Volunteer and Teach English in South East Asia

Name: Volunteer and Teach English in South East Asia
Brand: VESL
SKU: 25318
Rating: 5 (11 reviews)

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Location

Multiple Locations +3

Thailand
- Chiang Rai
Sri Lanka
India

Project Types

Orphan Care Community Development Education Teaching

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Program Details

Housing

Host Family

Pricing

Price Details

Fundraising targets range from £990 for a 4-6 week program, and for each additional week we ask volunteers to raise an extra £80 per week. The cost reflects the setting up and running of the programme, and includes accommodation, food and insurance. We have in country managers in each country who will arrange a pick up from the airport and transfer to a hotel for the first night.

Last Updated: Apr 14, 2016

Last Reviewed: Dec 04, 2015

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6 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Looking for a great opportunity to develop your C.V whilst having the experience of a lifetime? Why not volunteer overseas! We are looking for volunteers for between 4 weeks and 12 months to go to Northern Thailand, Sri Lanka or Southern India.

Volunteers can work as language assistants supporting local teachers or teach English to whole classes. Our aim to improve confidence levels among English learners and make English lessons fun and engaging. Volunteers run activities & games focusing on spoken English, helping to improve confidence levels and make learning English fun. Volunteers are also able to run after-school games, sports, music & art clubs.

Where do I stay?
Volunteers live within the local community with a family in a homestay placement. This is a unique opportunity to experience a culture first-hand whilst helping to make a real difference.

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Consider your impact: Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding experience for both volunteers and local communities, and at Go Overseas, we believe all volunteers should have the resources to make informed decisions about the type of volunteer project they want to partake in. However, despite best intentions, some organizations offering placements in orphanages may unknowingly place children in danger. You can read about the potential dangers of orphanage volunteering here.

Video and Photos

Katie Desmond with her students in Thailand

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Program Reviews

5.00 Rating

based on 11 reviews

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Impact 4.9
Support 5
Fun 4.9
Value 4.9
Safety 5

Showing 9 - 11 of 11 reviews

I was part of the teacher workshop team in Sri Lanka in 2006. We had a fantastic time, not only seeing a large part of the country, but having the opportunity to work with Sri Lankan teachers and share our knowledge.

We developed a number of workshops which were a lot of fun. We were able to learn about how the education system worked in Sri Lanka and were told that our workshop programme was both informative and thoroughly enjoyable! If you are a teacher looking for something interesting, fun and really rewarding, then I would highly recommend taking part in this programme over your summer holidays.

What would you improve about this program?

To spend more time there

I was one of the first VESL volunteers in India and truly had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. VESL really made me feel like a member of their team and not just another volunteer and got to know me personally. I taught English to children aged 4-16 for 12 weeks and lived on the orphanage site. I felt totally absorbed into the local way of life and saw India in a way no tourist or traveller could.

I volunteered in India for three months last September and had an amazing time. I taught English in a primary school to Standard 7 students (aged between 10 and 13), I went to school for 9 o'clock each morning, lessons started at 9.30. I had four lessons each day. In the afternoon after school, I ran an English Club for my students and helped another volunteer run an English Club for her students at the same school. We also helped out at the local NGO and ran lessons for undergraduate students, which was a great way to meet people in the local community and made a change from singing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes! I had made some great friends through those classes.

I lived with a host family whilst in India, which was the most amazing experience, they were so welcoming and looked after me unbelievably well - a lot of food was involved!! They took myself and the other two volunteers away for a weekend to the tip of India, which was great and they took us to places we would never have seen otherwise and it was great to spend some time with the children in the family!

At the weekends we visited different places nearby, including Munnar, Varkala and the backwaters.

What would you improve about this program?

Getting used to the chaotic lifestyle was difficult, we often would be preparing lessons for school and then find out late at night that school was cancelled the next day due to a strike or holiday - it happened quite frequently but there is nothing you can do about it!

Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

thailand classroom

Highlights: I think the highlight of my trip was the occasion when I ran a bookmaking class for year 4. I wanted to do some crafts activities as that was my strength, and I managed to teach 10 year 4 students and the teacher how to make a sewn bound book without any Thai language! I was then asked to teach all of year 6 so I did the class for 60 students at once! It was mayhem, but even the naughty students were coming up to me proudly waving their books at me! It was a great feeling!

