Volunteer Teaching
Volunteer Teaching The TEFL Academy review, submitted by Roisin.
I’m a person who likes to help others and when the chance to go volunteer to teach English to children in Cambodia presented itself, I literally jumped at the chance. It’s a bit of a shame that The TEFL Academy isn’t an internationally recognized accredited TEFL/TESOL certification course program because I would have liked to extend my trip by traveling around the region and earning a bit of money for future travels, but I can always take another TEFL course from a different company and then I’ll be able to do that too! I volunteered in a small village around 100km south of the capital Phnom Penh. It was one of the best times of my life and I met some great people, whom I still maintain contact with. We weren’t paid, but our board and lodgings were free. And the smiles on the faces of the children were priceless. I’d been told I would be teaching English, but when I arrived it soon became apparent that we’d be helping out with all the chores. Friday evenings were my favorite times because that’s when we put on a performance for the children. I play the guitar and other volunteers and the children chipped in with make-do musical instruments. And of course, singing! 🙂 I planned on staying for two months but ended up staying for six months. If you ever get the chance to volunteer, I strongly recommend that you do it. Even if it’s just for a few months. Ask The TEFL Academy about which places they are sending volunteers out to and I’m sure they will be more than happy to assist. You just need to pay a volunteer fee to The TEFL Academy. This pays for them to place you in a volunteer facility. Mine was a family house turned into an orphanage and it was surrounded by rice paddy fields. The hardest thing about volunteering? Saying goodbye to the children when it’s time to leave. I’ll definitely be back, but this time I’m going to take an internationally accredited TEFL certificate, so I can then stay on indefinitely and earn my way around Southeast Asia.
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Roisin.
Thanks for adding your review.
Trusted TEFL Reviews would like our readers to be made aware that corruption in the volunteer industry in Cambodia is rife.
Despite your every good intentions, you may inadvertently be contributing to the problem when you volunteer at an orphanage in Cambodia.
Very often, the children are not really orphans and have been placed in the orphanage by a family member so that the child can receive a free education.
There is nothing wrong with free education, but there is very much so a lot wrong with how many (not all) of the orphanages are organized.
It can be detrimental to a child’s psychological well-being when they are placed in an orphanage that receives a high turnover of volunteers that pass through for a few days or so.
These children need stability in their lives.
When you arrive at an orphanage, try not to judge the place by the happy faces of the volunteers but by the faces and behavior of the children. And, by the behavior of the individual or individuals that are running the orphanage.
If an orphanage accepts you without any background checks (police report from your home country) you should safely assume that they are accepting anyone to spend time with the children.
This should be a major red flag as not all people that volunteer at orphanages are there for the right reasons.
Mia Williams – Trusted TEFL Reviews