When I came to volunteer in Ecuador I had the typical idealistic vision of changing the world one child at a time. I saw myself breezing into a classroom full of needy children ready to hang onto my ever word. In reality the four months I have spent teaching English have been tougher, more demanding, yet more incredible than I ever could have imagined.

I work in Escuela Bergen, an extremely poor school in the south of Quito. To say that the school is struggling would be an understatement. I recently found out that without volunteers Bergen would have been forced to close down last year. As it stands the principle and his wife cannot afford to be paid. There are currently fifty children in the entire school, each paying $20 a month. This classes it as a private school although it is far from a Latin American Eton. Classrooms consist of corrugated iron ceilings, metal desks facing a white board and sparse decoration. One very memorable moment was entering a class to see the floor covered in dog faeces. What surprised me most was the children ignored the mess and the lesson continued. Not only does this emphasises classroom conditions but shows the mentality of the children.

For many school fees come at a sacrifice to their family and really value education. This isn’t to say they are all desperate to learn English, especially not from an eighteen year old with limited Spanish. However having gone to a mixed sex state school myself I’m no stranger to work avoidance techniques, or chaotic language lessons. I teach children aged between four and fourteen, so a typically day can include anything from basic vocabulary to complex verb tables. With children as young as five it can be hard to gain their attention, I often find myself singing the alphabet to distract them from running around the classroom!

There are a vast amount of public holidays in Ecuador, leading to missed lessons due to fiestas, presentations and national holidays. The school day also runs from 7.30am to 1.00pm with a substation break in the middle. This can mean that learning time often seems minimal and, as there is no curriculum, lessons are entirely at the teacher’s discretion. I often find it difficult teaching with no guidance or resources as there isn’t a single textbook available. However hard I find my job I can never forget this isn’t real life for me, but it is for others.

I work with teachers who barely earn enough to support their family, and children who would otherwise be working for theirs. The children I teach are amazing, they really are. They have unconceivable amounts of energy, smiles and an answer for everything! It can be easy to come out here with the attitude; “I’m going to change the word and I’m going to do it by Friday,” but it isn’t like that. When I left England I wanted to volunteer for all the right reasons, and all the wrong ones. I wanted to do something worthwhile but I also wanted to feel good about myself. The truth is volunteering isn’t about me, it isn’t about what I get out of it but what others do. If I have a bad day and want to give up, but the children are still learning then I’ve done my job. To me that’s all that matters.