Name: Baladna Projects
Brand: Baladna Projects
SKU: 41643
Rating: 10 (1 reviews)


<h3>What was your program like?&nbsp;</h3>
<p class="p1">I participated in several programs, like life from the Blue, its an educational program that we organized for children to do education on the sea environment, talking about sea animals and also pollution and other questions. It was in 2012, we prepared it from one month and then it was a week of education.</p>
<h3>Why did you decide to volunteer abroad?&nbsp;</h3>
<p class="p1">Because once I finished my studies in France in 2010 I&rsquo;d like to have more field experience and to go and meet people. And also every time when I was in Egypt, I was just staying at home with my family and at that time I wanted to do something more. So I learn about Baladna organization and I contact them to do some educational work. So that&rsquo;s how it happen.</p>
<h3>Why did you choose your program?</h3>
<p class="p1">My program was based on children education and I love marine biology, and I discovered also that l like to teach biology but not in the school way but more like in a funny way with games. So that&rsquo;s how I managed to do two things.</p>
<h3>What made your program especially interesting?</h3>
<p class="p1">Because there was many interesting people in Quseir, our work was in Quseir it was on the red sea south of Hurghada about 150 kilometers. People were nice and interesting and very active, and they wanted to do good work. About the education, it was like very motivating and very interesting to do it. Once we did it, it was really nice, and children were happy and we were happy, it was a good time. We had a really good time.</p>
<h3>What tips do you have for future participants?&nbsp;</h3>
<p class="p1">You need to know many things. First, about the good food that you will find in Quseir. You&rsquo;ll find good falafel by the sea. Then you must also know you will meet very good people, very active people that will be good friends for you. And you will also discover an old city, very interesting city, ancient city, which is small but very full of colors and nice people. Your work will be nice because people there like to work and they like to do new things. If you have a good subject, a good program that what you want to do, you will be easily able to do it.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>What was your favorite part about your program?</h3>
<p class="p1">Eating sandwiches, and also staying near the sea and the sunset where you can see some wild foxes coming to meet you. Also meeting good people and having fun, learning many things, because actually while you&rsquo;re doing things you learn. You give something but you also receive much more than you give. So I learn many things about the people and about the children, like what they didn&rsquo;t like so that I can do my job better. Now I&rsquo;m a science educator, so it was a good training for me to learn many things.<b>&nbsp;</b></p>
<h3>What's one thing you would have done differently?</h3>
<p class="p1">Differently, I would like to spend more time, not just one month or two month, maybe years.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Describe a day in the life of your program.</h3>
<p class="p1">A day in my life program: It was in the summer, it was hot. So you wake up early and you&rsquo;re hot. You take breakfast, you buy your favorite sandwiches, and then you go to meet people and start to organize your work. Meeting volunteers and preparing the program, you start to write down what do you need to do, what kind of materials you will need, also organize what the volunteers who will do what and at what time. Also thinking together what is better way to do something, so its cooperative work, and then you will eat again. If it was a day with the children then the children will come and you will start your work. It will be very funny. You will be hungry again and then you sleep; but before you can also go out and stay at the coffee shop by the sea, have a nice drink, and speak with people.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Did you experience culture shock?</h3>
<p class="p1">No because as I told you I&rsquo;m half Egyptian so I already know. But it was more like I was impressed by people from Quseir because they are really different from people I knew in big cities, like Alexandria or Cairo. People are more like always busy but actually they are doing not lot of things but they pretend being very very busy. In Quseir, people always find the time to be with you, to help you, to work with you, and they are really active and they are never tired. If you say ok now we should work at 8 o&rsquo;clock in the evening, they will say okay we should work and start to work.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Where in the world are you living now?</h3>
<p class="p1">I&rsquo;m in living in France in Marseille.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>How have your experiences abroad impacted your life?</h3>
<p class="p1">So as I told you when I start volunteering, I had no real experience yet. I just finished my studies, so it was something very useful and something new for me. Because what I knew from the university I could put it in educational way for children, it was like practical, it was very practical until now. I use what I learned from the children in my work, so it was useful.</p>
<h3>Any final words for future volunteers?</h3>
<p class="p1">Just come and you will see. It will change your life, maybe or maybe not, but for sure you will eat good sandwiches and you will meet good people. That&rsquo;s for sure!</p>


Anjelika Abouissa

Check out this GoAbroad Interview with Anjelika Abouissa who participated in Baladna Projects program.

