Program Village (WG)

My name is Melanie and I volunteered with VP Bali at program village for 2 months starting in January 2015. I had a split day, spending mornings (10am-12pm) working with the special needs children and afternoons (2pm-4pm) teaching English.

First a bit about the school: It is founded and run by a man and his wife - locals from the community. For this reason, VP Bali is not the only organization that provides volunteers, which can at times create a bit of confusion. It is located in a village about a 10 minute drive from Ubud - it is very rural and quiet but lets you appreciate the REAL Bali. It is a beautiful village filled with beautiful people!

For the special needs program, there are a few local teachers who run a fairly scheduled week for the children. Most of the work in the morning is assisting in the classroom! Despite the fact that they do not speak much English, it is an incredibly rewarding job! I did not get the chance to experience much of the afternoons with the special needs kids but it was often planned and run almost entirely by the volunteers.

In the afternoons, I taught English to a group of 8-12 year olds. I was on my own for a good portion of my 2 months - I had co-teachers join me for a couple weeks a few times but my placement was much more long term than theirs. There is one local teacher that looks after the 3 classes - she will ensure you have the materials you need, but rarely actually teaches the classes. It is up to the volunteers to prepare lessons and teach either on their own or alongside another volunteer.

I believe I greatly benefitted from being at the program for 2 months. I would definitely recommend this length of time. Your first week is usually overlapping the last week of the previous volunteer so that you can get settled in, the next 2 weeks you will start to learn the kids names and a bit about them, it isn't until the 4th week that I really felt I had connected and began to feel valuable.

I encourage anyone who is considering this program to just commit and DO IT! I took a huge leap of faith when I applied and am forever grateful for the outcome!

There are really no words to describe the beauty of this experience... Seeing it for yourself is the best way to truly understand!