uVolunteer

Program Reviews

I am just finishing my two months in Costa Rica, with the uVolinteer program. This experience really has been amazing for me! Costa Rica is an amazing country with many places to see and explore!!!!!!

What would you improve about this program?

I started my volunteering in construction work; it was for 6 hours a day, 4 days a week. At the start I was doing a lot of digging and mixing of cement which was cool to see how they did everything by hand here, and two hands of help is a lot here!, As the two weeks of construction came to the end I was doing more noticeable jobs such as hammering the roof in, hammering through the brick wall for the electricity outlets (hard job haha) and many little jobs that were fun and different. It was really good to experience the construction in Costa Rica and an awesome feeling to know your helping someone in need! This is my biggest goal, to see I'm making a difference and know my time is appreciated!
On my third week I started working at San Miguel Elementary School. This is where I spend 6 weeks and had the most fun! At the school I taught english, cooked lunch every day for the kids, and of course played soccer (football). This was my highlight because I could really see, every day, with every job I was asked that I was really helping. They can't afford to hire people to do these jobs, but yet they are so simple and fun. I painted, I cleaned, I played, colored and much more and the kids were so happy every time I showed up in the morning, they all knew my name, greeted me and asked if I'm going to play football with them haha, it was an experience. The teachers and parent volunteer staff also really appreciated the work I did, in english class we would play games with the kids and the english teacher always said how I have to do that again with them because that's all they talk about and ask. It was what volunteering should be! Fun!
Of course this trip wouldn't be as good if I didn't go travelling! Every weekend I would get almost 2 full days of going to a beach or a tourist area to backpack and travel! My highlight! It surprising how many people are travelling, volunteering and backpacking just like me! I met so many people (more than once) and seen many places! I travelled to La Fortuna, Manuel Antonio, Puerto Veijo, and other small places around Costa Rica and it really made my trip!
Thanks U Volunteer for the experience of a life time and something I wont ever forget (hence why I got my tattoo) "Pura Vida"- something Costa Ricans live by! It means directly to english "Pure Life", but here they say it to and for everything! Ask how its going? Pura Vida! Ask how your day is, weekend, sleep, anything almost and they say Pura Vida" Even one time I asked a local "what time is it" and luckily he spoke english, because he replied with Pura Vida, and said it doesn't matter man, Life is good, no worries. And that's why I got my tattoo. Something to remember my trip by, and it's like Hakuna Mattata. No worries, life is good! Costa Rican people are so friendly and I really advise a trip here! Volunteering!
Good luck to whoever reads this and always remember "Pura Vida"!!
Adios! Gracias!

Arriving in Ghana, I was excited to immerse in a new country and continent. My month stay in Koforidua was one to remember!
The volunteer coordinators prepared me to be engulfed into the Ghanaian lifestyle.
I was dancing, eating and smiling are the three actions that I will remember the most of my stay. The experience I gained from this trip is indescribable, which makes it hard to write a volunteer story. I think to whomever is reading my story, I guarantee you, you will not regret this experience. Two tips to keep in mind while you are in Ghana: Keep an open mind and be happy!

What would you improve about this program?

Better imposible

The town is small enough that you can walk from one end to the other in around thirty minutes, and buses arrive and depart San Ramon very regularly making it very convenient. We stayed in a volunteer dorm with other volunteer.

What would you improve about this program?

