Teachers Travel Abroad to Work with Children Outside Classroom

For students, the advent of summer means relaxation and a break from being full-time students. For several teachers, however, summer provides an opportunity to continue in their mentoring roles. These teachers travel the world, passionately working to better the lives of children in countries like Haiti and South Africa.

Keren Robertson
English teacher Keren Robertson will pack her bags and head to South Africa this summer.
Robertson visited the country last summer and worked with children at an orphanage in Tembisa, teaching English classes and helping with a holiday camp. One of her most rewarding experiences while there was taking a group of children to Kruger National Park with a group of teammates.
“Most of the children had never been out of the township before, so I was with them as they saw their first forest, waterfall, ate in their first restaurant, etc.,” Robertson said. “It was an amazing experience.”
Robertson plans to return to the same orphanage again this summer to continue to help the children. This year, she will also bring with her a book of the children’s poetry that she plans to sell as a fundraiser for their future education.
“[The children] haven’t seen it yet and I can’t wait to show the final product to them,” Robertson said.

Seth Donnelly
Ever since social studies teacher Seth Donnelly first visited Haiti five years ago, he has not been able to forget the Haitian people. Donnelly hopes to return again this summer, where he plans to work on human rights projects with the Haiti Action Committee and support a local school that he has worked with before. He plans to stay in an orphanage in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
“The cost you pay for the room and board supports the orphanage and it’s also a good location to stay right in the city,” Donnelly said. “You get to work there and be relatively secure.”
Though his plans are still being finalized, Donnelly plans to travel with English teacher Ryan Ikeda, who went with him to Haiti earlier this year.

Ryan Ikeda
Joining Donnelly in Haiti is just one of the many adventures that Ikeda has in mind for the summer. For instance, he also plans on climbing Mount Rainier in northern Washington during the earlier part of the break.
Ikeda said that he hopes to put a film crew together for his trip to Haiti and create a documentary. He may also visit South Africa, a trip that would also be centered on the creation of the documentary.
“I feel like as an American, I have a responsibility to see what is going on around the world,” Ikeda said. “The U.S.’s involvement in Haiti has significantly disadvantaged … their economic situation, and that translates into all [aspects] of life.”
Although Ikeda may appear to have a lot on his plate this summer, he said that he is “taking a breather” this year. Last summer he traveled to eight countries.
“[Traveling] takes you out of your normal routine so that you see things from a different perspective, a different lens,” Ikeda said. “I like full immersion: being dropped in a place and trying to figure everything out.”