Project Overview

There are a variety of projects you could be involved with in Naples. While this is a hugely important and historically significant city, it is also a place with some deep-rooted problems. On your trip, you will have the opportunity to help out, as even just a couple of days can leave a lasting impression.

Most of the population of Naples doesn’t speak English. Indeed Italy is regularly at the bottom of EU countries when it comes to proficiency in English. This is largely due to lessons overly focused on grammar, teachers who do not have much experience in speaking in English themselves and most critically, a media which dubs everything (movies, TV etc) into Italian. This means far less exposure to English than their Northern European counterparts, where dubbing is not employed and therefore most speak some English and many speak it fluently.

On your trip, you will spend your time with Italian students, teaching English just by conversing with them. This is not only an excellent opportunity for them to hear the language spoken by mother tongue speakers, but also a great opportunity for both sides to make some friends and really get to understand each other’s culture.

Naples has had an ongoing issue with garbage management. It is far off any recycling goals set by the EU, but it’s also far off being a clean city in general. It’s a city with a lot of litter and also a lack of green space.

Your contribution will be to help keep Naples clean and to raise awareness of what action needs to be taken moving forwards. You will be involved in helping maintain the archaeological sites, in particular some ancient Roman baths, where you will be gardening, cutting small branches and caring for the vegetation growing around the remains of the baths. You will also be involved in picking up trash from flower beds, small parks and public areas, demonstrating how the city should be preserved.

Italy as a country receives the highest number of migrants out of all European countries, by quite some margin. For those groups interested in the topic of migration, you will have the opportunity to meet with social workers and migrants, both minors and adults, to listen to their stories. It will be an opportunity to see beyond the headlines and to hear the reality from those directly affected.