Children initiate learning English from the elementary level and the demand of English is high in Philippines. English has been immerged as the global language and widely used in information technology, international trade, communication, science and internet. There are more than 100 local dialects spoken in Philippines. However, Filipino and English are both the official languages. Students lack the opportunities to get better quality of English as the schools have untrained and unqualified teachers. Though the Filipino (based on Tagalog) is the official language in Philippines, English is the language of government and instruction of education. And instead of high literacy rate of Philippines that is is 98%, English speaking population is very low because 95%of children are enrolled in public schools. In general, private schools in Philippines perform better than public once, due to better facilities and services, most importantly teachers. Learning English can create various opportunities to the young generation in Philippines to get better job, abroad study and so on. Asia Horizon is working with such public schools which can’t provide the quality education to the poor rural community and lack the trained and competent teachers. We need your help and support in every step of our effort. The contribution you make on the lives of the children will be obvious and long-lasting, and you will also be part of a much wider volunteer network leaving positive impacts in the communities.
Volunteer’s Activities
As a volunteer, you will teach practical conversational English in primary and secondary schools. Besides English, you may teach math, science, health, geography, social science, history, business education, art, music, and basic computer skills. You have to teach elementary and high school students in public schools for two to four hours a day. Volunteers will also have the opportunity of assisting informal education classes, teaching young people who have dropped out of school. You will also be involved in helping the children in sports and games, drawing and painting. The supervisor at the school helps to develop the lessons. Volunteers are allowed to travel during weekends and after office hours during weekdays.
Project Skills Required
There are no specific requirements for working with children in childcare centers. However, you must be at least 18 years old and should have knowledge of spoken English for volunteering. You should also be flexible, committed to help schoolchildren, open minded and self-motivated to learn and serve to the people of new culture and religion. Lastly you need to be kind, unbiased, learning and generous.
Arrangement of Room/Food/Supervision
Asia Horizon makes an appropriate provision for food, room and supervision for its volunteers from the very beginning of their arrival to the country to the end of their project. You will get a brief orientation about the premise and the schedule of the program, living with the Filipino host family is a great opportunity to understand the Filipino life, language (especially Filipino), culture, tradition and people. In your volunteering programs, volunteers’ accommodation and food management is provided by a host family and in the placement, cooks prepare a variety of Filipino food agahan or almusal (breakfast), tanghalian( lunch) and hapunan (dinner). A typical Philippine meal consists at least three meals a day served with boiled or fried rice, corn or other popular dishes such as adobo (a meat stew made from either pork or chicken), lumpia( meat or vegetable rolls), pancit(noodle dish) and lechon( roasted pig). You can also get the food from outside if you wish; there are numbers of affordable restaurants and hotels in Philippines. You can’t expect a luxurious bedroom while staying with the host family. However, volunteers joining Asia Horizon-Philippines’s orphanage program stay with the children in a hostel. Asia Horizon arranges a separate room along with a communal bath with cold water and fan for volunteers in both the host families and hostel accommodations but sometimes they may share the room if the number is large. Volunteers are expected to share same life style while staying with the host family; they may join the daily activities such as cooking, cleaning, washing and so on. Though the local fare will be provided twice a day, you will be really enjoy the way of Filipino hospitality and generosity to the guest.
Project Location
Placements of our Philippines program are located in nearby places of Tacloban City. Tacloban is the provincial capital of Leyte, and is the regional economic, cultural and tourist center of Eastern Visayas. The city has many interesting cultural and historical sites such as Leyte Capitol Building, DZR Airport, Tacloban City Hall, San Pedro Bay, Tacloban Seaport and Madonna of Japan. You will have the access to internet café, malls and shopping centers.
Visa Information
Volunteers are allowed to enter in Philippines without a visa if the duration is less than 21 days. If you intend to stay longer, you must contact to the Filipino embassy to procure a visa: if you decide to lengthen your stay, you can easily extend the visa up to 59 days for P3500. The amount will be decreased if you like to extent the visa more than 59 days.
Project Information
Program Date: Asia Horizon volunteer Program begins with your arrival at the airport in Manila on Sunday, the day before of your project. A one-day orientation about the program including project sites, types of work, local food, climate, safety issues, health issues, culture people etc. will be provided in Manila office before you start the project.
Program Fees: Our program fee is 80-100% less than most international volunteer organizations.
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Living, Working and Safety Issue
Living and working in a poor and developing country is really challenging. It demands courage, some experiences and the ability to adapt. It can be overwhelming to adjust in a completely new environment. The climate, food, and atmosphere – everything is different than your hometown. You will be faced with a harsh social reality every day of your volunteer work and experience things a tourist never sees.
Independence, maturity, flexibility and the desire to do social work are required if you want to take part in the volunteer work program. Asia Horizon takes full responsibility for your safety and tries its level best to bring sense of security and peace of mind in you from the time of your first arrival to the completion of your project in a host country. When we receive your flight information, we will make the necessary arrangements here for your airport pick-up. Generally, volunteers arrive on Sunday. Our country coordinator will be there to welcome you at the airport, to pick up and take you to your accommodation, and you will receive basic orientation about your itinerary and placement along with a comprehensive briefing on the country and specific locale by the coordinator and transfer to the project on the following day or after the one week orientation. The staff/ coordinator will accompany you until you have a sense of complete safety. You are allowed to contact 24/7with an assigned person directed by Asia Horizon during your stay. We will be fulfilling our additional duties such as monitoring, guiding and counseling. Our staff/ coordinator will be there all the time supporting, assisting and coordinating you. |
