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By Jennifer M. Fitzenberger
Arizona Daily Wildcat
August 30, 1996
Many students spend hours with their noses pressed between library and text books, hoping someday to live the adventures they read of.Fortunately for Ann Christensen, a University of Arizona anthropology and religious studies graduate, the information she found in Alternatives to the Peace Corps: A Directory of Third World and U.S. Volunteer Opportunities will become reality on Sept. 3, when she and 50 other volunteers will be leaving to teach English for a year in the urban port city Guayaquil, Ecuador.
"When I was reading, looking for organizations that send people abroad, I came across an organization called WorldTeach, and decided to write in for an application, "Christensen said.
WorldTeach is a non-profit organization based at Harvard University that regularly sends its participants to teach English in developing countries, such as Ecuador and Africa, said Rosemary Trent, WorldTeach's director of training.
Trent said, "We get contacts in many countries from people who hear of our program and request that we send volunteers to help their citizens learn English."
WorldTeach said in a news release that by having native speakers teach English to students and adults, Ecuadorians can become more active participants in the world community.
In preparation for the year-long trip, Christensen was required to complete 25 hours of teaching experience, most of which she received at an adult teaching center.
"I also have been reading a lot about Ecuador in preparation for the trip," Christensen said.
The organization provides many opportunities for volunteers who have a bachelor's degree to gain knowledge and experience in a foreign country, Trent said.
While the Ecuadorian students learn the English language, the WorldTeach participants learn valuable, life-long lessons, such as language, teaching and cross-cultural skills.
Christensen expects to experience all of these and more. "I hope to become fluent in Spanish, and I am excited about living in another country and being around their culture," she said.
Aside from many valuable experiences, there are many other reasons that over 1,600 volunteers have worked with WorldTeach.
"The participants pay as little as $3,600 for the year-long experience. They receive air fare, health insurance, food, training, and are housed with a host family for the duration of their stay," Trent said.
The families that welcome the volunteers receive an amount of money for their gratitude, and the volunteers receive a salary of $120 per month for their teaching efforts.
WorldTeach is just one of the many American non-profit organizations that help other countries strengthen and reform their educational systems. Other organizations work with volunteers from various age groups, and teach a wide variety of subject manner.
Amigos de los Americas is an organization that sends high school-aged volunteers to Latin American countries to work on public heath projects, and Global Roots sponsors work camps all over the world, Trent said.
"We provide great opportunities for the volunteers. They learn a lot, and the trip often times influences where they will go later in life," she said.
Both Christensen and Trent agreed, however, that the most important part of the experience is the amount of fun the volunteers encounter.
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