| What is a Pilot? One of the most rewarding parts about Learning Enterprises is its continued growth. While it started as a group of friends going overseas to teach English, due to the efforts of alums and those who believe in our mission, we have been able to reach more villages each year. Pilots differ from established programs in a number of ways. Most importantly, it is a first year, exploratory program into the region, and therefore offers a different set of challenges and rewards. This year's pilot program is Thailand. Key Differences of a Learning Enterprises pilot: Volunteers Pilots are smaller, generally falling between 4 and 6 volunteers. Since the program is new, volunteers may be faced with more unexpected challenges than those participating in established programs. Because of this, we try to select independent and intrepid volunteers who have significant travel experience, and we prefer to have at least one person who has completed a Learning Enterprises program in the past. Founder, Program Director, and County Coordinator A pilot program may not have a full Program Director, an LE alum who selects and preps volunteers and runs orientation in country. Instead, these tasks may be broken up between the Founder, the Country Coordinator, and the Director of Programming. Extra challenges and rewards!! While participating in a pilot program is an extra challenge, since it has never been done before, it is also extremely rewarding for volunteers. They will be the first LE ambassadors into the country, and may even be the first Americans that the village has ever seen. They will undoubtedly be met with continuous curiosity and excitement. Everyone who participates can have a true impact on the success and the future of the program. At the end of the summer, all pilots are evaluated, and LE decides if the program will continue. This largely depends on the experience of the volunteers. If you are interested in starting a LE program, please contact Max Lambertson, Director of Programming at max@learningenterprises.org for an application. Applications have been closed for the 2010 summer. | Testimonials “LE has the special ability to claim that it is entirely student-run organization…I feel like that gives it more legitimacy than some other programs that seem like they’re run by huge, faceless companies. LE is friendlier, more personable, and more accessible.” Julie Duncan, Lithuania 2006 “To me, the core values of Learning Enterprises are respect for other cultures, the welcoming of learning, and the concept of pluralism- that instead of acculturation there is the mutual tolerance and respect of different cultures.” Katrina Shankland, Mexico 2007 “LE is driven by a desire to connect individuals and groups of people under the premise of mutual respect and understanding. These connections are then the foundation for opening the eyes of volunteers and students to envision what can be done to make the world a better place.” Margaret Lippett, Panama 2005 “In my eyes, LE has three core values that make it a unique and successful organization. One of these values is creativity. As an organization, LE was very creative in its beginning and still is in the fact that it is run by volunteers and mainly students. The teaching style of the volunteers is creative, unconventional, and ultimately more successful.” Rory Birmingham, Mexico 2006 “I think one of the best aspects of the program is that volunteers only face minimal costs for their experience. This allows a whole different type of person to be able to volunteer; people who may have had great potential, but had been cut out due to financial restraints. I believe this goes right in hand with what I view as LE’s core values. LE is based on learning, understanding, and spirit. Learning is the core of the organization, understanding is what puts it in action, and spirit is what makes it a success.” Kathy Rizzo, Indonesia 2006 |
Expanding horizons through global volunteerism