Mar 28, 2011

Volunteering while abroad - Lending a hand to the country that hosts you

This week there will be two posts (more like two and a half). This one is dedicated to volunteering while abroad and the other will be about my trip to Panama. The photos below are from our time with Children without Borders and a few are also from our sixth=grade English classes.

I have been fortunate enough to have volunteer opportunities presented to me while I have been abroad through Janiva and the Sol Abroad program. I think that volunteering while abroad is a unique opportunity, because volunteering can show a new side to the country where you are staying. Not to mention, it is a good way to give back to your adopted home while you are gone.
Before arriving, we were informed that Sol extends the chance to teach public school students English. Now, every week we teach Kindergarteners during their school day and we also teach fifth- and sixth-graders as an after school program. This volunteering is through the Sol program, and we are in charge of everything. Every week we have to make a lesson plan and design activities that include vocab, grammar, and sentence structure. So far, we have covered topics like occupations, music, ordering pizzas on the phone, and clothes, along with other miscellaneous concepts. It is a lot of fun to get to know the kids and to know that we help them in an area that will be essential for their future.

Although Costa Rica has a pretty decent education system, the area that is lacking is the English department. English has become crucial in order to get a job in Costa Rica; however, public school students do not have teachers who are necessarily qualified to teach it. A lot of the time, public school teachers do not know English and therefore, cannot teach it properly to their students. If a teacher can speak English, he or she will be working in a private school.

We were lucky enough to have this chance brought to us by Janiva, but some study abroad programs do not come with a volunteer program built in. If it is something that interests you (whether it be because it looks amazing on a resume, because you need volunteer hours to graduate, or because you just want to help people), you should ask your program director about possibilities of getting involved in something while you are abroad.

Children without Borders



What I really wanted to cover in this post was the time I spent last week with Niños Sin Fronteras (Children without Borders). Children without Borders is a non-profit organization dedicated to offering free health care to underserved youth in Costa Rica based out of Bajo los Anonos, San Jose. Their mission is to achieve a healthier and safer future for the children living in high risk and low income areas by giving health care and education to the children and their families. Currently, there are 2 offices open in Costa Rica, one located in San Jose and the other in the province of Guanacaste.

Last week Monday and Tuesday I had the opportunity to work with Children without Borders and AMIGOS Eye Care, a group of optometry students from Pacific University College of Optometry, during their free eye clinic. The clinic lasted for four days, Monday through Thursday, and donated 800 pairs of eye glasses to children in need. The medical students and accompanying doctors saw on average 200 patients a day; they performed basic, but desperately needed, eye exams and had the chance to examine some patients with more advanced eye problems. Clinics took place in Bajo los Anonos at the Children without Borders headquarters, Leon Trece, and in two sites near central San Jose.

Catie and I were lucky enough to get connected to the program through Janiva, who knows Christina Marin, the Executive Director of Central American Operations for Children without Borders. They were in need of translators, and Catie and I filled two of the spots. We got to work with the doctors and translate directions for the patients in order for them to successfully give the eye exams. Catie also helped register patients and fill out “comprobantes” which are proof of visits so that people can be excused from work and school in order to be at the clinic. My second day there, I also was able to give eye exams on my own because the doctors were all needed for more advanced things. I had given the directions for them the entire day before, so after a little bit of explaining, I felt like I was basically qualified to help out with it.

I had the opportunity to talk to some of the students, and they were all very thankful for the chance to come down to Costa Rica and get some hands-on experience that they wouldn’t get in the U.S. They also loved the feeling of being able to help kids who really need it.

If you are interested in learning more about Children without Borders and how you can help, even from the United States, or how to get your school involved in Children without Borders, you can visit the Niños Sin Fronteras website. They are also on Facebook.


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