Change your life, advance your career

I reached out to Greenheart Travel following my return to the US after a year of teaching and traveling in Thailand. In that year, I had the fortune of running across a handful of Greenheart teachers. In the Land of Smiles, they were no exception; each of them were placed carefully, taken care of financially, and afforded constant support from their program managers. When it came time to move to Colombia, Greenheart was the obvious choice.

I was one of Greenheart's initial Fellows to teach in Colombia via their partner organization, Heart for Change. From the interview to the traveling, and the orientation to the placement, I was taken care of every step of the way. I taught at SENA Centro Agroindustrial in Armenia for six months and had one of the best personal and professional experiences of my life - one that I still draw upon in my career today. It was not always easy, dealing with language barriers and overcoming philosophical differences cross-culturally never is. Yet the strength of the partnership and the genuine in-country support was there to help whenever I needed it. By the end of the first semester, the TEC program was experiencing so much growth that they began to offer interviews for regional coordinator positions to program Fellows. By my 7th month in Colombia, I was speaking and working in Spanish, monitoring and evaluating program progress, and conducting professional development training for new Fellows. My career had begun to take flight.

Fast forward another six months and I was asked by Heart for Change and the Ministerio de Educación Nacional to manage the nation's first Colombia Bilingüe Immersion program. As Immersion Director, I was managing every aspect of Colombia's initial effort at capacity-building for 130 Colombian English Teachers, 25 Fellows and Regional Coordinators, and an entire hotel staff. None of this would have been possible without Greenheart Travel. Their commitment to fostering trust with their partners in Colombia and their high standards for program success streamlined the often difficult, transitional stages of teaching and living abroad. All Greenheart Travel programming, not just the TEC, is designed consciously and carried out with integrity by their entire staff. This is one of the best career advancement programs out there.