6 Top skills volunteers learn at EduMais

Volunteers at EduMais gain at least 6 top skills and hopefully more. Volunteering for Edumais is not a ‘breeze’. You can’t merely ‘show up’, do a little teaching and then hit Ipanema beach – it’s not enough – we care about the children we are responsible for too much for a volunteer to come in and merely ‘have a go’. It can be challenging at time and at the same time you will gain great skills while you volunteer. 

Edumais’s primary focus is providing children in Rio’s favelas a great opportunity to learn and develop, to give them a level of teaching, support and respect that is not always easy to come by in their everyday lives.
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For us to be successful, so that the children we work with have the best possible futures, we require our volunteers to be professional and dedicated.

But if you’re truly interested in volunteering, impacting peoples’ lives for the better, and you really want to learn, to gain new skills and to make some lasting memories in one of the world’s most amazing cities, there is a lot you can gain if you’re willing to give.

Communication, education and respect

You will learn teaching skills by being in an environment of learning, by supporting kids who sometimes have trouble learning, who struggle to concentrate because they live lives that are often subject to uncertainty and violence. Our volunteers are a bridge, a way to show the benefits of communication and tolerance, as well as self-respect and respect for others.

Patience and resilience

​Most of us think we’re capable of being patient or showing patience, but that will be tested in this environment. These children need you to be constant, to be strong for them. We need you to show them how to be resilient so they can develop such qualities for themselves. We will help you to show resilience and patience, which will be tested by these energetic, vibrant children, who all need us.

Forming friendships

You will make a bunch of new friends. And from these friends you can share and enjoy experiences unique to this time at Edumais. The community is warm and welcoming, as are the children we help. Developing trust and forming friendships is very rewarding in this environment. This is also what we aim to achieve among our volunteers. We want people to thrive and collaborate with one another, to form lasting bonds.

Creativity

Bring your ideas to the table, they’ll be welcomed. While we have a clear target of what we want to achieve and how we want to achieve it, we’re very open to new ideas in lesson planning and learning activities.

Helping

This may seem obvious, or perhaps not even like a real skill, but being able to help, to remain supportive, patient and understanding when you’re under pressure, if you’re having a bad day, or you’re simply tired and finding it difficult to show your best self, this is something you will learn and that is widely useful in everyday life – who couldn’t do with being a little more tolerant and giving?

Positive discipline

Positive Discipline is a program for parents and teachers that teaches more effective methods for working with young people, using the democratic principles of dignity and respect. Growing and learning requires unconditional love and encouragement. Our volunteers at EduMais love and encourage these underprivileged young people to practice life skills. All our volunteers use Positive Discipline to help our disadvantaged students build a community, to prepare them for successful living, and to increase academic achievement in their lives.

Do you want to develop more skills and you are passionate about education? Become a volunteer and apply now.