I have always wanted to participate in a volunteer type vacation, but I had never had the time or the money to be able to take on a project like this. A year off from school provided me with an excellent opportunity to travel to a foreign country, experience a new culture, and to lend my assistance to people in need.
I chose UVolunteer because they were extremely organized, provided me with the option to participate in a number or different volunteer programs, and to take a Spanish language training program prior to starting my volunteer project. I decided I would volunteer in Costa Rica for eight weeks and was able to get two of my friends from Calgary to join me for six of those weeks.
Application and pre-arrival proceeded very smoothly. I was able to talk directly with a representative from the UVolunteer office when I had questions and was able to receive prompt replies to all my emails. Upon arrival at the San Jose airport on Saturday, we were greeted by our driver holding a sign with my name on it, who took us straight to our homestay family in Curridabat.
I was placed in the intermediate level as I had previously taken two preliminary courses in Spanish in university two years ago. The instruction here was excellent, intensive, and has you prepared for your volunteer program. I highly recommend this program to all volunteers who lack a background or fluency in Spanish prior to starting their programs. We stayed with a homestay family for this portion of our travel.
Overall, my volunteer experience has been very successful. I was able to learn and embrace all that the Costa Rican culture had to offer, provide my assistance to people in need, and become nearly fluent in Spanish. I would like to have stayed here for a month longer to become fully fluent in Spanish; perhaps in the future.
Ryan

When I first arrived I really had no idea what to expect. As the first volunteer to Trat there was no information about this project and the accommodations was just being set up and the school placement being organised.

What would you improve about this program?

My one piece of advice to future volunteers is, don't buy your return ticket first. You may find that it is very hard to leave this place.
I really like the town of Trat. It is large enough that you can buy pretty much anything you need, but small enough that it feels like a community. It is very clean and easy to get around on a bicycle. I found the Thai people to be very friendly and welcoming.
I was very nervous about starting at Tha Rue Jang school, but the teachers were very friendly and welcomed me almost as family. The children's English skills were very limited but over the course of my stay we found many ways to communicate without language. I was teaching computer studies, but I hope I also helped with their English and confidence speaking English. Occasionally I found things challenging or difficult to deal with. But there wasn't anything that I could not work through with the help of the teachers, and the support of Meaw.
Volunteering in Thailand was an experience beyond anything I could have hoped for when I signed up for this project. It gave me the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and make great friendships. To be able to become part of a community and learn about the culture and how life is lived in this part of the world was such a privilege. I know that I could not achieve this as traveller and it was exactly what I was looking for when I decided to volunteer. My one piece of advice to future volunteers is, don't buy your return ticket first. You may find that it is very hard to leave this place.

When a college friend approached me about an opportunity to volunteer abroad with uVolunteer in Costa Rica, I couldn't believe my luck!!!

I chose to volunteer for a week in San Ramon, Costa Rica at the local Community Center.

What would you improve about this program?

We spent the week volunteering at the Community Center with the children from the area. We had brought lots of things for the kids to do, which they really seemed to love! We made bracelets, magic wands, masks and puppets! The best part was seeing how much the kids loved to make things. They would be waiting for my friend and I at the classroom door in the morning, just to see what we would be doing that day. Being conversational in Spanish was definitely a plus; it definitely made it easier to communicate with the other volunteers and children. But, if all else fails, bring some bouncy balls and some hula hoops!
We did have some downtime, where my friend and I explored the local area by visiting volcanoes, a coffee plantation, white water rafting and the hot springs. I had such an amazing experience and met the most amazing people. I would love to try and return in the future and would definitely recommend this program to anyone who is looking to volunteer abroad, even for just a week!
I wanted to say "Thank You" to Laura at the Center, who does a great job and really cares for the kids. Also, thank you to the staff who helped make the experience a memorable one!
Katharine

I do however live in a very small town surrounded by lots of people who care very much about everyone they know. My family and I are very close and when I told them about my upcoming trip to Thailand I had a lot of concerned comments pushed my way. 'You are going to get kidnapped... Or murdered... Or something bad is going to happen to you... Thailand is full of poverty ... The people are so poor... It is a really dirty place..'. I forgot to mention these comments were not just from family trying to scare me into staying home they came from coworkers and other acquaintances as well. I know in my heart the people who tried to stop me from traveling were just very uninformed and trying to persuade me to change my mind. Well I didn't get scared into staying home and I am so glad I chose to volunteer.

