Project Summary

The teaching projects available in Costa Rica are for those volunteers who are interested in working with children and teaching basic English, sports, and arts classes. Teaching projects are available in the Guanacaste province, north west of San Jose. The schools in this area are severely under-funded and lack the staff or finances to provide an adequate education.

• :: English Teacher
• :: Sports Education
• :: Arts Education

The majority of the schools in this area lack teachers. Therefore, some students never have the opportunity to learn basic subjects such as English, physical education and arts and crafts. Although there are teachers who specialize in these subjects at some of the schools, they are often poorly resourced and welcome the support of assistant volunteer teachers in order to provide better opportunities for advancement to their students. Many schools also lack the financial resources to hire full-time staff so volunteers play a crucial role in filling out vacant positions.

At a Glance

Minimum Program Length:	2 weeks
Start Date:	Every Monday
Arrival Date:	3 days prior to your Start Date (Friday)
Minimum Age:	18 years old
Volunteer Gender:	Male and Female
Accommodation:	You will be placed with either a homestay family or in a shared apartment with other volunteers. If you have a specific request, or prefer a private accommodation, please state your preferences in the application form. Based on the location of your placement and you accomodation, you might have to commute daily on the public bus. Weekly bus expenses are always less than $10.
Food:	2-3 meals per day are included in your program fee if you stay with a homestay family. Volunteers staying in a shared appartment are responsible for their own food. Special diet requirements or restrictions can be accomodated.
Pick-up Info:	A Volunteer Visions representative will be waiting for you at your arrival point and guide you to your accommodation and project location.
Project Schedule:	During term time you will typically be teaching Monday to Friday for 3-5 hours a day. These classes will either be in the mornings, afternoons or both. Every school day has a long lunch break.

Your role as a Volunteer

You will have the choice of either leading your own class or assisting another teacher in their daily lessons. Your placement is completely dependent upon your level of comfort within the classroom. Depending on your level of Spanish and educational background, you may also want to teach other subjects such as Sports, Math, History, Science, Music and Art.

Project Location

The teaching projects are based in schools in Samara and the in rural communities that surround the town. Playa Samara is considered to be one of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches. The town is located on the edge of 7km stretch of pristine white sand beach.

The town's life revolves around the soccer field that lies in the middle of Samara, which is how traditional Costa Rican towns are typically laid out. The Guanacaste province is home to farming communities and villages that have managed to escape over-development and retain traditional Costa Rican culture and traditions. As a result, Guanacaste is one of best the places to be if you want to experience traditional Costa Rica's culture first-hand.

Suggested Skills and Interests

Volunteers participating in the teaching projects should enjoy working with children. They should also be creative and self-motivated as even the most basic resources can be limited and require you to use your imagination to compensate for the lack of materials.

Suggested Language Level

If you are participating in one of our teaching or community development projects, we recommend that you have an intermediate level of Spanish language proficiency. If you have little or no Spanish language skills, we suggest enrolling in our Spanish language and cultural immersion program before you start your volunteer placement. This program includes 20 hours of Spanish language classes per week as well as cultural immersion activities such as group excursions, latin dance classes, cooking lessons, yoga, and classes in art. College credit can be awarded for course work as well (please contact our office if you are interested in receiving credit for course work).

This comprehensive package of classes and activities is available at an extra cost of $190 per week, which is paid in addition to your program fee. For example, if you were interested in teaching for 2 weeks and enrolling in the Spanish language course for 2 weeks, you would pay the 4 week volunteer program fee of $695 + (2 weeks x $190) for the Spanish language course for a total program fee of $1075. During the language course, the cultural activities and assignments set by the language program will occupy most of your time so you will not be able to volunteer and participate in the language course at the same time. If you would like to continue with your Spanish language classes during your stay, Volunteer Visions will gladly arrange additional classes on your behalf.

Suggested Donations

Any stationary, books, sports equipment, board games and any other educational materials are welcome. Again depending on the type of project, some resources will be more beneficial. We will provide a detailed list of suggested resources for donation with your program information.