Program Reviews

Honestly, it was truly the best year of my life! WorldTeach has done an exceptional job setting up this program. From assuring special needs situations (I needed to have a phone readily accessible due to an ailing family member) to setting up a mandatory visit with a fellow volunteer (which was exceptional!) to arranging celebrations and general support. They've even built relationships in the community that allowed for opportunities like learning how to race a yacht and SCUBA dive. I LOVED the children I worked with, I LOVED the island and the opportunities it brought. If I could take a sabbatical and do it again, I would in a heartbeat!

Nothing worth while is easy. The same goes for the year spent in the Marshall Islands.

Everything about this program, country and culture is both really wonderful and really frustrating.

You will see the most beautiful sceneries... But you will have to withstand the heat humidity and mosquitoes. You will learn to live in the moment because there is no concept of planning when you tick by island time, however you will have to accept not knowing anything that goes on around you. You will learn to survive with very little, however it will render you so grateful for how much you do actually have.

This year was challenging on every level- physical, emotionaly, moral... However this year has shaped so much of who I am talking. A truly revolutionary experience, that when you come out on the other side, you are pride to have the bragging rights of surviving a year in a remote Pacific island. Who else can say they have ?

Chuuk is the largest country in the FSM and at Chuuk High School WorldTeach in partner with the local Department of Education and Department of Special Education served over 1000 students, the largest impact in the pacific area per volunteer.
The local environment is still very traditional with many elements of western life beginning to become popular. The economy is in general poor, not all people have enough to eat, and traditional family roles greatly impact the roles of men and women in society.

I went to rural China, and had a fantastic time. I was 22 and very frustrated with the world. I went to rural China and got some very serious perspective. This experience softened me and I will be forever grateful for it. The food was amazing and the trips we took hiking were great. I had exceptional support from our WorldTeach contact, and saw incredible places. I do wish I would have had the chance to spend more time with the kiddos, but moving from school to school was the nature of the job.

Time of my life and great experience to live and work abroad! Would highly recommend this type of program for anyone looking to take-off and start in a new country. If you take advantage of all the programs have to offer, like optional Summer/Winter programs you will ensure a better experience by seeing more of the country, volunteering with other groups and learning different dialects/slang from different regions.

The program boasts about being around for nearly 20 years but still does a good job of making you feel like the experience is happening for the first time for everyone. The orientation was fumbled. Volunteers were often bored during presentations because the information was redundant or not very helpful. Some volunteers got lost walking around the city due to the lack of preparation on part of the staff, which is very dangerous. The home placements is a draw but can be nightmare-ish. For example, I was extremely flexible with preferences except for a strong allergy to cats and to my surprise, I was placed with cats. I was blamed, then moved to a hostel and then moved to another home. For the first 3 months no one was paid until well after the fact which naturally caused problems at the home. So on top of the fee, make sure to bring at least $3,000. I know the program gives vague suggestions on the amount you should bring but just bring as much as you possibly can because they won't help you out financially. Actually, overall the program is vague is how I would describe the program. Vague with key details, disorganized, non responsive. They push the saying "flow like water" and "resilience" to place the responsibility on volunteers to respond passively when they're met with disorganization, misinformation, and peril.

What I wish I knew: Essentially this is a staffing agency. Foreigners work as cheap labor. The program has no true interest in supporting volunteers with anything related to teaching, curriculum, etc. They bring you to work for universities. That's it.

Most importantly, it is dangerous. I have been robbed at gun point, beaten, groped, suffered physical and psychological injuries. I was still forced to work at night. Violence is normalized so there was no empathy from the program/universities. Colleagues were drugged, robbed, beaten by folks dressed as cops, sexually assaulted, attempted kidnapping. They gloss over protection and due process because they do not respect volunteers enough to take the seriously. Once they have your money, you're treated like a nuisance (e.g. Smaller incident, one volunteer had an allergic reaction and needed help and they just told him there wasn't enough time to deal). So there's a concern about capacity and a sincere empathy issue.

I know the application process is roses because they are responsive and nice but please don't allow yourself to be duped. If you are still considering, just go expecting not to receive support, in all honesty.

There are some fun times. The schedule allows you to take up other interests and sometimes travel. However, please keep in mind that you have about 2-4 hours worth of paperwork and planning so the 4-hour work day is more realistically 6-8. No big deal if you love teaching, but just a heads up. It's important to note that I loved my students, my final host family and some of my colleagues became really great friends. The country is beautiful but you can also enjoy it without the drama.

