Many years ago I went on a gap year to Africa and had the time of my life. I was a young man, fresh out of college, heading out into the great unknown in search of excitement and adventure.
Those were the days!
But although overall I had a fantastic time during the six months I spent in Tanzania, it wasn't all perfect.
My Gap Year Experience
My gap year placement involved teaching in a primary school. It did not matter to me that I didn't have any teaching experience, and it didn't seem to matter to anyone else either. To be honest I thought that I would be holding conversation classes, something which I could do without any special training.
But I ended up teaching maths to a group of kids whose combined knowledge of English vocabulary came to about 20 words.
- Did I enjoy the experience? Yes.
- Did I have an adventure? Yes.
- Did I really do anything to help? I'm not so sure.
I would like to think that the pupils at least enjoyed themselves, and maybe even still remember our lessons. But I don't genuinely think I was any real help during my time in the school.
After a few months, I honestly felt that I was doing more to get in the way than actually helping.
I later found out that for each volunteer teacher the school accepted, they were also receiving $300 from the gap year company. After making that discovery it started to make more sense why they put up with us for so long.
False Expectations
It all left me with a slightly bitter taste in the mouth. After all, the whole aim for me on my gap year (apart from having fun) was to do something genuinely good, to offer my help in some way. To discover that I hadn't been much help at all was a bit of a body blow.
But why am I telling you this?
I think that a lot of young people go away with high expectations of their gap years, but don't really think them through properly. This is especially true of teaching, or any activities which involve a higher degree of training than simply being enthusiastic.
I began to wonder what made me so qualified to start teaching in a school when the other teachers had had years of training. Was it simply because I was a Westerner?
These were real kids, real schools, real teachers. How could I just expect to walk in and pretend I knew what to do?
Key Question: Do You Have the Experience?
Teaching seemed like the ideal opportunity because it was a long-term placement (six months), the location was incredible (the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro), and for some reason I thought it would be easy (perhaps because we were given no training and I therefore assumed there wouldn't be much to it).
There are loads of volunteering positions where you don't have to bring anything more than enthusiasm to the job. No one expects you to have experience counting lions, for example.
But teaching is slightly different, and if you choose such a gap year then you should know exactly what is expected of you beforehand.
Are you just there to give conversation classes or is more expected of you? There are organizations such as VSO in the UK which only provide placements for professionals with experience, including teachers. So be realistic about the actual skills that you have.
Know Why You Are Doing It
It's also really important to know why you want to go on a gap year in the first place.
Going on a gap year to have fun and adventure is no crime. That's probably why most people go on one. But there are plenty of opportunities out there for that. You could go traveling, see the world, and meet new people all without joining up with a dedicated volunteer scheme.
Or consider combining the two and joining a program where you can volunteer, get your board and lodging, live somewhere amazing, but are not required to do anything which requires skills you don't have.
If you want to do something good at the same time, I'd recommend seriously looking at the skills you have and only joining a program where you can really bring something to the voluntary position. If not, you may find it slightly dissatisfying when, like me, you realize that you were not much help at all.
Choose Your Company/Charity with Care
It's also a good idea to find a gap year organization which shares your values. Although there are lots of good commercial companies out there, I've often looked back on my experience and wondered whether it might not have been better to go with a charity instead.
That way you can choose an organization which shares your values, and will be more concerned with what you can offer than with making money from you.
Also, whatever organization you choose, make sure that they are very clear about what your position will entail. That way at least you know what is expected of you before you jet off across the world into the middle of nowhere and are then confronted with a situation that you are not prepared for.
Connor Davies writes at http://aspirationsabroad.com/, where you can find in-depth articles, tips, advice, and useful resources to help you to act on your dream and move abroad to live, work, or volunteer.
No comments:
Post a Comment