Program Reviews

Although it has been a long time, my year in Costa Rica teaching children, living with a family & bonding with fellow volunteers is an experience I will always be grateful for. Thank you, WorldTeach!

I had a terrific experience with World Teach in Costa Rica. The process that began with the application and ended with my completion of the program was relatively smooth. The World Teach staff did an excellent job with orientation so I felt prepared when I arrived at my site. They also did a good job of matching me with a site that I really enjoyed. I cannot say enough good things about the Field Director. She was organized, helpful, compassionate, and did her best to give us the support that we needed. World Teach provided us with top notch health insurance that made all in-country health care cheap to free. I highly recommend this program.

I enjoyed Guyana very much. I even took addition jobs after my program was over. The people were fun and friendly.

Despite my efforts I'm sure I did not make a lasting impact on the education of my students. The conditions at my site turned me into more of a babysitter then a serious educator. But my understanding is that this is typical of these types of programs.

Worldteach ended their program midway my year. They cited safety concerns but in my opinion it was obviously budgetary reasons. It was very embarrassing to be part of an organization that dropped its responsibilities.

In addition, we received poor training and inaccurate information about our placement sites. I had to rely on a lot of help from the local community when I first arrived to just get the basics for survival. I felt like a foolish tourist not a professional.

I voted "would not recommend" for this program for the above reasons. But I do not regret my time there. If you choose to go, bring extra cash. Also be sure to check your privilege and be extra kind when asking the locals for assistance.

If you are looking for something different, want teaching experience, and to learn Spanish, then you should definitely go to Costa Rica. It is safe and the people are very friendly. You won't have time to travel a lot, so expect to stay in your community. You have to put yourself out there and not be afraid to speak Spanish and do things, otherwise, you will be bored. As long as you are going because you want to teach and see what it is like to live in a different culture, than the Costa Rica program is great! If you do the summer program than it goes by fast!

Teaching in the RMI was the most challenging and most rewarding experience I have ever had. Living on an outer island comes with times of difficulty. You are extremely isolated from the norms of which you had while back in your home state or country. For many outer islands volunteers, communication to friends and family back home is limited to post mail, which may only come 3 or 4 times during your whole year. It may also be hard to find some alone time after a stressful day or week of teaching, because your students and other members of the community always want to be around the World Teach Volunteer. That being said, I loved every minute I spent on the island I was teaching and it had a huge impact on my life. You are able to connect with the students on a level I never thought would be possible. My students became my best friends, which made classroom management sometimes harder to deal with, but it was well worth it. I became extremely close with not only my host family, but the entire community as well. They were the kindest, most loving people I have ever met. Of course there are times when you are extremely frustrated with school, a student, or something else going on on the island, as can happen anywhere else in the world. But at the end of the day, you realize where you are. A place where many people would call paradise, but you are lucky enough to call it home.

My WorldTeach experience was unexpectedly rewarding. I had a wonderful, supportive director at the school where I was assigned, and we remain in communication. The training and experience I received prior to and during my teaching year proved immensely helpful, enabling me to participant in Costa Rican education in a meaningful way for many years. The challenges of the Costa Rican educational system were well met by the WorldTeach support system, and the teamwork on all levels across cultures was always based in good will. My world was opened and expanded, my life enriched, and I love knowing that I am doing the same for my students.

While you're in Pohnpei. You got to hear this slang many times from friends ,students and locals. Pohnpeian are generous people. I can give many examples of their kindness. No doubt! yet no one told me what does it mean? I guess it an mysterious island to me after all.

I taught english at a public school in the coffee region of Colombia. Worldteach provided three weeks of orientation at the beginning of the service contract and then placed me with an absolutely perfect host family situation once I arrived in my city. For me the first six months were a bit difficult as I was often lonely feeling like I could not connect with people with my lowish level of Spanish. However, I stuck with it, I proved my Spanish, got involved taking dance lessons at a local dance school, and rededicated myself to the kids. The last few months were the best and most rewarding months of my life. They say that a year of volunteering changes you and for me I feel like its absolutely true. The experience has definitely changed what I value in life and what I believe is worth working for. I can't thank worldteach enough for providing me the opportunity to work at the school I worked at and for the opportunity to work with an incredible group or students and teachers. While you can expect bumps along the way, I absolutely recommend the Worldteach Colombia program. Everyone at Wt that I dealt with along the way including the in country field staff were just wonderful.

I taught in Cartagena de Indias for most all of 2010. I taught at a private university. I had my own classes - no co-teacher - and I taught beginning to advanced English.

WorldTeach provided useful training during orientation. However, I felt I was very lucky to have nearly finished a teaching degree stateside before leaving to teach in Colombia. For that very reason I didn't want a co-teacher; I wanted to give myself a taste of what it would be like to teacher once I had my license.

I found my field directors (we had two different ones over the course of the year) to be very helpful and professional. Whenever I had questions or needed assistance, they were there. They also acted as intermediaries between us teachers and our school - very useful since the school didn't have much experience with foreign volunteers.

I loved Cartagena, I loved my students. As with any overseas program, a good sense of humor, patience and flexibility (and a positive attitude, of course!) are essential.

I taught 1st - 6th grade, Monday through Friday, in a Costa Rican village of about 100 people. I lived with a host family. It was absolutely amazing in every way! WorldTeach did a great job of helping things along the way so it was smooth sailing for the volunteers. You won't have to worry about hardly anything but your teaching, which is how it should be!
The most difficult part of this experience, for me, was my personal lack of Spanish knowledge. I knew just enough to eek by, but when you are COMPLETELY immersed (living with a Spanish-speaking family, working in a Spanish-speaking school, navigating a Spanish-speaking community), it can get frustrating when you're not able to communicate like you'd like to (or worse if people either underestimate or overestimate your Spanish ability...equally frustrating!)
However, this was also the most rewarding part! I absolutely love my family, my school, my students, my community...all of it. They have wrapped their arms around me and considered me a part of the community not a visitor, even though I am only here for 3 months!
It seems like a short time, and sometimes it will be short, but you have no clue what an impact you can have on their lives and they on yours!
I am an ELL teacher back in the States (though much different), but if I accomplished nothing more than giving the student's a positive view of the English language and the community a positive outlook on "gringas", I will have considered my experience a success. Luckily, my students have learned more than that! :)