My volunteer project was to teach English with a co-teacher, whom I expected would be fluent in English and in the classroom with me at all times. Too good to be true right? I've always imagined teaching to be a very easy profession and I know now it absolutely is not! When planning this trip I had it in my head ' oh I can speak English and play with kids... No big deal.. Piece of cake...' well my job teaching was much more difficult than I had expected. For starters creating a lesson plan is a lot of work. Not to mention creating a lesson plan that is fun, entertaining, successful, and easy to translate without knowing any of the language. As the weeks went on I finally got into my own groove of teaching. Thai students are just absolutely amazing. I enjoyed seeing their little faces and hearing their accents. Being at the school was a great experience. I got to see how hard Thai teachers work and care for their students as well as their school. Teaching was such a great opportunity for me because I have always been interested in doing it. I do have the desire to maybe someday teach again and the curiosity to see how different the students from another country may be.

Aside from teaching, the rest of my time in Thailand was absolutely unforgettable. The beaches, mountains, waterfalls, and scenery just about everywhere are nothing less than astonishing. I fell in love with the beauty here and not just the physical beauty. Thai people are genuine and strong, despite how much money they have. It is the addition of this inner beauty and their culture that makes Thailand such a beautiful place. I spent three months in Thailand and I was not kidnapped, murdered, or felt disgusted from poverty. On the other hand something really bad did happen: I left.

When I first arrived in Ghana I was really nervous and excited all at the same time. As soon as I received my luggage, Annete was right there to meet me. .

What would you improve about this program?

We then drove to the dorm that was approximately an hour and a half away. I really enjoyed this car ride because I got the chance to observe everything.
My first month in Ghana I taught at Hour of Grace Orphanage. I didn't have much experience teaching before so I was really nervous on my first day. I taught the Kindergarten class (ages 6-7). After my first day I was really comfortable because all of the children are willing to learn whatever I could teach them. On an average day, in the mornings I would teach mathematics and in the afternoons I would teach spelling and grammar. I really loved my class, every morning they would greet me, and after classes were done they always gave hugs goodbye. Also, at the orphanage I was able to play with the little kids (aged 2-4), which was a lot of fun. All of the kids were so welcoming and loved to be around all of the volunteers.
During my second month, the other volunteers and I ran a sports and English camp because the schools were on vacation. The first week of camp was held at a local community and it was really interesting to see how the level of education differed from the children at the Orphanage. In this camp, I taught children that were aged 13-15. At first this class was really quite and did not want to speak up about anything, after our few warm up activities the morning the class quickly became comfortable and it was really enjoyable. In the mornings we would teach mathematics and English until lunch and then after we would play a variety of sports (soccer, sack races, etc). The second camp was held at the Hour of Grace Orphanage and we had a very similar routine with these children.
One the weekends and when there wasn't a camp running, I was able to travel quite a bit to different places, such as Mole National Park, which was awesome to walk through the safari and see the animals really close up. Also, I travelled to Accra, which was really fun to go out and see the big city. I spent a few days on the beautiful Labadi Beach, and the Accra Art Center where I bought lots of souvenirs for my friends and family back home.
Overall, my trip in Ghana was absolutely amazing and I don't think I could have had a better time. Over the two months of my volunteer I had the chance to meet some really awesome other volunteers and local Ghanians as well. I became really good friends with some of the neighbors around the dorm, I always had fun with the local people and they really showed me a lot about the culture and the country.
Laura

I arrived to the airport in Accra, afther two long days of travel, and was greeted to meet my volunteer coordinator Annette. After meeting up with two other volunteers, we made our way to Koforidua .

What would you improve about this program?

Getting to know the town as well as the other volunteers was really fun throughout the weekend, and it was packed with fun things to do. During my first two weeks in Ghana, we held two different camps English and Sports Camps, Teaching English and Mathematics in the mornings, and playing sports each afternoon. The Kids were awesome, they were so kind and respectful, and although teaching was a challenge, it was well worth it to see their faces as they received their certificate at the end of the camp.
I was surprised that after only a four-day camp I was so sad to see them go! Between the two camps, we took a trip to Mole National Park. It was a long 12-hour trek to get there, but we made it! We saw tons of Elephants, and went on two different Safaris.
This past weekend, we drove down to Cape Coast to visit Cape Coast Castle, which was used in the Slave Trade. On our way home, we did Kakum Canopy Walk, and did a little bit of shopping in Accra. Shopping was fun, a lot of bargaining was done and in the end I got a lot of good deals.
This last week was spent at the orphanage, getting to know the orphans well was really great, but it made saying goodbye really tough. I'll miss them all so much.
Overall, my time in Ghana was an amazing, eye-opening experience that I wouldn't take back for anything. Being with uVolunteer was the perfect way to see a new country, and although there were a lot of things to get used to like being stared at wherever I went and being woken up by a rooster every morning, they were there with me every step of my way.
Sophie

