The best experience of my life

In summer 2015 I packed my bags and went with the organisation Iko Poran to Rio de Janeiro to teach English in an NGO in a favela called Batan in Rio's West Zone (zona oeste). I had never taught before in my life and I was a bit scared as to what would be expected of me. Luckily I was placed with another volunteer on the project, Charles, and we jumped into the deep end together.

We worked in the "Centro Social e Cultural Tatiane Lima", which had not seen a lot of volunteers teaching English for a long time, so the first few weeks we did a lot of improvised classes, as we could never be sure how many students would turn up or what their level of English would be. After a while word had spread though and after Charles had left, I was able to establish two Basic courses twice a week and one Advanced course once a week with another volunteer, where more or less the same students showed up and we could build on the achievements of the previous weeks.

Teaching itself was always a challenge, but because this was Brazil everything was a lot more relaxed. We had the freedom to do pretty much anything, as long as everybody had fun and would leave class with having learned at least one little thing.
Most of the students were very attentive and up for the challenge, and some of them even stayed back after class to ask more questions about something they read or lyrics in music they listened to. All my students were absolutely amazing an I can say that I learned a bit from everyone - mostly Portuguese. :) As much as you are there to teach them, it's the best way to improve your language skills!

The NGO is run by a couple - Luciano and Eliane - and those two have made their way straight into my heart. I struggle to find words for how open, lovely, forthcoming and amazing they have been with me and there are not enough thank yous in the world to express my gratitude for what they have done for me. I enjoyed every second of my time there, and, needless to say, when it was time to say goodbye, we were all crying our eyes out. I know it sounds cheesy, but these people have become my new family, and I literally can't wait until I return.

I'd also like to stress that during my time I was looked after by Felipe from Iko Poran, and I'd like to thank him for placing me on this particular project - it could not have been better! In 3 months I've seen and learned things that I have not learned in 35 years of my life. This time in Rio was so precious and the memories of it will stay in my heart forever, like the countless people I met along the way. It was the best experience of my life and I can just advise everybody that's thinking about volunteering to do it! Yes, it's scary at first, but if you keep an open mind and open heart and accept the sometimes peculiar Brasilian ways (jeitinhos brasileiros) you will have an amazing time.