Job Discussion Forums

[jacannella]

Now that Cuba is starting to open up to US citizens does anyone know what opportunities might exist in Havana for an US English teacher with an MA TESOL and 20 plus years teaching experience?

[grahamb]

This is from the Cuba page on US State Department website:

The embargo on Cuba is still in place and legislative action is required to lift it. Additionally, rules for travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens remain in effect. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control will continue to administer the regulations that provide general licenses for the 12 categories of authorized travel to Cuba.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/07/244623.htm

Beware of falling foul of Uncle Sam!

[esl_prof]

You might check out some of the recent threads on this topic:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=109999

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=111010

As grahamb has pointed out, there are a few more hoops that Congress must jump through before U.S.-Cuban relations are entirely normalized. My guess is that, for the foreseeable future, you'd be largely limited to volunteer opportunities with NGOs or, less likely, low-paying language school gigs. Assuming that the complete normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations will eventually come, other options may include the U.S. Peace Corps, the U.S. State Department English Teaching Fellows Program, and the Fulbright Program. Though, I'd expect competition for any positions in Cuba to be quite stiff.

Your best bet would be to head down to Ecuador (per your inquiry on the other thread), work for a few years and wait and see if English teaching prospects improve over the next few years.

[Xie Lin]

Average income in Cuba is between $20 and $30 per month, depending on the source. Other than volunteer positions, I suspect you'd have to look look for programs funded from outside of the country, such as those mentioned ny esl_prof.

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