If anyone has questions, please feel free to comment or send in your email address so I can give more details and/or support. I'm really focused on telling the truth so you can make an informed decision.

The Worldteach Ecuador program gave me a great stepping stone to transition from the corporate world (the dark side of the force) to a new life of independent education-related work. The support, program structure and homestay all ensured that the experience would be a valuable one - and one that I would never forget. Learning Spanish on the hoof and travelling around as much of the country as I could added to the learning of a new culture and alternative perspectives on life.

When I first became interested in sacrificing a year to work in underserved communities overseas I heard great things about WorldTeach and decided to apply. The staff in Boston were incredibly polite and assisted me greatly in preparing the necessary paperwork to travel and teach ESL in Hunan, China. Upon arrival though it quickly became apparent that further supports were limited and the schools we were told we were helping appeared to be given a raw deal. We were supplied no teacher-made lesson plans throughout our year of service, severely under-compensated when it comes to a stipend, and expected to hand over all of our intellectual property while receiving no feedback whatsoever.

The issue that I and other "volunteers" had the most difficulty with was the fact that it appeared that none of our schools knew that we had volunteered our time and were being so poorly compensated. This made sense once I discovered that all of the schools were paying a premium fee to have us as teachers (more money than they would pay a non-volunteer teacher from an agency) and were told that our travel expenses among others were covered by said fee in their contract even though that was not the case. I believe the program cost for the schools was the same regardless of whether the school was urban or rural. Furthermore, many of the schools were not in the least bit "underserved" as the pre-departure and online WorldTeach literature had us believe, and in fact some "volunteers" were working alongside fellow foreign teachers hired by the school who were paid double what our stipend was for less work and limited oversight. This last fact made rationalizing our service and sacrifice nearly impossible. A majority of WT volunteers needed to find extra jobs after work or on the weekends just to make ends meet because we received the lowest stipend allowed by US law so that WT could maintain its nonprofit status.

The program has now changed (along with the WT website and online descriptions 3 times in the last 2 years) to be a "China Fellowship". We were not told of the change in the programs name or new focus while we were serving as volunteers. I believe the new "China Fellows" will be doing essentially the same thing past volunteers had been doing.

Essentially, in my opinion WT is acting as a regular ESL teacher agency with stricter rules for its ESL teachers and not an altruistic entity connecting decent people with underserved communities in China. If it is your desire to work in impoverished or needy schools in China I encourage you to find a legitimate agency to work with or find a school and negotiate your own contract.

I can not speak to the other locations that WT works with/in. I do know that China is awfully unique in its ESL programs and schools so I don't extend my poor experience unto the other programs. But after a year of dealing with WorldTeach I would not feel comfortable suggesting this opportunity to others because it simply is not worth your time and sacrifice, nor the time and money of the school you hope to support. There are better options for you if you want to teach English in China.

P.S. Teaching in China was fantastic and I loved my school, students, and community. I would recommend the job to any decent, hardworking, and caring individual. I was just upset to discover the volunteers' altruism was taken advantage of.

China was an experience like no other!! It really brought to light a lot about who I am as a person and helped to clarify more about my career goals. So in that way, it really helped me "find out more about myself". I also grew in independence and resilience. The World Teach staff and support were stellar! They provided us with 3 weeks of teaching training and a practicum. We were also taught about culture & food. The other volunteers in the program were also a great part of the experience. Seeing them during the mid and end of year trainings was like going home to see family in a way. I really feel like the year went by too fast! Oh, and my students were ADORABLE! At the same time, keep in mind that Chinese winters are depressing. There is very little sun light and it gets really cold. Also, the pollution goes up, so please invest in a face mask and air filter for your home. Its not a two week study abroad in Rome, its difficult and challenging, but extremely rewarding!! Good luck!!

My time in Poland is something I will cherish forever. As an education major, I was looking forward to working with children and teaching them English. Upon arrival in Warsaw, I was greeted by the field coordinator as well as the other volunteers. Our first week of orientation was great and we were able to explore some of the country. We took some pedagogy classes as well as a Polish language class. I spent the next six weeks in a small town outside of Krakow. Living with a host family is a vital part of the experience and I learned so much about myself and the country.

Overall, I would recommend this program. The only issues I had were with the organization of the field director. I did not know my placement until a few days after my initial arrival and there was lots of confusion for most of the other volunteers. It was a little disorganized but that comes with working in a different country. When the field coordinator was not helpful, the home office in Boston was.