Senior Volunteering - China, Italy
Elderhostel Programs Offer Mature Adventure and Global Service
A top Over-55 travel company, Elderhostel offers service trips where mature travelers teach English as well as meet communities in China and Southern Italy
Elderhostel trips are known by most mature AARP-crowd travelers as good fun with age-appropriate comrades. But Elderhostel also has volunteer vacations in which tourists serve the global community.
Service trips include everything from aiding researchers in the study of bottlenose dolphins, to teaching Chinese and Southern Italians, to helping preserve Grenada's La Sagesse sugar plantations. These volunteer vacations are designed to help "turn the tide for those in need."
Elderhostel says that participating in one of its Service Learning programs can even be tax-deductible.
Service Trip to China
One service program combines teaching English with a visit to Xi'an, in China. The program is offered in October 4-20 at prices starting at $2,551 per person (double occupancy, airfare not included.) It is presented in conjunction with Global Volunteers and the Sino-American Society of Xi'an. Elderhostel visitors share English language conversational skills with Chinese children and adults.
"We also gain a first-hand view of the Chinese educational system as we work inside Xi'an classrooms with students of all abilities," says the company. Prior teaching experience is not required.
The 14-day adventure starts and ends in Xi'an, one of China's oldest cities. It was a starting point for the Silk Road that linked Asia and Europe. The plan calls for teaching English to Chinese students in ages ranging from children through adults. It emphasizes conversational skills, pronunciation, and vocabulary rather than grammar.
When program volunteers are not teaching, they have the chance to attend presentations by leaders in government, business, and education. But the real draw, according to the well-known mature-learning and travel outfit, is that participants can "immerse themselves in the daily lives of students." Elderhostel claims that the program is a chance to get to know and help the Chinese on a "human level, to challenge ourselves, and take home fresh, non-tourist perspectives."
Those on this trip stay at at Sino Pearl Hotel, a three-star accommodation with private baths and numerous amenities, including beauty salon, sauna, massage services, hotel bar, doctor on call, air conditioning, money exchange, TV, shopping area, in-room telephone, business center, and restaurant.
Service Trip to Italy
Elderhostel also offers a late-September service trip to southern Italy, where participants go beyond tourism and make a difference by teaching conversational English in classrooms in the Ostuni area.
According to the company, "Ostuni teachers welcome volunteer tutors because they realize the crucial importance of English language mastery in today's global marketplace." Volunteers think of the trip as a way of providing "valuable resources for students in elementary through high school, engaging them in conversation, prompting lively discussions, and sharing life stories." This trip costs $2,880 and lasts two weeks.
