COLOMBIA
CUNDINAMARCA

The Challenge: ICSEF is a vocational school for gastronomy and hospitality outside Bogotá. Its students come from rural areas and often lack the English fluency required to land jobs in their target industries.

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Our Action: PIECES has been collaborating with ICSEF since 2025. In August 2026, the project became a partly graded, month-long English immersion program designed in collaboration with the school's local English teacher, Tatiana.

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The Impact: Volunteers teach intensive, mixed-level classes four days a week, focusing on thematic modules (nature, values, traditions) and practical challenges like theatrical presentations to overcome speaking barriers and boost student employability. The volunteers teach one large group covering several semesters and every level from beginner to conversational, which is the hardest part of the project and the reason Spanish is a requirement. The aim is to get students who are afraid of speaking English to try, in front of each other, and to keep going after the volunteers leave, not to achieve full fluency within a month. 

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AT A GLANCE

Partner: ICSEF, Escuela de Gastronomía y Hotelería, Cundinamarca
Running since: 2025
Volunteers sent: 4, each summer
Duration: 4 weeks in summer
Teaching: 4 days a week, one mixed-level group, students aged 16 and up
Language prerequisites: B2+ Spanish required

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