COVID-19 A Letter From Michael Volpe, XploreAsia’s Managing Director

Dear XploreAsia Teachers, Alumni and Stakeholders:

I wanted to write a letter to all of our teachers, alumni, and stakeholders to provide information and guidance on the COVID-19 situation.

I first want to recognize the amazing resilience and patience of our teachers. For those in the field across Asia, we salute the maturity and level-headedness that you have exhibited in navigating this unprecedented situation, with the uncertainty of school delays, and financial and family pressures. We appreciate how challenging this period has been for you and for everyone. 

Evolving Situation and Impact

We have seen the worldwide situation change by the day. Asia started out rapidly deteriorating and now seems to have stabilized across most countries, but the impact has, and continues to be, felt by our teachers, as schools in Vietnam, Korea, Myanmar and now Costa Rica have partially or fully closed for a short time, and opening dates get pushed back each week. We have worked closely with our school partners and most have gone to great lengths to support their teachers during this uncertain period. Having said that, we recognize the frustration for teachers as well as for XploreAsia because we want answers from the schools regarding reopening times and contingency plans, and schools are also searching for answers themselves from governments and parents.

As the situation in Asia stabilizes, the situation in the United States and Europe worsens. As a result, many countries in Asia and elsewhere have announced travel restrictions on visitors from the hardest hit countries, affecting some new participants who have plans to come to Asia to teach. We have recently cancelled our March 23rd course in Vietnam due to tightening travel restrictions on visitors from Europe and the United States.

Keep Participants Safe and Supporting our Community

In response to the spread of COVID-19, we have put in place a comprehensive plan to support teachers on the ground, keep participants on our programs safe, and advise in-bound participants on how to travel safely.

We are collecting information from a wide variety of sources, collating it and sending it out to our teacher communities in each country regularly. We obtain relevant information from speaking to schools, embassies, and teachers in the field, monitoring local language and international news sources, and speaking to local partners, all in an effort to better understand the situation each day and keep our teachers informed and safe. We have also set up hotlines and designated staff members in all of our countries for participants to contact directly at any time if they have any questions or concerns, or need advice.

We have also put in place procedures at our offices and programs to ensure participant and staff safety. This includes closely monitoring the health of each participant from the moment they arrive on our programs.

Finally, we’re reaching out to participants who are in the preparation phase of traveling to our programs and informing them on how to maintain hygiene and safety during travel.

This plan is evolving daily to meet changing circumstances and is informed by the travel regulations, restrictions, and advice of those countries who are sending and receiving our participants.

Choices and Contingencies

We respect and believe that, short of a country requiring that all of their citizens evacuate, or a country closing their borders to certain travelers, the decision whether to leave a country/program or enter a country to start a program depends on the individual’s decision. There are many factors to consider in that decision and we are happy to be a part of that decision process.

It is important to point out, however, that the decision on when to return home has implications. For example, if a participant decided to return home to the United States last week, they would just enter as normal, today they would possibly need to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival (same for Australia). Perhaps in the near future quarantines will not be self-administered, but at a government facility. It may also be that the country one is departing from has a much lower instance of COVID-19 transmission that the country they are returning to. These and other factors may be a part of each person’s decision process.

We stand ready to support anyone who needs advice on whether returning home, or delaying a program start date, is the right choice for them or the necessary choice given in-bound travel restrictions.

If, in any country in which we operate, we get to the point of evacuation, we have a plan in place to support and advise our teacher community through connections internationally and with in-country embassies to give an additional, strong layer of support should the need arise. We are optimistic that this will not be necessary, as the countries in which we operate, with the exception of South Korea (which has been among the most effective in the world in combating the spread of COVID-19) all have relatively low numbers of cases and have done a good job thus far of limiting COVID-19 spread. I say this going on what we know as of today and with the understanding that things can change in a short period.

Going Forward

Our programs will continue to operate. However, in the event that a country restricts travelers from entering, we will temporarily suspend that program and update our partners and participants. We are monitoring the situation carefully across all of our programs and countries. 

I have included below our hotline contact details of staff members in each country who can be contacted to discuss any questions or concerns. I have also included my contact details below. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns or need advice. During these challenging times, we want to make sure that we are completely available to support our community and stakeholders.

 Cross-cultural exchange is our mission and our passion. It is not just important for the personal and professional growth of the individual and the communities they serve, but also because it brings the world closer together. While COVID-19 has dealt a major blow to this, I know that we will successfully navigate this period through supporting and caring for one another, and continuing to live our mission. I’m confident that travel and cross-cultural programs will rebound even stronger than ever before.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Michael Volpe

Managing Director

Teach Explore Asia (XploreAsia)

Phone: 668 3 645 3807

Email: m.volpe@xploreasia.org

Skype: Michael.volpe3