OSCA Hong Kong
The dates for the OSCA Hong Kong 2019 camps are as yet unconfirmed but are likely to be similar to the 2018 dates, with programmes starting on the 26th of June and on the 9th of July and lasting between 4 and 6 weeks. The OSCA HK camps consist of three to five teams of 7 volunteers (one of which is the camp director). Most volunteers live in the same hostel accommodation, making Hong Kong a very sociable camp.
The preparation week is about gaining ideas for your lessons through meeting other volunteers and drama workshops as well as going out to see the schools you will be teaching in. This gives you a better perspective as to what to expect and a chance to adapt your lessons to the school's resources. It's not all work though, the best part of this week is getting to know all the other volunteers. There tend to be a lot of activities planned during this week, from boat trips to hiking expeditions!
The camp requires volunteers to be able to adapt quickly to each school's individual needs. You will be teaching in both primary and secondary schools and the students may have come from international schools (with English more perfect than yours) or from disadvantaged schools where you only have a board and pen to teach with. As you work with a variety of schools and children, you do see yourself becoming a better teacher and understanding how children enjoy learning. You stay with each school for one week, so this requires you to be able to identify quickly each classes ability and to be able to adjust your lessons to suit them. School begins at 9am and a typical day includes three lessons in the morning, lunch, an hour of drama, afternoon activity and an afternoon event which ends at 4pm.
You will also be working with Teaching Assistants (lifesavers to some of us), who are students from local universities that can speak both English and Cantonese. They will be able to help you in case you find a barrier between the children and yourself and to give you an extra hand around the class. The volunteers stay with a single class so they'll give you a better idea of what each student is like. BUT the TAs are not just people you work with. They'll give you an insight into the culture of Hong Kong, where to go and in general, they are great friends to make.
The City and Travelling
Hong Kong itself is an amazing city. A unique mix of East and West with dazzling skyscrapers towering over small noodle shops in one of Asia’s busiest cities. Colonial buildings from its British past mix with Buddhist temples, stunning beaches surrounded by mountains and a buzzing city with an amazing night life. Hong Kong is most definitely a pretty cool place to spend a month of your summer!
Hong Kong is probably the best place in Asia from which to travel. Whether you want to travel in China, or fly to another South East Asian country like South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines or Cambodia, doing it from Hong Kong will be the cheapest way. Most people who do Camps in Hong Kong go travelling in China (and with over 30 other volunteers in this project, you will probably find someone who wants to go travelling in the same region as you do!).
If after reading this there is any other info you’d like to have about this project or about Hong Kong, please email us.
