5 months in Honduras, 5 months in Trinidad, 5 months with educate. It has been a time full of new experiences, insights and emotions. In this blog, I share how I came to volunteer at educate., what my experience was like, and some things I wish I would have known beforehand!
Even if you haven’t yet heard the term ‘voluntourism,’ you almost certainly are familiar with the phenomenon it refers to. Its imagery and advertising are everywhere – resume-building, perspective-changing opportunities to build a well/teach English/help at an orphanage somewhere in the global South, for a price. Such a combination of volunteering and tourism appeals to … Continue reading The dark side of voluntourism: why development work needs to prioritize local leadership
We've been working on making 'Team Spotlight' videos to give you an insight into some of the core members of the educate. team. In this post, we'd like you to meet Lisa van Holsteijn, one of educate.'s co-founders, and now our head of fundraising. Lisa lived and worked in Honduras for a year and a … Continue reading Team Spotlight: Lisa van Holsteijn, Head of Fundraising
Last weekend, we had our biggest event to date: a Latin Dance Party (aka 'Fiesta Bailable'). The whole event was organised by an incredible group of Honduran women who cooked up a storm of traditional Honduran food that had the table legs creaking under its weight - everything from baleadas and pastelitos to yuca con … Continue reading Fiesta Bailable para Honduras en Delft
Things don’t always go to plan. Each time we begin a new project, we put a great deal of thought into it, but there are always circumstances that one simply cannot predict. This has been the case with our most recent project, the nutrition centre we fund in Talanga, Honduras with our incredible partner organisation … Continue reading Things don’t always go to plan: Nutrition Centre Relocation
Starting educate. has led us to do some pretty crazy things, but this obstacle-filled mud run might be the craziest so far! On Saturday April 21st, four educate. team members voluntarily subjected themselves to thick mud, barbed wire and electric shocks in the name of raising money for one of educate.'s projects: a library for Escuela … Continue reading Sponsored Mud Run – “I didn’t realise there were obstacles!”
On Saturday April 7th, educate. held a flea market sale at Amsterdam University College! The sun was shining and tables were piled high with second-hand clothes, books, shoes and miscellaneous trinkets. People either rented a table for €10 and sold their belongings themselves, or donated their things to educate.. Along with the flea market, we … Continue reading Sunshine and Bargains: Flea Market Fundraiser at Amsterdam University College
At the International School of Panama, grade 6 students have been busy over the past term organising a book drive. From logistics to publicity to sorting and storing the books, the project was 100% student led. The students managed to collect a grand total of 438 books, a number well over their goal of 350! … Continue reading Reflections on a Student-run Book Drive at the International School of Panama
Tania Paola Caballero is one of educate.'s university scholarship recipients, currently in her first year of studying industrial engineering. In this post, she shares some stories from her childhood and some of her experiences from living and studying in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. My name is Tania Paola Caballero Fernández and I am eighteen … Continue reading “Studying makes you a different person”: An update from scholarship recipient Tania Caballero
For many months now, we have been working with the Honduras-based non-profit Chispa Project to start a library at a public elementary school in the city of El Progreso, Honduras. Due to the chaos that followed the Honduran presidential elections, our plans were delayed somewhat, but we are very excited to have a concrete game … Continue reading El Progreso Library Update: Adrian Mejia School!
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