Bilingual Education for Central America

Make friends with Honduran folks and go explore the country and region. Not many people from the States have been to Central America. It will really set you apart in both your personal and professional life.

• 5:30 AM - Wake up
• 6:30 AM - Take the Busito to school
• 7:00 AM - Greet children and parents as they come to school
• 8:00 AM - Push into classrooms, pull out students who need extra support, supervise recess, and talk to parents about scholarship programs
• 5:00 PM - Team Dinner
• 6:00 PM - Start prepping for the next day
• 10:00 PM - Head to bed and get ready to start it all over again

There's a lot of hype about the violence in Central America. It is very real, but Honduras is so much more – a beautiful landscape, rich culture, and amazing people! I became more comfortable doing things on my own to the point that I felt comfortable jumping on a bus on the weekend and just heading to a random destination.

After my year with BECA ended, I backpacked with three other teachers from Honduras all the way to Mexico City. By the end of that trip, my Spanish skills were amazing, and I felt empowered to tackle any curve ball that life could throw at me. I still feel that way--even two years later.

I think it’d almost be easier to talk about what ways I haven’t changed to be honest. I remember before my very first trip to Honduras, someone told me “this trip is going to be life-changing” and I remember laughing that off as something so cliché. But dang it, she was right. Everything has changed. I am who I am now because of my decision to volunteer abroad.

I used to want to “do good” and suffered from a “save the world” complex and that has certainly changed. I want more than just to “do good”. I want to be of benefit and I want to live a life of service because I was born with a whole heck of a lot of privilege and I want to leverage that to benefit those who were born with fewer opportunities than I was. I learned that through volunteering and living away from all the comforts and familiarities of home.

When I was volunteering abroad, I thought in some ways I was running away from the real world. I thought I would have an ah-ha moment where everything would click and I would know exactly what I to do with my life. But now I know that uncertainty is part of the path. I am a life-long learner and, as long as I’m learning and growing, I’m on the right path. After all if you’re not growing, you’re dying, right?

We had an alumna who returned to Honduras after 2 ½ years to work with us again for 5 months. She was such a wonderful addition to our volunteer team mid-way through the school year not only from her previous experience with BECA but also the different skills and experiences she brings to the table a couple years later.

When she landed in country, we immediately got caught in a bad traffic jam due to an accident up ahead, so we got to talking. I asked her what she was most looking forward to during her time back with BECA and she said “spending time with the mothers”. She could have said she was looking forward to traveling to Guatemala or Copen, going to one of the Bay Islands, adventuring behind the massive waterfall at Pulhapanzak, or any number of things. But her answer, “spending time with the mothers (of our students)”, was so beautiful and so powerful. She reminded me in her simple response the whole reason why we do what we do.

I would be most interested in becoming a Program Administrator, but as a 2nd year volunteer with BECA. We didn’t really have Admins back when I volunteered since we were only 1 school back then. But now that we’ve grown into a network of 3 locally owned schools, we have Program Administrators (one at each school), Program Manager, and In-country Director positions. While I learned so much through my year as a Volunteer Teacher with BECA, I knew at the end of it that I did not want to pursue a career as a classroom teacher, which is why the Admin position would have been very appealing to me.

I suggest volunteering as a classroom teacher with BECA first because, in our experience, our strongest Administrators have been those who already knew our program and our communities. BECA is all about relationships and those things take time so having a year under your belt better prepares volunteers to take on the Administrator role.

BECA is unique because we are one of the few secular, grassroots organizations offering long-term volunteer placements in Honduras. Our funding is not tied to any one church or donor, so we have the freedom to invest in what’s important to our partners. Our partnerships are another important factor in what makes us unique. Our model is built on partnerships with local, Honduran NGOs that believe in our mission. We don’t partner with local organizations to check a box on some grant application. We partner with local organizations because we believe it is the only way for us to effectively and sustainably operate our programs.

One of the things that continue to fill my heart with pride is the expansion of our volunteer program to include Honduran volunteers. Since 2017, we’ve had 13 Honduran volunteers – many of whom graduated from our founding school, San Jeronimo Bilingual School, work with us as volunteer teachers. Each of them brings such amazing benefits to the whole volunteer teaching team serving as ambassadors for our schools and the communities where we work. We have found such strength in diversifying our team for our volunteers and our students alike. We now have more and more teachers who look like their students. I remember fondly hearing about student at Santa Monica who saw Miss Rosa – who is from Tocoa, Honduras – teaching and asked “Does this mean I can be a teacher here one day?” YES! Yes, that is exactly what that means!

Relationships. Real, genuine relationships based on mutual interests (such as sharing a common mission and vision for the future), trust, respect, integrity, and understanding. The work we do is difficult and where we work presents a number of challenges, but the relationships – with community members, parents, students, and fellow teachers – are what make it all worthwhile, even on the hottest, stickiest, sweatiest, draining days.