Field Officers

The Field Officer role is definitely a challenging one, but at the same time it is a great opportunity to experience and understand life in a developing country school. I am learning so much every day, not only from the experience of project implementation in an international setting, but more specifically about the potential of the self-sustainable school model to transform the way vocational schools operate. Living in the community of Peña Blanca is also a very rewarding experience and I have already formed close relationships with the school staff and students. It has helped me to understand the challenges low income families face in rural Honduras and the importance in their lives of high quality, affordable education.  

Christine, Tourism Officer in Nicaragua 

Being a somewhat mixed figure between Field Officer and Tourism Officer I get to immerse myself in one area in particular (in my case the beautiful La Bastilla Ecolodge and all tourism related issues) while I am still able to keep an overview of the whole project. Working and living at La Bastilla has been a very rewarding experience, and it fills me with pride to see how our students learn and grow not only in the professional and academic sense, but also in terms of their personality. While I teach students and staff at La Bastilla Ecolodge how to carry plates, attend guests and run a hotel, I am also able to witness how these young Nicaraguans grow up to being more responsible, successful adults and how their personal development shapes their professional attitude. It is at least as interesting to follow how the students’ initial problems with working in tourism and hospitality turn into acceptance, appreciation and sometimes even into their first job after successfully finishing La Bastilla Technical Agricultural High School, as it is to witness how they lose their shyness with strangers and learn to work with guests from different cultural backgrounds.

An additional benefit is to be able to directly contribute to the rise of income for the project and to raise awareness and promote Teach A Man To Fish’s ‘Education that pays for itself’ approach with and through the guests that visit the Ecolodge. It is a great challenge to optimise the Ecolodge’s and the students’ potential, but one that is worth every day spent on trying to reach our goal in making the school financially self-sufficient and in forming Nicaragua’s future through educating their youth.  

Leena, Field Officer in Nicaragua 

 Working as a field officer in rural Nicaragua is a world away from my former life in inner-city London and I could not be more excited to be here.  Unlike any other school that I have ever visited, La Bastilla not only consists of students, teachers and classrooms, but also pigs, cows, chickens and the occasional sheep!  As well as the regular academic workload, the students here have a range of additional responsibilities including waking up at sunrise to milk the cows , cooking lunch for the other students and staff and taking the Ecolodge guests on tours of the surrounding coffee farm.  I have been amazed by how the students throw themselves into all tasks and by their dedication, whilst still retaining the sense of fun cheekiness of teenagers everywhere.  The results of this hard work are evident and over the past couple of years the school has flourished, making significant progress to achieving financial sustainability whilst also providing several young people with the opportunity to benefit from high-quality, relevant education.  The commitment shown by both the students and the teachers at La Bastilla is inspiring.

One of the most exciting aspects of this model is that by physically taking responsibility in the businesses, the students are directly exposed to the challenges and opportunities present in each area.  ‘Learning by doing’, is an effective way of training future entrepreneurs as it provides a tangible business, work and educational experience.

More...

• Be the change you want to see in the world! If you are interested in voluntereeing overseas, please click here.
• Blasts from the past. Though they may be now long gone, our past Field Officers are never forgotten. Find out more about previous heroic Field Officers in our Field Officer - Hall of Fame.