Hope One World has been mounting projects in India since 1987. These projects take place in SOS Children’s Village schools which are organised and run by SOS Kinderdorf International, the world’s leading support organisation for orphaned and destitute children. The fundamental aim of the projects has always been to improve the quality of teaching and learning at SOS Children’s Village schools, by providing a programme of training for teachers and activities for children.
Much of the work has focused upon Tibetan refugee communities and their schools, found in differing localities across the subcontinent. However HOW has also worked with SOS schools of Indian ethnicity. Currently, project teams working with the Tibetan refugee community offer workshops at Tibetan Homes Foundation schools at Mussoorie and Rajpur in Uttarakhand, northern India and at Tibetan Children’s Village school, Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, northern India.
These project teams normally include two places for expert teachers/tutors and two places for students or early career teachers. Student or early career teacher volunteers work with the children who are resident in the Children’s Village, either in a teaching capacity or by initiating a programme of extra-curricular activities. Whilst such activities might focus on the particular strengths of the volunteers themselves, the volunteers might equally be asked to work with any age group and with any aspect of the syllabus. Helping with classes whose teachers are being freed to attend the workshop sessions, and supporting pupils with their spoken English are two tasks that often figure prominently in the arrangements. It will be expected that, in their teaching and working with pupils, HOW volunteers will embody and display by example the curriculum philosophy which is being presented in the teachers’ workshop.
Hope One World is seeking well balanced, committed volunteers who are able to work within a supportive and open-minded team. It is not necessary for volunteers to have teaching experience. The capacity to rise to challenges and to deal with the unexpected will be needed! The successful volunteer, prepared to offer enthusiasm, stamina and flexibility, will gain the opportunity to share in the lives of children and teachers in a unique and unforgettable way.
