“The experience from Ellen Zwerver”

From the moment I arrived the wonderful and kind people made me feel very welcome. I immediately fell in love with Bali and it’s scenery. When I think of Bali now I think of: the greenery such as the endless rice terraces and palm trees; the beautiful beaches, waterfalls and sunsets; dogs and chickens running across the streets but most of all the kind people. I’ve enjoyed meeting people from different countries all over the world. I’ve made some friends I am still in contact with and I am grateful to have met them and to have had them by my side in Bali. In the introduction week we got to know the other volunteers as well as the area and local culture. In the weekends we often traveled around so we really got to see Bali and it’s surrounding islands. But the thing that hands down made my trip as great as it was, has to be teaching in the school.

I was a little nervous on the first day of school but as soon as I met the children all I felt was excitement. I felt so excited to start teaching them and it has been the most fun and rewarding experience. The first week I started teaching them was about getting to know them and getting to know their level of English. We started off by simple short sentences like: ‘my name is..’ and ‘how are you’. After teaching them for 12 weeks I saw just how much progress they made. We had a whole worksheet full of sentences from ‘my favourite animal/colour/hobby is’ to ‘the weather is…’ and many more. Seeing the progress they made at the end and in between has been what has made my experience this significant. Besides their progress in English and how great they were doing I enjoyed bonding with these incredibly smart and fun kids. Over the course of the 12 weeks I really bonded with them. Knowing for example who is the class clown and who’s in love with who and playing games, made me so happy and laugh a lot. The kids are very dear to my heart, they’re truly incredible and teaching them made me feel so grateful. I also enjoyed preparing the lessons. It was always about finding a way to teach them a new subject in a fun and effective way. I was always creating the worksheets and finding out what methods work best for them and then applying that and creating a smooth transition between different subjects so they can make a connection between them. It has been challenging and fun preparing their lessons and applying it in class.

I just want to give a special thank you to the staff of Green Lion Bali who at the end didn’t feel like staff but like my family away from home. They were the most kind and helpful people. I really enjoyed living with them for 3 months. Choosing Green Lion as my agency was the best decision I could’ve made and I wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you for all your good care and the unforgettable experience!

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