Peace Corps Volunteers find a wired world! (dictation)

Diva Crawford volunteering testimony

Maria João Berimbau 10º6

Volunteering

Volunteering: give it a whirl!

Brian Slusarz´ Volunteer Testimony

After having spent two and a half years working in Corporate America, I decided I wanted a change, and requested a six month leave of absence from my job to do a bit of traveling. I chose Volunteer Bolivia because I didn’t just want to backpack; I wanted to learn a language, volunteer and live with a local family. I began my time in Bolivia with two weeks of Spanish courses. The classes were one on one and the teachers were excellent so I quickly refreshed my skills.

Then I started my volunteer assignment with a prisoner human rights group. As a six foot blond haired American, walking into a Bolivian prison surrounded by inmates who were NOT behind bars was a very interesting experience, and much different from what I was used to, making spreadsheets in an air-conditioned office. But by the end of my time in Bolivia, visiting prisons on my own became part of my daily existence.

I quickly became friends with many of the inmates and worked hard to help them start up small businesses so they could earn a living. I felt so inspired by the work I was doing, I resigned from my comfy consulting job in the States to stay on as a salaried employee of my NGO for another three months. Luckily, I was able to raise enough money to start up a project in a small rural Bolivian prison, where we were able to improve prison infrastructure, start up a micro enterprise and build a prison library. One of the prisoners even asked me to serve as Godfather to his young daughter!

Still, by far, the best part of my time in Bolivia was with my Bolivian family, friends and the other volunteers. My family had six brothers and sisters who quickly became my best friends. They owned a small grocery store where we ate meals and I spent much of my time: cooking, helping out around the store or just chatting for long hours into the night. We told jokes, laughed often and really formed an amazing bond that, I have no doubt, will last for the rest of my life.

I feel that coming to Bolivia with Volunteer Bolivia was the single best decision of my life. Not only was it the most rewarding personal and cultural experience of my life, it definitely played a huge role in landing me a job in the nonprofit sector upon my return to the US and in getting me accepted into my dream graduate school, where I will be studying international affairs.

I could not have been happier with my Volunteer Bolivia experience and would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone considering the program.

Sport's hour - Interview about surf

Maria João Berimbau e Mariana Azevedo 10º6

Why choose English as a foreign language?

Almost everybody have this question on their minds. There are a few that are interested in the answer but the other ones just don't care about it. It's true that learning a nonnative language is essential but there are so many and we can be uncertain when to choose. Let's see how English is the certain choice.


English is a Lingua Franca and also the most widely spread language in the world, then many countries that we may visit communicate in this language. Furthermore, the language of science, international organizations, tourism, technology, government, diplomacy, entertainment, sports, news, international trades (...) is, of course, English. Besides this, with this language, you can know new people, new places, new cultures, new experiences; briefly, a new world.


This language (spoken or written) is really important in our lives, don't be ignorant about this. English is the world!

Take the opportunity. Change your life. DO ERASMUS.

Erasmus

Study abroad - the world in your hands

Studying abroad is the act of a student pursuing educational opportunities in another country.

Length of study can range from one week, usually during a domestic break, to an academic year, encompassing a couple academic terms, to an entire degree program that spans several years. The most common are semester long programs that cover either the spring or fall semester. There are also winter and summer semester programs. The winter semester programs, for public, 4-year universities, are usually more focused on a specific area of the countries culture due to the shortened time students have in the country.

Some students choose to study abroad to learn a language from native speakers. Others may take classes in their academic major in a place that allows them to expand their hands-on experience (e.g. someone who’s studying marine biology studying abroad in Jamaica or a student of sustainable development living and studying in a remote village in Senegal). Other students may study abroad in order to get a credential within the framework of a different educational system (e.g. a student who goes to the United States to study medicine), or a university student from Albania who goes to Germany to study mechanical engineering.

Costs for a study abroad program include:

• Health insurance
• Living costs incurred during the program
• Passport and visa fees
• Round-trip transportation for the approved program
• Tuition and fees for the program

Students who wish to study abroad fund their studies through a variety of sources, including gifts or loans from family, grants from their home governments, grants from host nations or host universities, scholarships and bank loans.