As a physical Education teacher from New Jersey, I was always curious to see other physical education programs in other parts of the world. .

What would you improve about this program?

That is exactly why I decided to go through uVolunteer; to view another countries perspective of physical education, while also enjoying the beautiful country of Costa Rica.

From the flight to SJO (San Jose Airport), everything worked out very smoothly. Nohelia, another coordinator from uVolunteer, was there on time and ready to pick me up. We were able to meet with all of the volunteers in the bus that picked us up, and drove around 45 minutes to get to San Ramon. The house we stayed in was beautiful and safe. The town was also beautiful and very easy to navigate. There were a million landmarks that someone could remember in case they had lost their way.
Our schedule only had us working 4 days a week, excluding Friday. This gave us ample time to explore Costa Rica. Throughout the weekend, the volunteers and I would go to all parts of Costa Rica on "mini vacations". We were able to sleep in Hostels and everything was safe as long as you stayed together and used your street smarts.

You will learn so much Spanish in the month that you stay in Costa Rica. The locals are happy when you at least try, even though usually we made a lot of mistakes.

All in all, my time in Costa Rica was perfect. There were no Cons that I could describe which brought down the trip. The prices were reasonable for the whole accommodation; my volunteers I stayed with were some of the nicest people that you could ask for. I made more friends in Costa Rica in one month than I could make in 1 year back in the United States.
I could not have asked for a better trip.
Thanks for everything,

Eric

The place is so inviting and the people are so kind. I was met by Meaw at Trat Airport and from there on time just flew by, my three weeks went by just like that .

What would you improve about this program?

After having quite an eventful year filled with some good moments and some bad ones, I had decided I wanted to do something for me so I started planning a 3 week volunteer holiday in September 2011. I decided that I needed to do something worthwhile and this seemed like the perfect idea. I wanted to do something with my skills and although English is my second language and I know it just as good as I know Maltese, I decided that making use of my computer knowledge would be a better choice for me. After choosing the organisation, next was the choice for the country location of the program and with the uVolunteer's representative's guidance I chose Thailand. I do not regret that decision one bit.
After choosing my dates and booking my place in the program I asked uVolunteer if any other volunteers would be joining me in my time there and I was told that only one was booked but that could easily increase as late bookings were quite common - which it eventually did as we ended being 4 volunteers with different backgrounds and each with our own stories but all here for the same reason. I was given the contact information of the other volunteer who had booked the same dates as I, Nick. We started emailing each other and we eventually planned 2 weekend trips: one to Pattaya and one to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We also planned a day trip to Koh Chang for the weekend of my arrival. We decided on the places of interest to visit and even booked our accommodation. After a lot of emails and a few Skype calls everything was prepared program wise and holiday wise. As the days went by I couldn't wait to get to Thailand. Now that my trip is almost over I cannot believe how fast it went by.
I'm in my last few days and although I am looking forward to going home, but deep down I wish I could stay longer. I will definitely cherish my experience here for all my life - I have even kept a travel journal that details every single experience I have been through here, as I am so adamant to never forget this experience even though I don't think that is humanly possible.

Program Reviews

Pura Vida, life is good!

You will not regret this experience.

San Ramon is a perfect and safe location for volunteering

A place to live and call home

I couldn't believe my luck!

Piece of cake

Ghana Grace Orphanage

Ghana was an amazing, eye-opening experience

I could not have asked for a better trip.

As soon as I touched down in Trat I was in love