“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
Our Mission
We improve the English skills of kids in the communities we support, while imparting them essential knowledge and values that can contribute to the sustainable development of their community. By providing them with inspiration and a broader perspective, we strive to open them a path to a better future.
Our Vision
Our ambition is to make a lasting impact on our partner communities by providing generations of children with English skills and inspiration using continually improved teaching methods.
Our Impact in Numbers
We aim to provide the best possible help to our pupils and thus privilege the quality of our teaching over the number of pupils we reach. We take pride in making the most of the means at our disposal.
400
Children reached in 2022
40
Volunteers sent in 2022
##%
Of our budget devoted to onsite project expenses
Our Impact in Stories
Our carefully selected student volunteers travel to the country and work directly with the children to improve their English skills, triggering an exchange of cultures and values. The volunteers ultimately also transmit essential knowledge which they have as committed HSG students, and support the children in becoming capable leaders in their societies.
Viola, Volunteer (São Paulo)
My impact on the children in the Brazilian favela is best perceived in terms of having inspired and motivated them to learn.
While educational systems in western countries have been improved, this is not necessarily the case for developing countries.
It is possible to help developing countries improve their educational system in many ways: by spending money, participating in fundraising events or even just by raising awareness . However, as I experienced on my volunteering trip with PIECES in São Paulo, Brazil, the impact is different if one engages directly with the children. It is less about the specific language skills transferred in an English lesson, but more about inspiration. When children see that a person is actually able to learn another language and then teach it to them, they realize that they can do it as well. In addition, the direct interaction with another person from another culture shows them that there are other cultures than their own and that learning languages, especially English, can help them to communicate with other people. Thus, my impact on the children in the Brazilian favela is best perceived in terms of having inspired and motivated them to learn.
Viola, Volunteer (São Paulo)
My impact on the children in the Brazilian favela is best perceived in terms of having inspired and motivated them to learn.
While educational systems in western countries have been improved, this is not necessarily the case for developing countries.
It is possible to help developing countries improve their educational system in many ways: by spending money, participating in fundraising events or even just by raising awareness . However, as I experienced on my volunteering trip with PIECES in São Paulo, Brazil, the impact is different if one engages directly with the children. It is less about the specific language skills transferred in an English lesson, but more about inspiration. When children see that a person is actually able to learn another language and then teach it to them, they realize that they can do it as well. In addition, the direct interaction with another person from another culture shows them that there are other cultures than their own and that learning languages, especially English, can help them to communicate with other people. Thus, my impact on the children in the Brazilian favela is best perceived in terms of having inspired and motivated them to learn.
Viola, Volunteer (São Paulo)
Read
My impact on the children in the Brazilian favela is best perceived in terms of having inspired and motivated them to learn.
While educational systems in western countries have been improved, this is not necessarily the case for developing countries.
It is possible to help developing countries improve their educational system in many ways: by spending money, participating in fundraising events or even just by raising awareness . However, as I experienced on my volunteering trip with PIECES in São Paulo, Brazil, the impact is different if one engages directly with the children. It is less about the specific language skills transferred in an English lesson, but more about inspiration. When children see that a person is actually able to learn another language and then teach it to them, they realize that they can do it as well. In addition, the direct interaction with another person from another culture shows them that there are other cultures than their own and that learning languages, especially English, can help them to communicate with other people. Thus, my impact on the children in the Brazilian favela is best perceived in terms of having inspired and motivated them to learn.
Our
Story
The Past and the Present
PIECES was founded in 2009 by students of the University of St. Gallen within the SIM Master’s program. As part of its curriculum, the SIM (Strategy and International Management) requires students to get involved in a social project. This is how a first group of three students went to Isla Ometepe in Nicaragua to teach as volunteers for the very first time. The experience was a huge success so the team decided to keep it going and turned this one-time project into an organisation, PIECES, that would continue to engage students in such initiatives. Since then, PIECES has greatly evolved and is currently organised with a board counting the heads of departments, active members, and an advisory board including the founding members and others, for them to guide and support the organisation at the university.