Travel to Teach: Mexico Volunteer Story

Kim and Patrick, Australia

Now home in Sydney, each time we pass the coffee table laid out with our unpacked trinkets brought home from our travels throughout Mexico, it is those that we collected in Xalapa we are continually drawn to – Lucha Libre masks, a glass milk bottle, a recipe for red rice, drinking chocolate, hand-knitted finger puppets, Loteria cards, a Mexican flag, a CD of traditional music from Veracruz.. we know we left our hearts in Xalapa.

My partner, Patrick, and I participated in volunteer work in Xalapa in late 2007. It is the most hospitable place we have ever visited and quickly made friends there. Surrounded by the Travel to Teach team – Adriana, Esbed, Lorena, Tizi, Anna – we felt incredibly supported and a part of the community. Of course, this meant we could easily focus on our volunteer work, the purpose of our stay in Xalapa, particularly teaching English to our students, who were also our teachers. How could we ever forget the laughs and smiles, affection and groans (“en Ingles por favor”), their generosity, kindness, patience and guidance as we attempted to guide and teach them – the girls at Casa Hogar, the boys at Hogar de Nazareth, the wildly amusing first graders at a local public elementary school and, of course, the artists at the special needs school, Cedai. We also participated in an eco project in beautiful surrounds.

Travelling on the bumpy buses to the various orphanages and schools to places you would never otherwise visit quickly made us locals, and as we sat back to take in Xalapa and its surrounds on the way to classes, we couldn’t help but be grateful for the opportunity to live and work in an area rarely frequented by tourists. This is the real Mexico, where the unexpected will delight and surprise, challenge and question; where we were inspired by the generosity of the community and their fantastic sense of humour; our eco warrior friends; the language; the food; The Flow; the colours; the fog in the evenings; the mountains; the cool, sunny days; the helado (outside the supermarket and on the streets in Xico); churros con leche; Parque Juarez; the sorrounding towns – Xico, Coatepec, Naolinco; the endless cultural events in lovely Xalapa; the invitation to lunch with families by people you’ve just met; and especially the good times among new friends who feel like old ones.

We would love to go back.

Email: Kim or Patrick

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