I think my host family were also a great highlight for me. I called her my 'Thai mum' and she loved it. She made a huge effort with us to make us welcome and show us the culture. Over the 6 weeks we were there her English improved massively as well, which was brilliant for her teaching.

Morning: I'd wake up at 6.45am and jump in the shower while my volunteering partner had a little lay in! Once I was ready I head downstairs for my Thai breakfast - rice and last nights dinner with a really good omelette. Our host family took us in the car to school at 7.30am. When you got there all the students would be running around cleaning the classrooms and would stop and wave at as we arrived. We'd have our first 1 or 2 lessons of the day with our primary classes.

thailand

Afternoon: The teachers would take us to lunch at a little restaurant in the village that did really nice 'pad-thai' or fried noodles or we'd have noodle soup or rice (there's a lot of rice!) After lunch we'd be back to lessons. In our spare time we'd plan our lessons or put up our English display we were making for the computer room. After the lessons were over there was usually a while where we'd play with the students, especially kindergarten! We'd head home about 5pm.

Evening: In the evening we'd go the market with our host and they'd pick out something unrecognizable from the vegetable stalls. Back at home they'd cook a traditional Thai dish for us, usually made up of several dishes and rice. I used the evenings to plan my lessons and resources for the next day and to keep a journal of my experiences. Bed at 10pm.

Kath McGuire

Eve Hadshar

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Tell us a little about VESL and your role at the company.

I am the Programme Manager at VESL, we are a very small charity; it is only myself and another member of staff. We don't have an office, I work from home which enables us to keep our costs down. My role is very varied from recruiting volunteers to go overseas, to training volunteers, to going overseas to visit the projects myself. I love the role, I get to meet amazing people along the way and feel that as a past volunteer I can provide honest information about what it is like to volunteer with VESL and what to expect once overseas.

How did you get involved in the volunteer industry?

I finished university in 2011 and decided I wanted to volunteer overseas and do some travelling, I found out about VESL through a Careers Fair at Edinburgh University and volunteered with them in India in September 2011. Before I went to India I wasn't 100% sure about what career path I wanted to take, but I loved the time I spent in India and was very close to extending my stay. When I returned from India, I decided I wanted to get into the charity sector, I completed an internship with a charity called Build Africa and then did an internship with VESL and was a Student Leader (I lead a team of students to India this summer). I applied for the role of Programme Manager before going to India and was ecstatic to get it, I thoroughly enjoy the role, and love how varied it is.

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What makes VESL unique?

We are a very small charity and take time to get to know each of our volunteers, I think that is really important and is what attracted me to volunteering with VESL in the first place. The fact that I am a past volunteer I feel is also extremely important, as it means I am able to give honest and reliable information about what it is like to volunteer with VESL and what to expect once overseas.

We keep our costs to the minimum possible, which has led us in the past to have to run additional fundraising events. I think the fact that a lot of our past volunteers have volunteered with us again and/or run additional fundraising events for VESL, is a great testament to the work that we do. We work with country managers in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand as well as local NGO's and governments to choose projects that are beneficial to host communities and that are rewarding for our volunteers.

In your experience, what characteristics make a good international volunteer?

I think someone that has a real passion for the work we do, who is flexible, adaptable and someone who is willing to 100% per cent get involved in the project, culture and community life. We believe that each of our volunteers is able to make a small but measurable difference at the projects that we send them too, and to do this volunteers need to fully throw themselves into life in country, be open to things changing and be able to use their initiative.

What does the future hold for VESL?

VESL will celebrate it's tenth year in 2013 of sending volunteers overseas, so we are planning a reunion event for all of our past volunteers. We are looking at sending our largest ever number of volunteers in 2013 and are looking in Thailand and India to expand the number of projects to meet the increasing demand.

About VESL

VESL is a charity (no. 1117908) and not-for-profit organisation. VESL is run by a dedicated team with extensive overseas experience, all of whom have been past volunteers and have a passionate commitment to run educational projects that are not only rewarding but beneficial to host communities in Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. We are passionate...