Ben Lindstrom-Ives

In this position, I am responsible for training Cambodian teachers who are working as ESL (English as a Second Language) Teachers at Bookbridge Foundation. Typically, will train t ESL teachers in classroom management, strategy, lesson planning, etc.

LIn this position, I am serving in one of the Peace Corps Cambodia committees. In this specific committee I am working with other committee members who are responsible for providing support and guidance to Peace Corps volunteers who are serving in Cambodia. As part of this support system we run roundtable discussions, share resources from the Peace Corps TEFL online library, etc.

In this position, I am lecturing at the Takeo Polytechnic Institute in Takeo City, Cambodia. Normally, I teach three different classes which are Applied Linguistics, ESL year 1, and a separate ESL class for Cambodian Teachers. In all of these classes I use the institute's textbooks, as well as resources from the internet in order to enhance knowledge in the English Language. Similarly to my position at the PTTC in Takeo, many of my students are seeking to become educators in the future.

My primary position with Peace Corps Cambodia is working as a Teacher Trainer at the PTTC (Provincial Teachers Training College) in Takeo Province, Cambodia. My primary responsibilities with this role are to effectively teach teacher trainees lesson planning strategy, classroom management, curriculum development, introducing grammar, etc. Most of my trainees are between 18 and 30 years old. My trainees are aiming to become successful teachers and educators in the Cambodian education system in the future.

For around half a year I worked as a bookseller with the WH Smith Bookshop at Harrods Department store in London, U.K. During this time I was expected to greet customers, sell books, operate the cash register, and help guide the customers around the store if they had any questions or enquiries. This position helped ehance both my team working and organizational skills.

In this position I am working a recruiter for the Peace Corps Organization. In this case, the key responsibilities are to effectively reach out to college campuses across the country, in order to promote greater interest in college students joining the organization in the future.

In this position, I am responsible for overseeing security in Takeo Province for Peace Corps Cambodia. As a security warden, I am obligated to make sure that all of the volunteers serving in the province are safe. I am also responsible for making sure that in the case of a crisis, I will help guide the volunteers to go to the designated safety sight in this case the Alice Villa Hotel in Takeo.

For a little over half a year, I worked as a refugee aid worker with St. Andrews Refugee Services in Cairo, Egypt. During this time, I was responsible for helping register refugees and asylum seekers with the N.G.O.'s website, so that they could find a legal path to residency in Egypt. Many of the refugees had fled from conflict zones such as the Darfur region in Sudan, Chad, Mali, Syria, etc. This assignment was challenging, but gave me a real strong insight into human suffering, and raised my awareness about the global refugee crisis and its greater implications around the world.

While working as a refugee aid worker with St. Andrews Refugee Services in Cairo, I also worked as an educator as well. During this time, I was responsible for organizing and teaching ESL to students who were mainly refugees from different parts of Africa and the Middle East. Normally I would share news articles about important global topics, and the students would then provide their opinion and feedback in a debate like manner. Normally, each week a different topic or issue would be available for the students to debate. e.g. Capital Punishment, Climate Change, Israel/Palestine conflict, etc.

I worked at the International House N.G.O. in Cairo, located near the Embassy of Spain for nearly a year and a half. Similarly to my position at St. Andrews, I was responsible for teaching ESL: to many refugee students. In this case as well, I also taught a handful of Egyptian students as well. Mainly I would teach article reading, advanced English grammar, and vocabulary to my students. Most of the Egyptian and refugee students held advanced knowledge in ESL>

While I was a M.A. student at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) I volunteered with Oxfam International at the campus. It was here that I helped assist the "Reunite the Families Campaign" which helped make efforts to unite families who had been separated in the Mediterranean Sea when seeking asylum status in Europe. Specifically we helped raise funds with this campaign, and petitioned the U.K. Parliament to help assist in this process. Overall we managed to raise thousands of pounds which helped aid the efforts of Oxfam's campaign.

During this time I worked as an ESL instructor at the American Club in Kyoto. I worked with Japanese students of all ages including children and adults. I would teach my students in a wide variety of skills including reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary acquisition, speaking practice, etc.

I worked as an ESL teacher with the Berlitz School in Casablanca. During this time I taught Middle School aged children ESL in various topics such as vocabulary acquisition, speaking practice, pronunciation skills, etc.

Prior to beginning my B.A. program at the University of Vermont, I volunteered to work with Habitat for Humanity in September. During this time I helped volunteer with a housing project, which supported the needs of newly arrived Congolese refugees. Along with a fellow team of volunteers I learned about how to use tools, worked on building houses, developed team/communication skills, etc. The project overall was a success due to the successful construction of new homes, and my ability to be able to communicate with the Congolese refugees in French.

During the summer of 2006, I worked as a volunteer with Outward Bound in Colorado. As a volunteer I went hiking with my team in the Rocky Mountains, learned how to build fires, become familiar with tools. and learned some basic survival skills during the "solo days". This experience improved my self-reliance, communication skills, and helped me become a better team-player overall.