Project Medellín
English teacher/co-teacher WHAT?
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.
One of the most important conditions for working with teenagers is building a relationship of trust which takes time. Therefore, we recommend a stay of at least three months.
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.
La divisa (Medellin)/ WHERE?
The “Divisa” neighbourhood is part of “Comuna 13”, which used to be one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the world. It was run by violent drug trafficking organizations, who used the poor barrio as a transit route in and out of the city, and served as a stronghold for guerrillas, gangs and paramilitaries.
On 16 October 2002, Operation Orion began in Comuna Trece, an action by the Colombian army (supported by the government) aimed at regaining power in the neighbourhood and so on to make the neighbourhood safer. This action lasted two months and caused numerous casualties.
In addition, in 2004, the Colombian government began to build escalators and a metro cable connecting Comuna 13 to the city, which made it easier for people to enter and leave the neighbourhood. Thanks to these measures, the neighbourhood evolved into a place of flourishing culture, art, music, sport and dance.
Medellín is the second largest city of Colombia and it is known as the city of eternal spring because of its pleasant warm weather all year round. There are tons of possible activities in the city: you can visit some of the museums, go for hikes to amazing viewpoints to catch a good sunset over the city, hop on one of the chivas (party bus), enjoy a local football match in El Estadio, take salsa classes, cycle around in the city, and many more.