Teacher's Assistant Program in Argentina

Location/ Host community description:

San Rafael is located in the heart of the province of Mendoza, 240 km away from its capital city, and surrounded by a colorful array of wineries set in a frame of poplar trees and mountains, all washed by a bright sun and deep blue sky.  Crystal clear rivers come down from the mountains and are held in several dams quite near the city, helping to complete the picture of amazing nature and man's touch. The city of San Rafael and its surrounding areas is home to around 180 thousand people who mostly work on wine-making, agriculture and tourism.

Downtown San Rafael is a small but busy center, characterized by its “acequias”, typical irrigation ditches that run along the streets all through the city. The main avenues offer countless shops, banks, restaurants, cafés, and hotels. Few apartment buildings stand out from a neat design of varied houses, each with its garden and flower bushes.

The dams of Valle Grande, El Nihuil and Los Reyunos offer a healthy natural alternative after the week's stress.   The valleys of Valle Grande and Cañón Del Atuel provide unexpected landscapes. The Valle de Las Leñas, the most important ski-center in South America, is found set deep in the Andes Range. Due to its wonderful nearby lakes, rivers and canyons, San Rafael offers the possibility of practicing many sports such as trekking, climbing, camping, mountain-biking, fishing, kayaking, rafting, swimming and water-skiing.   There are also many opportunities for sightseeing and relaxing.   The city offers movies, lectures and courses.   An unforgettable and enriching experience, surrounded by warm and welcoming people in an amazing natural environment.  

SAMPLE PROJECT:

Instituto del Carmen, San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina

The Instituto del Carmen, a multi-level institution, consists of Kindergarten, Primary School, High School and English Teacher Training College.   The school has over 1,800 students and 350 teachers in all.  

It belongs to the Catholic Community of Carmelitas, working hand in hand with professionals in the field of teaching.   The institution works on firm concepts of solidarity and moral values as well as it strives for academic excellence.  

In the last few years, it has given great emphasis to the teaching of English, becoming one of the most outstanding schools in the community.  The staff is warm, open minded and always willing to help.  

The students follow their steps.  It is a wonderful place to work.

Description of volunteer position :

Volunteers will be asked to assist various teachers in classroom activities, interacting with different age groups and levels of English competence.   In addition, they will be asked to give one or more talks per month on relevant cultural aspects of their home country or any other topic of their knowledge (subject to approval).  Volunteers will also be asked to raise donations of textbooks or any written material from their home community or embassy to enrich the school's library.  

Time tables can range from 7:45AM to 1:00PM for primary and high school and from 6:00PM to 11:00PM for Teacher Training College, and are to be fixed in agreement with the participant depending on the number of hours assigned and the school's needs.

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Location/ Host community description:

San Luis is the capital of the province of San Luis.  

Founded in 1594 with the name of "San Luis de Loyola Nueva Medina del Río Seco", it is located at the foot of the "Sierras Grandes" (Big Mountains) by the river Chorrillos in the area called "Punta de los Venados".   It is 800 km west of Buenos Aires. The climate is Mediterranean of temperate zone, balanced all year long with an average annual temperature of 17ºC being the maximum temperature 33ºC and the minimum temperature 3ºC.  

The city keeps the traditional features of the colonial style with big rambling houses, big residences, high canopies and sunny patios. There are museums such as the History Museum, the Natural Sciences Private Museum and Dora Ochoa De Masramón provincial Museum, all of them show objects that give evidence of the history, legend and important findings in the region. The Capital City of San Luis gives one the chance of living unique experiences in imposing landscapes that invite one to discover the past, live adventures and contemplate the surrounding natural monuments.

SAMPLE PROJECT:

Volunteers will work for two different organizations:

Universidad Nacional de San Luis - Foreign Languages Center

Organizational mission/purpose : This is a state University where students don't have to pay. There are three Schools: The School of Humanistic Sciences, The School of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacy and The School of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences.   The Center for Foreign Languages teaches English as well as other languages to students who attend the University.

Description of host project : The Center for Foreign Languages teaches English as well as other languages to students who attend the University. In this specific case the project has as a main goal to prepare students who are attending their two last years, have special scholarships or are doing their Ph.D to be able to interact in the every day and academic world in an English speaking country. At the same time, this project includes some activities in a suburban high school where teenagers attend and have English classes.   

Description of volunteer position : The volunteer will assist in classes where students are trained to develop all the skills needed to speak, understand, read and write English. All classes have a teacher and the volunteer's work will be to participate in all the activities together with teachers. These classes will take place in the morning.

Fray Luis Beltran High School

Organizational mission/purpose : This is a state high school located in the suburbs of San Luis. Students who attend come from low-middle class homes and they are in their last years of school. Most of them won't be able to attend university due to economical reasons. The school organizes sports and social activities in the afternoon.

Description of volunteer position : Volunteer will assist the teacher in English classes.   He/She may also organize some sports events during the afternoons. The school is not very far from the University building, so volunteers will be able to move from one to the other during the morning according to the different schedules.

A definite schedule will be fixed according to needs and availability of the volunteer.

Volunteers will also have the possibility of attending some English classes for children under the supervision of our local rep and some other teachers of the work team.

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