Volunteerism

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Volunteerism is dedicating your time, skills, talents, and energy towards charitable activity. When you volunteer, you must put your mind and heart to it and not expect something in return. I was doing a volunteering job in Ecuador as an English teacher to one of their public schools in the coastal region. The work was challenging because I had 400, more or less, students from Grades 2 to 5. The fact that the school doesn't have the complete equipment or resources to help me in teaching makes it even more difficult. Almost all students cannot speak nor understand English so I had to learn the basic Spanish words such as "silencio" or silence, "escúchame" or listen to me, "siéntate" or sit down, and much more. It was not an easy task to introduce phonics to those kids because English is not their primary language. However, the more challenging it was, the more I was motivated to do my best just to help those kids learn English. After a few months of spending my time with the students, parents went to me and told me that their kids' favorite subject is only English and Math. Sometimes they will only open their English books at home. Hearing those comments from their parents makes me feel proud as a teacher. The entire experience is something that I would cherish forever. What about you? Have you tried volunteering, too? Share your thoughts!