Madagascar

CULTURE WEEK SCHEDULE
– Monday: Orientation, meet the team and get to know your fellow volunteers, then hike to the summit of Nosy Be’s highest point, Mont Passot, for stunning sunset views
– Tuesday: Walking tour of Nosy Be’s lovely rural landscapes from Ambatozavary to the old village of Marodoka for a picnic, local dance class and pastry class, and Malagasy language lessons
– Wednesday: Visit the sacred banyan tree where locals and mainlanders make offerings and ask for blessings, walk through Hell-Ville – the largest city on Nosy Be – to visit the marketplace, discover the old town where the King lives, and view the colonial architecture
– Thursday: Traditional painting class with local

On the other hand, the local teachers can also learn new and up to date teaching methods and techniques from you. You will mainly assist the regular school teachers in the school and therefore even without a formal teaching background you can participate in this project.

You will teach children from different age groups with different learning capacities. You are free to use your own teaching materials and methods in teaching. You can use the course book as reference or educate children through conversation with spoken English. During your time here you can teach them different subjects such as mathematics, history, science, geography, computer, technologies, music, arts and crafts, differen

You will work under a local coordinator who will provide you guidance and training to work alongside the local families and other participants. The project involves hard physical and manual labor since you will be laying bricks, doing carpentry, painting, waterproofing, laying tiles, landscaping/gardening, as well as, improving the community’s hygiene and sanitation facilities.

However, just by getting them enthused about coming to school, giving them some very basic English phrases such as simple greetings, you may as well have sown the seeds of a lifelong learning habit. The children will all be excited to see you and welcome you exceptionally, partly due to the natural and genuine friendliness of the people of these villages but also due to the fact that you will be one of the few foreigners they have ever met, up close!