As the current Student Volunteers Oman scheme nears its conclusion, we share a report from our volunteers Alena, Lauren, Louie and Alex.
If you or anyone you know is looking for a fully funded chance to visit the Sultanate, learn about Oman's rich culture and develop new skills, then we hope this will give you a good idea about the scheme and inspire you to sign up in the future!
The deadline for the next scheme is March 31st so apply while you can!
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Hey there, we’re Alena, Lauren, Louie and Alex , the volunteers for the January 2025 SVO scheme. As a bunch of Londoners (+ Lauren, a proud Northamptonian), coming to the Middle East was an entirely new experience. We’re hoping to demistify a few burning questions we all had before this adventure, and highlight how this is an opportunity you can’t let pass by.
An 8-hour Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi is perhaps an unconventional way to meet your housemates for the next 3 months, but that is the situation we found ourselves in when waiting in the queue at London Heathrow. Turns out, it’s a great way to get to know someone quickly and intimidation swiftly turned to excited conversation. Sitting in a flat months later in Muscat, it’s hard to believe we were strangers only three months ago, having become so close after a monumental shared experience.
Our Oman experts took the form of the lovely Sean and Laura, who’ve taught at the Sultan’s School for over 20 years and have a deep passion for Oman and its culture. They quickly enlightened us about the incredible uniqueness of the Sultan School as a bilingual yet very Omani school that offers international qualifications. Sean helped set us up with all we needed with a quick trip to the mall (which involved Louie braving the Omani roads for the first time on a very questionable amount of sleep).
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Working with the kids at the Sultan's School is most definitely one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. Despite the seemingly large cultural difference, you quickly realise how similar the kids are to those back home. Our days were incredibly varied, with Lauren finding herself down in Kindergarten picking up extra Arabic words by the day (mostly evermore obscure animals) and Louie becoming the new resident Economics teacher, helping year 12s and 13s get to grips with externalities. We all became a frequent presence in Ms Sadaf’s year 3 classes bringing joy and chaos in equal measure.
A large part of the work at the school involves spending time with boarders in the evenings, who are often chosen from more remote areas of Oman, and are sponsored to attend the school. We’ve all been using our skills to provide homework help for the boarders, particularly with English and vocabulary. Alena rehashed her unmatched GCSE Physics skills to help the year 11s, Lauren and Alex helped the youngsters with their reading and did their best with maths (though mostly ended up calling in Louie for help). We all feel our connections formed with the scholars are pretty special, as we know how different their lives have been to our own, yet they are so curious to learn more about the world and contribute positively to the future of their country.
There are also so many different opportunities available outside of the school environment which we took advantage of. From weekend trips to the desert, to exploring as much of Oman as possible from Somail to Salalah, Mutrah to Musandam, Nizwa to Nakhal. Given camping equipment and a rental car, we’ve had an adventure of a lifetime, even with a tight budget.
We’d encourage everyone, whatever your background or link, however tenuous, to the Middle East, to throw yourself into this opportunity and relish the challenge.
Signing off,
Alex, Alena, Lauren and Louie.
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To find more out about applying for the next volunteeer scheme, please visit our Student Volunteers Oman website page.
The next Student Volunteer Oman Scheme dates will be:
- 2025 dates: Friday 12 Sept (arrive) - Thursday 18 Dec (leave)
- 2026 dates: Friday 9 Jan (arrive) - Thursday 9 April (leave)
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN:
Applications for both of these schemes are now open. The deadline is 31st of March, 2025.
Please apply online via the below link. Please include all of the requested information.
APPLY NOW