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“Two weeks volunteering with indigenous children in...”

written by on 24/04/2012

I was only working with GVI phoenix in Guatemala for two weeks but I really felt I made a difference. I was volunteering in a school in an indigenous community outside Antigua. We went to the school each morning where we were warmly greeted by community leaders and I helped in a nursery class in the mornings and reinforcing reading and writing skills with some older children in the afternoons. The children and indigenous teachers were great; I worked hard and had great fun. My Spanish improved a lot; I was using it at school having Spanish lessons in the evening and chatting with my host family in over an evening meal. Antigua, where I stayed, is a beautiful and unique city and I felt really at home there. My host family were lovely and I felt really welcome. All in all a great and really worthwhile experience. I managed to visit some of Guatemala in my third week in the country: Tikal - a Mayan site with temples peeping through the rainforest canopy; Lago Atitlan - a beautiful lake surrounded by volcanoes, small settlements and rainforest; and I climbed two volcanoes. All in all a great and really worthwhile experience.