Volunteering Teaching English Abroad
Volunteering abroad is one of my favorite ways to travel. As it allows you to get a deeper experience of the place you are visiting while also doing something meaningful.
Planning a teaching experience in Sri Lanka
When planning my trip to Sri Lanka, I decided to look for a volunteering place. Both for being able to cheaply extend my stay, experiencing the local life and also helping out. The year just spent working in Australia made my English skills not so bad. And I found teaching it in a local school the kind of help most interesting at that time.
After sending up a couple of requests on Workaway, I got accepted from a local organization called Lak Aruna. It was based in the village of Higurukadua. In a slightly remote countryside area a couple of busses away from Ella, the closest well known place. I got there taking the famous train from Kandy to Ella, and then a couple of busses.
Teaching English at the Foundation
Being totally honest, despite the founder’s evident best intentions, their way to plan things was not the best.
I loved his idea of teaching English and computer skills to the younger inhabitants of the village. Apparently also with quite good results.
But with just too much confusion on the management side, especially around voluteers.
I personally got there very excited and willing to start teaching and do stuff. But for the first days I just had to wait. For the first meeting with the owner, the never coming teaching schedules, and a good plan. Until I finally did my first week of lessons with other two voluteers: one teaching, and the other two just looking at her.
Many times I got there at the scheduled time to just wait. Without really figuring out if it was my mistake or all the kids were just late. The only positive side was that the school was the only place with working internet connection in the area. But I didn’t travel all the way to Sri Lanka to spend my days on google and social networks.
Other than that, I can say it was an overall good experience. And I am definitely willing to try again in a different part of the planet!
Discovering the slow asian way
I only lately discovered that maybe it was not completely their fault. It was not just the headmaster’s way to (un)plan stuff. I found the same spirit in my hosting family later on.
Someone explained me is the slower Asian way of life. I actually don’t know if it works like that in every neighbouring country, but in Sri Lanka really is. At least in the country side.
Something crazy for occidentals. At least for me, always in need of jumping around and doing stuff, too much even listening to my European friends. Just waiting for hours, sometimes even days, made me upset many times.
But maybe WE are the crazy ones, who knows!
Home and school Lessons
The lessons at the foundation where a bit messy and in my opinion again not really well planned. But I definitely liked the home classes more: sometimes we had to go to a student’s house to meet him and a few school friends living around. For a couple of hours we were doing and correcting some language exercises, I was helping them with their homework and mainly doing conversation.
A good way to get to know the kids and their welcoming families. Learning about their life and answering questions about mine.
It was also a way to make things easier, saving them from the long bus journey especially during vacation days. The village itself was very small, but many homes were quite far away. And the only bus line didn’t run too often. So it was easier for us to reach the nearby homes than for both students and teachers to come to the foundation.
Home classes were overall definitely better than the activities at the foundation. But it happened a few times to travel all the way to their houses to find out the kids were not there. Usually gone to the river or somewhere else with friends.
In most cases there was no way to communicate by phone, if they even had one. So I could only find it out when already there.
But I also need to say I probably didn’t choose the best time for teaching there: the Sinalese new year (something like our Christmas vacations) was coming with all its holiday vibes.
No school also meant no after school lessons at the foundation. Which translates into not very busy times for us.
Home life with the local family
As a volunteer, I was hosted from one of the student’s family, providing me food and a place to stay.
My hosting home was living at about 3 kilometres from the foundation, so I was able to get there both walking or by bus, if well scheduled. In the house were living my young host, Pahbasara. His older sister and their parents, both speaking only their language. The kids also had to work as translators for me, increasing their learning opportunities. Even if I sometimes felt like they were a bit lazy translating longer speeches, especially my questions about their life and traditions.
Boring adult’s stuff I guess!
But the family life has surely been the highlight of the experience. And something I could never had experienced without getting there as a volunteer. If you want to know more about it, jump on my post about Living in Rural Sri Lanka
Celebrating the Sinhalese New Year
Without even know it before, I luckily came to Sri Lanka in occasion of the local new year celebrations. I can easily say the Sinhalese new year is the local equivalent of our Christmas. All about big family meals with special delicacies, visits to friends and relatives houses, sweet meats exchanges and a couple of weeks of school holidays. I came with them to many homes and gatherings. Apparently an interesting opportunity to hear stories and traditions, but often quite boring because of the language barrier. Only some of them spoke a very basic English. And the few Sinhalese word the kids taught me didn’t help me much.
Something completely different from the Philppines, where I was always feeling involved in the conversations.
But it was always nice to see people’s face when I was greeting or thanking them in their language.
On New year’s day we had to wear only white clothes and visit the local temple. We brought there flowers and decorations, and then gone inside to see the Buddhist monk for the blessing ritual. Receiving herbal oil on the head and a special white rope bracelet, to keep for at least three months as symbol of protection.
Back home was finally time for the special delicacy: white rice cooked in a new clay pot in overflowing coconut milk, to wish prosperity. And served at a designed time, about one hour later, with a spicy chilli topping.
After that we exchanged presents with each others: some little money (about 20 or 50 rupees) wrapped in banana leaves. Again as a symbol of prosperity.
I slightly regret I didn’t have the possibility to learn more about those rituals and traditions. But I was always missing a willing translator. And the kids just wanted to play with each other.
Local games and traditions
During the other vacation days we went to bath and play in the nearby river and attended the village celebrations. A sort of fair where everyone was eating and playing games like:
- eyeing the elephant. The blindfolded player has to draw the eyes in the right place of an animal’s picture.
I got the second place on this one!
- Sack race, both played alone or as a part of a more challenging itinerary.
- Kotta Pora. A kind of pillow fight seated on a wooden beam. The winner have to knock the other off from it, while keeping on balance with his legs. Unfortunately only for males.
- Volleyball. The national sports there, but for some reasons only played by boys in that occasion. And well, me.
- Balloon dance. And elimination game where couples of players have to dance holding a baloon between their bodies, without touching it or letting it falling down.
- and coconut scraping race. Obviously ladies favorite!
And obviously umping in the river when needed, as only way to survive all that playing under the burning sun.
Free time without teaching
I came to the village mainly for work as English Teacher. But I finally got the chance to experience the real local life, and deeply discovering the area. It has been a bit disappointing at the start: I was always willing to do stuff and asking to my host family to joining and guiding me. But the answer was mostly no. Or better “later”. But I quickly discovered that later often leads to tomorrow, next week, never.. Asian times I guess. Or probably just a bit of laziness.
There was not really that much to do around, except travelling a bit further to Ella and other bigger towns.
But I still got involved a couple of times in the most fun activity: a trip to the river!
To me it seemed like jumping back in time, into my grandma’s childhood stories. Washing the clothes into the river stream is definitely easier than in a still water bucket (no need to say we had no washing machine over there!).
The shower was a bit more awkward. Firstly because we did it with all the clothes on, as locals don’t use bikinis or any other kind of swim wear. And also I was not totally sure about the cleanliness of the water.
I guess someone else was doing the same a few hundred metres above us.
And even more important, soap is not nature’s best friend. As much as the plastic and other rubbish they always burn in the garden.
It is always sad to notice the lack of environmental education everywhere around the planet.
In conclusion..
Every place is different and obviously leads to a different experience. But if you want to experience the local life while doing something useful, I can say Teaching abroad is a good way!
And if you need some help with finding volunteering opportunities abroad, take a look at this post!
Thank you for taking the time to read this post!
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