HSG students volunteer to teach English in emerging countries

“Most students at HSG had easy access to education. We are therefore privileged and want to help people for whom this is not the case,” says Mayumi Cardoso Hara. She is co-president of PIECES together with Nicolas Wyss. The student association organises and finances teaching assignments for HSG students in emerging countries. The students teach English to schoolchildren aged between six and 14 during the winter semester break and for four weeks during the summer. Around 20 students are sent out worldwide each time.

The students volunteer for the programme. “They learn a lot about other cultures. And they often live in very simple conditions and remote areas,” says Wyss. “Our volunteers leave their comfort zone. In return, they learn something for life and have a great impact on their communities with their commitment,” says Wyss. PIECES, which was founded in 2010, currently has projects in São Paulo (Brazil), Adaklu Waya (Ghana), Altai (Mongolia), Livingstone (Zambia) and Nong Chang (Thailand).

A big impact at the schools

PIECES pays for the volunteers' food and accommodation in the various countries, but they have to pay for their flights themselves. PIECES raises its entire budget through events at the university during the semester – for example, a volleyball tournament or cocktail evenings.

“We specifically choose schools where our teachers can have the greatest possible impact,” says Wyss. Although some of the schools already have English teachers, they do not have the capacity to meet the school's needs. At other schools, there are no teachers of English at all. “Our volunteers are on site for four weeks and during this time they give the school children intensive courses,” says Cardoso Hara.

‘Challenge and enrichment’

PIECES is open to all HSG students. They have to apply. Those who are selected receive several days of training from the PIECES Education Department before they leave. “We want to continuously improve. All volunteers write a report about their stay when they return. We read these reports carefully and see if we can improve anything for the volunteers,” says Wyss.

PIECES selects locations that are fundamentally politically stable. “But the communities in which the students live and work are sometimes very poor. Every location has its own challenges.”

The projects in Thailand and Mongolia are in very remote areas, whereas the one in Brazil is in a densely populated favela. ‘And in Ghana, our volunteers sometimes taught classes of up to 40 children.’ A PIECES assignment is challenging but also enriching for the HSG students.

A lot of voluntary work

PIECES wants to grow slowly – at the moment, the establishment of a new project location is planned. “It is important to us that the quality is right and that the project is financed by our budget,” says Cardoso Hara. She and the other association members also do a lot for the organisation of the teaching stays: each board member invests well over 100 hours of volunteer work per semester.