Chile - Teaching in Pisco Elqui

Pisco Elqui (the name was changed from La Unión not long ago in order to justify that borne by the national grape spirit, which the Peruvians say was ‘stolen’ from them: a long story!) is around 4 kms from Monte Grande - a 10 min bus ride or a 45 min scenic walk.

The town has around 1000 residents and is one of the main centres of tourism and nightlife.  It attracts visitors, mainly from Chile but from around the world throughout the year, but especially in the hot summer months and during the 18th September independence day festival, the country’s biggest annual festival party.

The Escuela Villa Nueva Jerónimo Godoy (named after the father of the Nobel Prize winning poet Gabriela Mistral) has around 200 pupils from ages 5 to 14. The school employs 10 full-time and 4 part-time teachers, including a permanent English teacher.

The support of English-speaking volunteers in planning and conducting lessons is invaluable and volunteers may wish to conduct small conversational classes with those students who either struggle or excel with normal classes.

The school is reasonably well-equipped and occupies a central role in the local community.  English is spoken, as one would expect, by the English teacher but not by any of the others.

As with all projects in Chile volunteers live with a local family.

Interested? To find out about the next step to becoming a volunteer, read our application process.