Description

This is service-learning at its best. Teach conversational English in rural elementary and high-school classrooms in the Siedlce region, east of Warsaw and at English language camps in the Tatra mountain village of Zakopane. You don't need previous teaching experience to encourage and stimulate youth and adult students! Any native English speaker can be very helpful. Emphasis is on conversation, common usage and pronunciation. Summer teams are a fun family Adventure in Service! Volunteers and Polish school students live and study together, take trips and play American games.

You can also work with children with special needs. Play with, read to and exercise with the children, giving them the extra attention every child deserves. No experience is necessary; however, volunteers with experience working with the disabled and in special education are very helpful.

Highlights

This is an exceptional chance to experience authentic Polish life. Our program started soon after Poland gained independence, through an invitation from Rural Solidarity. Our current host in Poland is the county government of Siedlce. With this exceptional access, you can witness, first-hand, what has propelled this thriving country toward membership in the European Union.

You'll stay in the charming Reymontowka Manor House a full-service resort, and enjoy marvelous home-cooked authentic Polish meals. You'll have ample free time at the end of the work day and on the weekend to visit the cultural and historical attractions of both the Krakow and Warsaw regions. Near Krakow, volunteers may tour many of the sites depicted in the film "Schindler's List," as well as Wawel Castle, Auschwitz and the salt mines. There are numerous natural and educational sites around the host community.

Qualifications

If you are a native English speaker, have energy to work with kids, an open mind, and are willing to serve as part of a team and take direction from local leaders, you will make a positive contribution to this exciting volunteer program. You need not have previous teaching experience. However, if you have experience working with handicapped children, you are especially needed for the group home project.

Languages

• English

Languages Used as a Medium of Teaching

• English

Cost in US$:

USD 1,795 - USD 2,495 - discounts available.

Cost Includes:

• Emergency evacuation services
• Food
• Housing
• In-country orientation/Training
• In-country staff support
• Language instruction
• Medical insurance
• Pre-departure orientation/Training
• Registration fees
• Travel while in host country
• Written materials abroad
• Written materials pre-departure

Program Fees Include:

Your service program fee supports the host community's on-going English development programs, and also covers your meals, lodging, transportation within the work site, project expenses, administrative costs, and the services of a trained team leader. The service program cost does not cover free-time expenses, or your airfare or other travel to the host community. All costs, including airfare, are tax-deductible for U.S. tax-payers.

Experience Required

no

Volunteer Types

Typical Volunteer

Our volunteers are culturally curious and open-minded people looking to contribute to a community development project and to improve their understanding of different ways of life. They are all ages, from various ethnic backgrounds, and of all different professions, such as educators, students, laborers, medical professionals, full-time parents, computer professionals, artists, lawyers and the like.

Age Range

adults of all ages; minor with adult

This Program is open to

Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Apartment/Flat

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

in Groups

Scholarships are Available

Check with us throughout the year on partial and full scholarships which may be available.

Application Process Involves

• Letters of Reference
• Phone/Video Interview
• Written Application
• Online Application plus Application Assessment

Typically The Application Process Time is

12 hours

Post Services Include

• Alumni Network
• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home

Global Volunteers's Mission Statement

"Partners in Development". Founded to help advance peace, rehabilitate improverished communities, and promote mutual international understanding between peoples of diverse cultures through short-term volunteer service on long-term community development programs. We maintain on-going partnerships with local leaders and indigenous host organizations worldwide. Each year, we mobilize up to 300 teams of volunteers to work alongside local people on work projects central to their advancement. We also raise funds to support our international and domestic partners and to provide child sponsorships for educational, social and medical assistance. Global Volunteers is in special consultative status with the United Nations and UNICEF.

Year Founded

1984