Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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The project:
The teaching English project in South India is based in Madurai, a town which has little tourism from foreign visitors. Not only does this give volunteers the chance to experience the true Indian way of life; it also gives the teachers, children and the locals the opportunity to interact and engage in other cultures. The local schools we work with are desperately in need of extra help and really benefit enormously from volunteers helping them improve their English as well as learning from alternative teaching methods from Westernised education. You can become involved in after-school activities, painting and improving the schools as well as being part of their assemblies and ceremonies. We currently volunteer at six schools in different areas of the town, ranging from primary to secondary, ultimately trying to reach out and aid all areas of Madurai.
Volunteers also have the opportunity to teach specialised subjects such as IT, drama and maths which helps development and growth. Many schools have benefited from our donations including equipment, chairs and text books that otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to purchase.
We employ 2 local organisers as well as several Indian staff who manage the volunteers and provide full time support. We have set up 2 volunteer houses which help local landlords as well as provide host families for the complete Indian experience and this provides extra income for their families. We buy all the food and house products locally, and volunteers use the tailors market, emporiums, restaurants and local transport; maximising the benefits to economic development. Volunteers are made aware of the cultural differences and customs, working in harmony and respecting the locals and traditions.
Our company:
You taking part in this project enables us to continue to donate financial assistance as well as necessary goods, where it is needed around the world. Examples of donations include building new classrooms, providing school uniforms for poorer students, buying computers, sports equipment, playgrounds, toys, mattresses, classroom equipment and funding school trips and the building of libraries, and more. We also donate significantly to conservation research efforts and the purchasing of necessary conservation equipment. In the past, these donations have been made in all continents and in projects where we work, and some where we do not work.
Recent donations made include:
- Monthly donations to a variety of schools, orphanage and animal sanctuaries around the world to help with costs.
- Donations to a school in Zambia to sponsor the education of five children per year.
- Donation made to a school in Ghana to build new signs to advertise the school, buy a photocopier, buy reading books and pain some classrooms in need of repair.
- Donation of funds to build a toilet at one of the schools we work with in Cambodia – until now the children have had to go into neighbouring houses or in the bushes!
- Computer and Camera for a Street Kids project in South Africa.
- Ongoing monthly donations made to orphanage in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and every year additional money given at Christmas to buy presents for children.
- Approximately £1,500 towards the building of a desperately needed classroom in a Zulu school in eMakhosini, South Africa.
- Water tanks for various projects in Ghana and Kenya to allow the children safe drinking water.
- Toys and play equipment for children at a project that was severely lacking funds for this in South Africa.
- A donation of books for the Red Cross Hospital in Cape Town.
- A donation of $400 to the elephant project in Thailand.
We are committed to upholding strict ethical standards that ensure a positive and lasting impact upon the environments, communities, institutions, volunteers, animals, children and people that we work with. For example:
- We encourage our volunteers to make the most of local opportunities available to them, such as shopping at local markets, eating in local restaurants and using local services and transport.
- We encourage volunteers to pay fairly for goods and services. We believe that over payment for goods and services or payment to beggars can have negative consequences and result in the over-reliance of tourism within the local community.
- We strongly advise against purchasing wildlife souvenirs or anything which may perpetuate the death or cruel treatment of animals for the purpose of profit.
- We advise on dress codes and codes of behaviour in all of our destination countries to ensure volunteers don’t cause offence to local communities. Our aim is to create always a win-win-win situation in terms of the benefits for the local communities and institutions that we work in, for us and for the volunteer. We do not embark on any project that is not beneficial to the communities, institutes or volunteers. We conduct regular volunteer satisfaction surveys to monitor our performance.
Our projects enable vital conservation, research, care and education work to take place directly where it is most needed. For example, the schools where we teach English very often have no other English teachers, and so they rely on us for continued lessons. We kept a Species Survival Conservation project in South Africa afloat until completion after it was threatened by lack of funds. Our volunteers contribute, all over the world, to projects that would not exist without them.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
