English teacher (Medellín) volunteer

We are currently seeking volunteers to teach English in a youth centre in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Medellín for a minimum duration of 3 months, starting December 2024

Project presentation

With Intercambio, we strongly believe that learning other languages at a young age is valuable for the development of one's personality and offers interesting chances for life. That’s why we organize English classes (A1 A2) for the children of “La Divisa”, an underprivileged neighbourhood in the hills of Medellín, Colombia.

We are looking for an open-minded volunteer with a good level of English, with good communication skills and at least a basic level of Spanish (and the motivation to improve) who can help us with the English classes.

Your mission as an English teaching volunteer will be teaching English to students with a basic level of English, and organizing activities which promote the use of the language (cinema club, language camp, cultural exchange, book club,…). Most of our students are between 8-16 years old. The English classes are part of a bigger program to prevent children getting into prostitution, drugs or criminal activities. Besides this we want to prepare the children for jobs in tourism or obtaining scholarships with the possibility of studying abroad.

You are expected to be in the classroom three hours per day from Monday through Friday. We will ask you to prepare each class thoroughly, which should take two hours a day maximum, so in total you’ll be working 25 hours a week. We work with 3 different groups of children: all between 8-16 year old.​

You’ll only work during the week, on the weekend you’ll have time to discover Medellin and the Antioquia region. Depending on the season you’re going to work, you’ll also have days off to discover the rest of Colombia. Besides the classes we’ll ask you to think about ways to expand the project, to organize a fundraising, design games, social media, ..

Volunteer mission

To organize the classes, you’ll have the following material at your disposal: a whiteboard with markers, notebooks, computers, a projector and an intercambio teaching manual which includes the standard practices of teaching + lots of games + tips and activities to make the classes interactive.

You’ll have the opportunity to share your culture with the Paisas (inhabitants of Antioquia) who are truly the most genuine friendly people of Colombia. Besides this, not so many people speak English in La Divisa, so you’ll have to use your Spanish during the time you spend in this neighbourhood.

Every two weeks we’ll invite one foreign guest (traveler, expat,…) to present his/her country. As of the experiences we’ve had so far these are very popular and enriching classes. For the children it’s a nice way to learn about other countries and present their own country to the guests. We’ll ask you to be the facilitator during this process.

In a way to strengthen your competences we’ll organize a workshop once a month. Possible topics are: culture shock, design games, interactive learning, organize fundraising, …

Practical information

You’ll have a private room in a shared apartment in the Laureles Neighbourhood (one of the nicest neighbourhoods of Medellin, with a lot of parks, bars, sport facilities,...).

You’ll live together with both Colombians and international people. The apartment has all the necessary equipment: there is a kitchen with a gas stove, fridge, microwave, washing machine and two bathrooms with showers. There is wifi as well.

Once a week the landlady cleans the bathroom, kitchen and living room. However, we do expect volunteers to keep this place clean during their stay, as it’s a form of respect for the people who you’ll be living with.

This should go without saying but be aware that drugs and prostitution in the apartment aren’t allowed. For us this is an important condition, because you are going to work into a program that focuses on the prevention for children getting into these sectors.

More information?

Contact us via intercambio@gmail.com or one of our socials.

Exchange, connect and inspire!

Team Intercambio