Parent Swap: an exciting new project for teenagers

Swap the savannah for the saucepan; this is your first experience as an adult! Once you’ve woken up bright and early to shower, brush your teeth, and make lunch for the whole family, it’s time to head out into the world of work.

Your commute, your way

One of the most exciting parts of adult life is choosing how you want to get to work each day. You’ll be able to:

• experience the thrill of a crowded bus on cramped city streets
• squeeze onto a train that is inevitably 10 minutes late, with no air conditioning
• dice with death and cycle to work while exposed to every inclement weather pattern
• sit in unmoving traffic while you slowly go insane (only for participants aged 17+)

Sadly, depending on your placement, you may have to work from home. The full details of your placement will be confirmed before your parents travel.

Realistic work experience

A large part of your placement will be spent in the squeakiest chair you can find and experience working life in an office. This is the perfect opportunity to develop crucial personal and professional skills that will help you throughout your life.

Depending on the needs of your company at the time, you could:

• pour your heart and soul into spreadsheets
• respond to emails and messages you’ve barely read with vague advice or suggestions
• organise files into folders that you will simply never be able to find again
• look thoughtfully into the distance with a half-written sentence on your screen
• attend hours of back-to-back meetings which could have just been emails
• produce materials and reports that will never be looked at by anyone but you

All of these thrilling tasks will help you develop core skills like improvisation, adaptability, resilience, and organisation. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll also learn time management skills as you watch the clock tick to 5pm.

Exciting breaks and weekend excursions

Throughout your placement, you’ll experience the best part of adult life: time off.

During work, you get coffee breaks and an hour lunch break all to yourself. These opportunities allow you to enjoy a slightly soggy sandwich, pretend to be interested in your colleagues’ stories, problems, and weekend plans, and have a much-needed little cry.

Speaking of weekend plans, we hope you like travelling! You’ll become an expert on your local area as you head to the supermarket for the weekly food shop, be a “taxi” to your family, and take the dog out for long, rainy walks (don’t forget the bags…).

With the rest of your free time, you’ll master the traditional art of multitasking. This might include:

• paying the bills
• making dinner
• cleaning the dishes
• setting up the washing machine
• tidying up after everyone else
• turning off lights in empty rooms
• closely guarding the thermostat
• putting the bins out (up to and including hearing the bin men arrive)
• responding to important letters and emails (it feels a lot like work)

At the end of it all, you’ll have a sliver of time to yourself before heading to bed early to do it all again tomorrow!

Both you and your parents will enjoy all the benefits you expect from Projects Abroad.

You'll enjoy the 24/7 responsibility of running a household, feeding other humans who rely on you to survive, and (barely) tolerating workplace colleagues.

Meanwhile, your parents will get 24/7 staff support, hand-picked, safe, and comfortable accommodation, three meals a day, social activities, and fresh drinking water.