IVHQ Teaching English Project in San Jose, Costa Rica

I debated what experience to do when volunteering in Costa Rica and settled on Teaching English. I took a TEFL course, did the IVHQ prep work, and waited patiently for my volunteer dates. I volunteered for IVHQ previously in Fiji and had a fantastic experience. The Costa Rica was a very different experience as you may expect differences in a different country but also fantastic. I was partnered with a community center about 1 1/2 to 2 hours by bus outside of San Jose so ended up taking UBER, which was affordable. My class was a group of Intermediate English learners and by listening to their needs on the 1st day, changed my teaching plans from grammar to focus on speaking, reading comprehension, and vocabulary understanding. I had a great 2-weeks with the class, making an impact in a small community often overlooked, and hope to come back through another volunteer experience. The local team had great resources and support. My homestay was with an awesome family. I enjoyed the private room that had a kitchen and a place to stretch out in the mornings/evenings. I also enjoyed the Costa Rican cuisine that the matriarch of the family cooked daily.

I had an amazing time in San Jose. The local team were so good at making us feel comfortable. They took us to our project on the first day, showed us how to use the buses, gave us safe and comfortable homestay accommodation, provided us with extra entertainment and fun evening activities as well as giving us a useful briefing about the country and the activity beforehand, which was informative and accurate. All the coordinators were super helpful. My placement was at a local daycare centre and it was really easy to see what help I could give. I would advise people not to have expectations before going, because even within the same project, people on different placements would have vastly different experiences (all were good though!)

My host family were friendly and welcoming. My favorite moment from the volunteer experience was meeting and getting to know my students. For anyone who's hesitant about volunteering, I'd say Go for it!!!