Sarah Oakes took her gap year while she was studying languages at Durham University.

She wanted to “do something useful” while she was away and searched for a school in a rural community in Latin America where she could teach English. She was thrilled to find a placement in Turrubares, Costa Rica. She paid £3,000 to cover the required basic TEFL course, insurance, flight and in-country transport. The company that she booked with also promised that help would be a phone call away.

However, she said that she was abandoned as soon as she landed. “When I arrived at the airport I was given a sheet of paper with directions to the village, the number of the bus to catch, and told someone would come and pick me up in his truck. My bag got stolen on the bus and the company did nothing to help even though I contacted them immediately.

“They provided me with no material for teaching, and I found out that representatives had visited the village only twice, basically to find me somewhere to stay.”

Nevertheless, Miss Oakes found the experience “very positive” and said that she would not like to discourage other students from volunteering. “I was very lucky. No thanks to the company, the family I stayed with was extremely nice and I really enjoyed the time I spent there. It was a great experience.

“But the company was a huge disappointment. Despite the fact my job was a ‘pilot project’ and no one had ever done it before, no one checked I had arrived safely or contacted me to see how it was going. From what I could see, all the money I paid went on marketing.” She is still in touch with friends in the village who have told her that a student turns up every now and again to teach English at the school.

“No thought went into the project and there is no attempt to make it sustainable. When the company finds someone who wants to go to a rural village in Latin America, that’s where they send them. It has made me realise how much support has to go in to make projects work properly.”

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