What do you learn?

Standing up in front of forty expectant faces on your first day is frightening. Organising school trips without the Internet is difficult. Leading an inter-school sports tournament for hundreds of children is a challenge. Being a good employer to your housegirl is a responsibility.

All the little difficulties of third-world living will make you a more aware person, and the people you'll meet and the poverty you'll face will make you a better person. Learning to live in a different culture will teach you to listen, to adapt and to thrive.

Transferable Skills

Through VAE you will learn specific, transferable skills of enormous value for future work and life. Former VAE have used their experiences as a basis for interviews and job applications.

• Organisational skills. Sports tournaments, lesson planning, independent travel.
• Management and leadership. Being a form tutor, leading a sports team, taking a school trip.
• Communication and teamwork. Getting your ideas across to school management, headmasters and teachers to bring about change.
• Self-awareness and awareness of others. Understanding that your actions have consequences. In rural communities, everything you do will be seen. You are a responsible teacher with a reputation to uphold.
• Understanding of development. Appreciation of the complexities of development and the moral and ethical dilemmas around charity.

But the greatest skill you will learn from VAE is the self-esteem you will gain. Former VAEs will be delighted to tell you how their experience has changed their life, and they will all tell you one thing. If you can do VAE, you can do anything.

Got what it takes? Get in touch...