Job Discussion Forums

dbb23 · Posted: Thu May 29, 2003 2:39 am Post subject: Volunteer opportunities in London

I'm a 25-year-old newspaper reporter from New York, and I will be spending the next year (September through July) teaching ESL in Ecuador through WorldTeach, a program run by Harvard.

But I'm spending much of this summer in London, and I need to find someplace to volunteer as an assistant for an ESL class, which WorldTeach requires before we start. Does anyone have suggestions for places that would welcome the help of a volunteer? Most of the schools I have tracked down online appear to be commercial -- rather than non-profits or community centers -- and I imagine they would be unlikely to offer me a free training opportunity like that.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-dustin brown

Guest · Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 10:20 am Post subject:

Have you tried contacting the refugee council?

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/

You could also try offering your services on

http://www.goodwillgallery.co.uk/

or you might find something on http://www.timebank.org.uk/

bnix · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 645

Your business,of course,not mine, but are they still charging a $3000(or is it $5000) "fee" to their "volunteers"? Of course, it's Harvard and all of that, but...... Rolling Eyes

dbb23 · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2003 12:40 am Post subject:

Ummm, yeah, they *are* still charging... very close to $5,000. But I'm only beginning to learn Spanish and don't really have the qualifications to get something similar on my own...

...unless you have any suggestions?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

You pay them to go and work ? Sounds like the boys painting the fence for Tom Sawyer to me !

Lucy Snow · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 218 Location: US

Isn't there another one of those outfits for Eastern/Central Europe which requires a "fee" of several thousand dollars to place you in some low-paying job? From the salaries I've seen listed on their ads, most people would be better off cold-calling language schools and getting work that way.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I am still puzzled by this idea that you give them money and they let you work. What is this ? Socialism or some other new-fangled idea ?

MindTraveller · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Posts: 89 Location: Oman

Do you have a Bachelors? If so, use your $5,000 for a CELTA overseas, then find your own job.

Paying someone $5,000 to work for them..... sounds like you didn't do your research enough on scams.... or you've just started.

If I were you, I'd say I had a an accident that has caused me severe physical disabilities and can't particiapte in the program and ask for a refund. Then take a CELTA somewhere in Europe or Asia. If you don't have a BA, hey, that's worth gettting, and you can do a year abroad. I got my Masters from Canada. Sure, Canada isn't THAT much different from the USA, but it helped me understand lots of things about living and working overseas.

Be careful. Life is full of scams. Perhaps, being young, you think education wouldn't be as scam-ridden as hair-loss and others..... Education IS a business, and not just overseas - outside the USA, UK, Canada, etc.

PS - Are you sure the program is with THE REAL Harvard University? Maybe not.....

dbb23

OK, obviously the fact that this program requires a fee has drummed up quite a bit of concern/confusion, so perhaps I can set the record straight.

No, I am not naive, nor am I being scammed. Yes, it is the *real* Harvard University.

I'm obviously a newcomer to the ESL field, which means I'm not familiar with everything out there, so forgive me if I make any false assumptions, and please correct any of my mistakes.

I was seeking out an opportunity to go to Latin America, to learn Spanish and to teach English for one year. A few points stand out: I wanted to go to a developing country, I do not speak the language and I have no training as an ESL teacher. Not only would it be difficult for me to expect someone to hire me with no experience, but the countries I would consider visiting are not exactly swimming in dough to import teachers.

Since the community centers and schools where we will be teaching do not have the funding to bring in teachers, a non-profit like WorldTeach comes in with "volunteers" -- but as a nonprofit, it can't exactly cover all of our expenses, either, which is where the fee comes in.

The $5,000 fee is tax-deductible, because it's a donation to a non-profit organization, which brings it down to $3,000 (my parents will make the donation and I will pay them back). That $3,000 covers air fare, health insurance, training, intensive language classes, placement, and general support. Air fare alone would have cost me $1,000 on my own, and my current medical insurance puts me back well more than $2,000 over the course of a year. (Not to mention what my rent would be if I stayed in New York -- yikes!) So by paying this fee and going to Ecuador, I'm actually losing far less money than I would by staying in New York without a job.

Once we're down there, the school where we work will pay us a standard wage for Ecuador -- not much, but given the cost of living, it's something.

It sounds as if most people who responded to my posting are seeking ESL jobs on a professional level, and that's really not what I'm doing. If I were a professional teacher, of course I wouldn't pay a fee. But where I'm going, they can't really afford expensive teachers and I anticipate what I learn from the people I meet will be far more valuable than the fee (not to sound hokey or anything).

Also, and this is a side-note-- I'm going to law school starting Fall '04, and the amount of debt I will soon find myself from THAT education makes anything spent this year look like drops in a bucket.

Hope this explains things. Feel free to post any thoughts.

-dustin

MindTraveller · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Posts: 89 Location: Oman

Congratulations on knowing what you're doing, Dustin.

Sorry, I was just worried.....