Anjelika Abouissa | Baladna Projects Alumni Interview

Anjelika Abouissa - 2015 Program Participant


<p class="p1"></p><div class="awesome-image right-aligned" style="width: 350px;"><img style="" src="http://cdn1.goabroad.com/images/interviews/interviewphoto1-mallinson-1426668819.jpg" alt="







Volunteer teaching young children in Egypt"><div class="caption"><p>Ben engages with the children in the afternoon program</p></div></div><h3>Can you explain your program and location?&nbsp;</h3>
<p class="p1">I did my volunteer placement with Baladna Projects, January to March 2013. Baladna Projects are based in a small town called El Quseir in the Red Sea District of Egypt. Initially, I was to be utilized as an English tutor and to insert some singing and dance in to a school holiday program for children.</p>
<h3>What inspired you to volunteer abroad in Egypt?</h3>
<p class="p1">After several years of study and hard work building my professional career, I decided to take a break to travel overseas and experience different cultures. Fortunately, the company I was working for at the time allowed me to take extended unpaid leave so I could return to my job. I visited Egypt as part of a tour group in December 2012, and I felt a strong connection with the place, its rich history, culture, and above all the people.</p>
<p class="p1">Upon returning to London, where I was staying at the time, I decided that I didn&rsquo;t want to just do the normal &ldquo;working holiday&rdquo; as so many Australians do. I wanted to give of my time and use my skills and attributes in a meaningful volunteer placement. As I had a strong connection with Egypt, I decided that was the best place to do it.</p>
<h3>Why did you choose to volunteer with Baladna Projects specifically?</h3>
<p class="p1">After my initial phone interview, I felt positive about the placement that was available. I also felt that my creative background, my good grasp of the English language, and other skills would be a good fit to the work Baladna Projects do.</p>
<h3>What made participating in Baladna Projects interesting?&nbsp;</h3>
<p class="p1">No day was the same! One day I would be teaching English, the next day I would be leading an excursion to the Lost City of Quseir, the next day I would be teaching children to dance, and after that I might have to assist with holding a high pressure hose to fill up the water tank on the top floor. The placement provided constant variety and constant challenge.&nbsp;</p><div class="awesome-image left-aligned" style="width: 350px;"><img style="" src="http://cdn4.goabroad.com/images/interviews/interviewphoto2-mallinson-1426668986.jpg" alt="







Volunteers in Aswan, Egypt"><div class="caption"><p>Ben joins the Roaya volunteers for a project in Aswan</p></div></div>
<h3>What can future participants expect while volunteering with Baladna Projects?</h3>
<p class="p1">The variety and also, the opportunity to truly get some insight in to how the local people live their day to day lives was very humbling.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>What was your favorite part about your placement?</h3>
<p class="p1">I loved working with the kindergarten children, teaching them basic dance routines for an upcoming performance and assisting with other activities. It was an amazing privilege to be able to interact with these children, and I came to appreciate the preciousness of children and how important it is to mindful of the influence we, as adults, have on children in our society, especially in the critically important developmental bracket of three to seven year olds.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>If you could do it all again, what is one thing you&rsquo;d do differently?</h3>
<p class="p1">I would be more conscious of having a highly flexible attitude and reminding myself that certain things will be out of your control, and that the most important thing is to just get on with things and do my best.</p>
<h3>What did a typical day of volunteering entail?&nbsp;</h3>
<p class="p1">Keeping the community centre clean and tidy, teaching dance to kindergarten children, teaching English to young people and some adults, assisting with planning and support of activities related to various projects, such as Keep Quseir Beautiful (KQB), and assisting with various tasks for the school holiday program.</p><div class="awesome-image right-aligned" style="width: 350px;"><img style="" src="http://cdn2.goabroad.com/images/interviews/interviewphoto3-mallinson-1426669016.jpg" alt="







