I'm immensely grateful for the experiences this program provided me with. I stayed for three weeks, however I wish I could have stayed longer. The children are beautiful. They are very enthusiastic about learning which makes our job much easier and more rewarding. The teaching hours are very manageable, and the weekend breaks are prefect for taking in the Island. You teach with a co-teacher which presents its own challenges, but I never felt out of my depth. The local staff are just lovely and are willing to support you in any way possible. The communication between the program director, staff and interns, and the volunteers could be improved. I feel confident that I made a positive impact during my time with VP Bali. The program is well designed to ensure the sustainability of the program, so that the children continue to benefit despite some of the volunteers' short stays. I also liked that although the program is not Indonesian owned, they employ a number of local staff and clearly respect the local community. I highly recommend volunteering with VP Bali!
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I felt that teaching expectations were not very clearly communicated to volunteers. This is partly due to the language and cultural barrier between local staff and the volunteers, but I feel it is also the result of a lack of organisation. I feel the program would benefit from a greater emphasis on curriculum development and teaching support, rather than marketing etc. My co-teacher had skipped topics, not conducted tests and not taught significant parts of the curriculum, however this had not been picked up and nothing was done to support her. During my orientation I was given a thorough briefing on cultural respect, but no information on my classes, curriculum, teaching tipc etc. The Monday meetings are not very well organised. I felt that instructions were not well commuicated and as a result there was a lot of confusion amongst the volunteers in regards to the information covered in these meetings. It might be a good idea to have an intern in charge of curriculum and teaching support. Just an idea! Finally, Í don't know whether backgrounds checks are feasible but this would be good. Also, there should be clear rules on appropriate relationships between volunteers and the students both in the school and on social media. For example, we were not told to never be alone with a child, but this is very important for child safety. Overall however, the program was great! I really enjoyed myself and would recommend it to others.
