Aliarse Volunteer Teaching in Punterenas

I completed my TEFL course in Samara (which was an incredibly intense but worthwhile course) and was based for that month in Playa Samara. Absolutely loved that little beach-town but because of the hours required with the course didn't really get the time to enjoy it. I took the option to volunteer in Punterenas for a short term contract with the Government run program called Aliarse, because I was only staying for a total of 6 months and most other contracts were too long. The induction was a little rushed and instead of being 3 days was squashed into one day. Derek the leader was very thorough but was under the pump to get teachers out to a couple of locations. He was incredibly supportive and encouraging throughout.
On arriving in Punterenas I was met by the social worker and a couple of students and then taken to my host family house. It was a long hot trip on a bus with no air conditioner but I didn't mind mixing it among the locals. My Host family were truly beautiful and included me in a couple of social activities including a weekend away. Even though I spoke no Spanish I enjoyed the time with them.
The house they lived in was very humble and my actual room had the bare minimum. No air conditioner, just a wall fan, a very small desk and chair and a single bed. Unfortunately there was no outdoor area to relax and no real lounge room, so once home of an evening I was pretty much confined to my room other than for the family dinner. I also shared a bathroom with the daughter which was very tiny. The food however was lovely!!
The University itself was fairly minimal also and consisted of a about 5 classrooms and a toilet. There was no staff room so I felt a little isolated from the other teachers, who were all male while I was there. To be honest I found the curriculum to be quite dry and unlike the way I had been taught to teach during the TEFL training. I spent most evenings trying to adapt the curriculum to make it more enjoyable but in the end I gave up and just taught it as it was presented.
The class were adults (between 18 and maybe 30) and were initially hard to win over but I enjoyed teaching them and felt like I made a difference, which was a great feeling. I struggled with clear communications with the social worker and would often become stressed because the wrong pages were photocopied etc and then had to wing it for a couple of hours until she was able to get to the printers to do the right ones. She was a lovely lady and tried her hardest to make things work for me.
The other staff were supportive but I was hoping they would be more social and inclined to go out occasionally. Luckily another person with similar expectations arrived and we were able to organise a couple of weekend trips away which made the time spent there much more fun.
While I haven't painted a pretty picture of some aspects of my work and home-life in Puntarenas, I am extremely happy I went there and often think about the people I met and the things I experienced during that short contract. Despite being challenging at times I will always remember how the people enjoyed the small things in life and how devoted they were to their families. Most of the people I taught lived in varying degrees of poverty and lacked modern appliances and technology which I have come to expect in my life and yet they managed to make the most out of everyday. I would highly recommend taking on something like this, but just be prepared for things to be different to what you might expect.