Local students celebrating their international teachers birthday in Egypt"><div class="caption"><p>The Baladna children celebrating Ben on his birthday</p></div></div>
<h3>Did you experience culture shock? What did you do to get through cultural challenges?&nbsp;</h3>
<p class="p1">Yes. Sometimes the difference in culture and being in such a different environment to what I was used to was overwhelming; when this would happen, I would try and get some alone time when I could. I found that most of the time these feelings would come to pass after a day or so.</p>
<h3>What kind of long-term impact has volunteering in Egypt had on your life?</h3>
<p class="p1">I have amazing memories from my volunteer placement that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I thoroughly appreciated the exposure to such a dynamic cultural experience. The placement gave me a greater sense of personal resilience, and made me realise that I can do things in life that I might have previously thought unimaginable.</p>


Ben Mallinson

Check out this GoAbroad Interview with Ben Mallinson who participated in Baladna Projects program.

Ben Mallinson | Baladna Projects Alumni Interview

Ben Mallinson - 2013 Program Participant

The language project S E A, Study Egyptian Arabic is an in-depth program to actively teach a learner the Arabic language. The premise is for the foreign learner to leap into the language by basic classroom curriculum as well as engage in community activities in order to practice the new language skills. 

There is no better way to grasp a language than to use it.  This program is designed for foreigners who exclusively come to Egypt to master the Egyptian Arabic language. The SEA program is inclusive of classroom instruction with a certified Arabic Language teacher, course materials, field trips, community work participation, and flat accommodations. 
The class size is kept small or private to ensure all students participate and gain from individual attention from all the teaching activities as well through the Baladna projects.
 
We have 3 programs to choose from: the Modern Standard Arabic, the Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, and as well a combination of the two.  The SEA method brings together the best components, certified and proven teaching techniques, a community- based practicum, and the spectacular Red Sea environment in which to enjoy.

SEA Study Egyptian Arabic

Smith Collins American School in Hurghada, a coastal city located on the Red Sea in Egypt, seeks native and near-native English speakers to teach a variety of subjects in an alternative educational center in English.

Subjects include: English Grammar, Writing, Literature, Social Studies, Dramatic Arts, and Computer.

The requirements and qualifications for this specific opportunity are:
- At least 1 year teaching experience
- University degree in education or a related and relevant certificate/degree
- Excellent knowledge of student development and the latest education theories and practices
- Creative and artistic leadership and teaching abilities
- Patience and flexibility
- Strong communication skills
- Keeping abreast with the latest trends and best practices

We offer:  
- Accommodation for the length of stay confirmed

Interested in our program? We would certainly like to hear from you. You are invited to send your résumé through email.

Creative Opportunity to Teach English in Egypt

Baladna Projects

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Baladna is a community based project that believes wholeheartedly in the spirit of volunteerism and the creative development of young people through the arts and language. Our mission is built on the belief of sharing resources and caring for all members of a community that are often overlooked. Our primary goal is to empower youth through various resources and educational opportunities. Our base volunteers are individuals from various parts of the world that come to share their expertise, talents, and enthusiasm for children and the youth. By uniting together we encourage tolerance by bridging differences -- all for the purpose of contributing to world peace. A coordination of community efforts for the enrichment of all lives today and long into the future is the what powers us.

Baladna is a community based project that believes wholeheartedly in the spirit of volunteerism and the creative development of young people through the arts and language. Our mission is built on the belief of sharing resources and caring for all members of a community that are often overlooked. Our primary goal is to empower youth through various resources and educational opportunities. Our base ...

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One of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I have had

Volunteering at Baladna Projects has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I have had. My initial role was to teach German, but I ended up taking part in a wide range of different and exciting activities that included art projects with local children and young adults (-there is nothing as fun, fulfilling and enjoyable as working with the kids of Al-Quseir), environmental awareness campaigns or intercultural lectures for tourists. I have made a lot of friends that have taught me valuable lessons about team spirit, campaigning, community development and youth advocacy. People are exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and will make sure that you learn the most about the local culture, people and traditions.

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