please help!!!! :-)

Dear friends and family:

I am writing to ask for your support with a new volunteer project that I plan to undertake starting this June. Thank you for your loyalty in reading my blog over this past year. If you can recall back to a few postings ago, I will soon be headed back to the states on June 14th! After a week rest stop, I will head back on the plane to Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. Next year, I will again be teaching mathematics to high school aged students. I will quickly need to transition from island life to safari life while in rural Tanzania. I have always been interested in Africa and am excited to help fill a void in their education system. Your donation will secure my place in the program and it will give many students in Tanzania a teacher for a year.
WorldTeach Mission Statement

WorldTeach is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in the Center for International Development at Harvard University that provides opportunities for individuals to make a meaningful contribution to international education by living and working as volunteer teachers in developing countries. WorldTeach offers summer and year-long programs in American Samoa, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Namibia, Panama, Poland, South Africa, Tanzania and Thailand.

Tanzania 2011-2012 Year-Long Program

This will be its second year that WorldTeach will work in cooperation with the Tanzanian Ministry of Education. The partnership is a welcoming one as there is a huge need for teachers at all levels. As of 2011, it was estimated there is a need for 85,000 teachers among the country’s secondary public schools.

WorldTeach volunteers in Tanzania will teach English, math, and science in a wide range of secondary schools and teacher’s colleges throughout the country, in both rural and urban placements. Furthermore, they will have workloads and job responsibilities similar to the local teachers. A typical workweek will consist of approximately twenty (20), forty-five (45) minute classes per week. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, volunteers will also be encouraged to engage in secondary projects, such as teaching extra English classes, coaching sports, starting art clubs, or developing the school library or computer room. Working both in and out of the classroom will be an excellent way for volunteers to contribute their skills and interests to the broader needs of their schools and communities.

Volunteer Commitment

The program fee for Tanzania is $5,990 US. As a returning volunteer however, Worldteach has been gracious enough to grant me a $500 scholarship which reduces my financial commitment to $5,500. The fee covers costs associated with recruitment and program placement, training, travel, health insurance, work visas, field support, and monthly stipends.

Donate by May 31st

There are two possibilities for donating:
1. You can donate directly to WorldTeach by check, credit card, or your PayPal account. If you send the donation directly to WorldTeach and I am unable to raise the funds for this project then WorldTeach will keep your money as a donation to the Tanzania program. You can pay with a major credit card or your PayPal account by clicking on “Donate Now” on the WorldTeach homepage: www.worldteach.org. Also, you can call WorldTeach directly and contribute with a MasterCard or Visa. Please note that a $1.50 surcharge will be added to your donation for all donations below $100.
2. You can send a check made out to WorldTeach to my address. If I am unable to raise the funds, we will void the checks and update you with this information. If you wish to use this option, please e-mail me at Gretchen.e.melvin@gmail.com for my address.

IF writing a check, please remember to include “Gretchen Melvin” on the memo line and your address somewhere on the check.

WorldTeach will send you a receipt for checks or credit card payments made over the phone, but make sure to print out your receipt from the website because all donations are tax deductible! All donations, even the smallest of them, are greatly appreciated.

Thank you and I look forward to share my experience and adventure with you on my blog,

Gretchen Melvin