanish and the second time I went simply to reconnect with my host family and friends. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend SMEF!
Santa María is a truly special place: the local community is so welcoming that you never feel alone and it's easy to make friends and build lasting relationships. When I arrived, people rushed to get to know me and make me feel at ease. My local hosts went above and beyond to make me feel like one more member of the family. Even when, during my second stay, I didn't live in their house, I was invited to lunch with them every day without fail and was included in every family gathering. It was a home away from home. The town itself is quiet, but your afternoons and weekends quickly fill up drinking tereré with friends, exploring the campo and nearby towns, attending local events and family gatherings.
The teaching experience with SMEF is unique, too, because of the level of responsibility you're given and range of ages and abilities you teach (for me, ages 8 to 30; complete beginners to near-fluent speakers). You work hard, teaching up to five or six classes, but it's genuinely stimulating work and you always have a nice long break in middle of the day. And the more you get to know your students, the more motivated you feel to help them progress; it's a great feeling seeing them develop over the course of your stay. After six months of teaching in Santa María, I know that teaching is something I could pursue as a career.

For anyone considering a semester abroad in the Americas, I would 100% recommend this teaching placement in the unique and beautiful town of Santa Maria de Fe, in rural Paraguay. Whilst the idea of moving to a small town in a country you may know nothing about, where almost nobody you meet will speak English, and whose way of life seems nothing but foreign to you, may seem daunting at first, I can assure you the Paraguayans will welcome you with open arms, and SMEF will guide you with your move, and with settling down in a Paraguayan host family, as well as showing you the ropes for teaching English classes to the local children and adults. It is hard to find another charity where your volunteering directly benefits the local population and that doesn't charge you for it. With SMEF you are really volunteering. You instantly see the rewards of your work and the gratitude of your students who would otherwise struggle to find another opportunity for learning such an important globalised language, without it costing them an arm and a limb. Of course, some days of teaching are more trying than others, but through this I personally learnt heaps about how to teach a language, about my own language, about what techniques to employ during different classes, and how to develop a teacher-pupil relationship, which in Santa Maria often turned into a friendship! Half a year on, I am still in contact with friends and my host family from Santa Maria, and I cannot wait to go back. Besides the volunteering experience of teaching English, the experience of living in the town remains invaluable to me. There really aren't words enough to describe the precious memories I have, and how worthwhile it is to spend at least a few months there. Santa Maria is anything but a tourist hub, which is exactly why you should go. You will have the immersion into Spanish (+ Guarani) experience you are looking for, and you will get to know a culture different to your own. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email on anna_rachel@hotmail.co.uk. I would gladly respond to any doubts or questions you may have. Anna