Using A TEFL Course To Volunteer: Clarice's Story

One of our Australian tutees, Clarice, decided to get her TEFL qualification with i-to-i and headed for an adventure overseas. She had an unforgettable time teaching English in Uganda; experiencing the culture and getting to know the local community and falling in love with Africa. Here she shares her story:

“Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.” This shocking fact really inspired me to do the TEFL course to help me gain understanding in the area of literacy and grammar, in order to help those in the developing world. It was also to assist me in my coming adventure to Uganda. There I would be teaching English at the local school and I knew TESOL was perfect for this.

Having Google searched for a while I eventually read about i-to-i TEFL courses and this was perfect. The staff at the i-to-i office were very friendly, professional and extremely helpful. I was very excited to begin the course.

My heart had been stirred for a while to visit a developing nation and live for a while there. In order to truly experience the culture one must stay for longer than 3 weeks. I stayed for 4 months and had the most incredible time.

International Support Aid was introduced to me and I was honoured to spend my time at a children’s home called Care4KIDS. This home and organisation was set up by an incredible woman who has a heart for little children and sustainable projects in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty. I left in June 2010 for 4 months.

Uganda is a diverse country full of Warmth and Love. I encourage anyone who is thinking of volunteering to do it in Uganda, it is a fairly safe and beautiful African country. I began teaching the children of Jinja Preparatory School 2 days a week. My class was called P3 and I had over 60 children in the class. It was challenging at times but truly memorable and fun overall. The TEFL book was an awesome aid in helping me prepare for the lessons often the night before in my room at the orphanage.

The online library was also useful in printing out some different lesson plans as well. The children found the illustrations amusing and the activities inspiring. TEFL is definitely essential for anyone wishing to do a similar thing. I loved being in Uganda. My favourite thing to do was to cuddle and play with the 76 children we had at the home.

Whilst in Uganda I travelled across the border to Kenya another gorgeous African nation famous for its game parks, and of course the Masai.

After a truly life changing adventure in Uganda I returned home. Fired up and fuelled from what I have seen firsthand and experienced I knew this wasn’t going to be the end. I am now preparing to go again in Feb 2012 this time long-term. i-to-i is definitely beneficial for anyone wishing to spend valuable time overseas. It will change your life like it has to mine.