Projects Abroad

Program Reviews

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Milly
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Life-changing

My experience with Projects Abroad was like no other, I had so much fun working with kids and getting to know the other people on the trip and I’d do it again in a heartbeat! I felt like I was actually making an impact in the children’s lives which is so fulfilling and it made me want to help even more people around the world. The social part of the trip was great as well, they took us all around Cape Town to do loads of different activities including cycling, trampolining, surfing and going out for dinner. We also did a few community projects in the township where we gave out food and helped with a women’s day event, this was an incredible experience as we got to know loads of the people in the township as well as the children. If you want to travel and make even a small difference in the world, I’d 100% recommend projects abroad!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Go in with an open mind and be willing to try new things.
Response from

Hi Milly,
Thank you for your review on our High School Specials, Care & Community Project in South Africa. I’m delighted that you had a positive and rewarding experience. Your involvement with the project is hugely appreciated by Projects Abroad and the local community. We look forward to you volunteering with us again.

Harry Kent, Head Office Coordinator for South Africa

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Zoe
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Projects Abroad Tanzania

The human rights team at projects abroad Tanzania were more than accommodating and the work you do is actively beneficial to the women in the community. Remember to bring a laptop as this is crucial to the work. Irene makes it easy for you to get settled in and there is a wealth of information provided to you on arrival to learn about Tanzanian law. Salma house, the host family I stayed with were lovely and very welcoming. The organisation have social dinners every Thursday which is a good way to meet people that you may not necessarily be working with. All people from all projects come together on this day and the community day. The community day is a great way to try something new and experience a different project. This takes part the last Friday of every month. Arusha is a lovely town with lots of cafes and restaurants and day trips.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
I would change how long I went for. I went for 5 weeks instead I would try to go a couple months or even longer.
Response from

Hello Zoe,
I am happy to hear that you had a great experience with the Project Abroad team. Your amazing effort into the Human Rights Project in Tanzania is hugely appreciated. Let’s start planning your next Projects Abroad adventure!

Glory Matoi, Country Director for Tanzania

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Sophie-Amalie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Unforgettable experience

My trip to Sri Lanka has been the most meaningful and unforgettable journey I have ever experienced. I will never forget the people I have met. They have all made a huge impact on me and taught me so much. I stayed with a host family, and they made me feel secure at all times. They taught me a new way to experience life, obstacles and relations. This journey has made my perspective so much wider, and made me appreiciate my conditions. I have been introduced to a whole new culture, and to a whole new way of living, and I was loving every second of it. I was volunteering for a school for children with special needs, and I loved every minute I spend in that classroom. I now I was making a difference and helped those who needed it, and im grateful for that.

What would you improve about this program?
The language barrier was of course a bit of an issue, but also it was a challenge that I was ready to face, and it made me think of new ways to communicate. So basically I developed from this.
Response from

Hey Sophie,

It was amazing to read and learn about your wonderful experience on our Care project in Sri Lanka. We hope to see you on another one of our projects; you’d be welcome back with open arms.

Gishan Perera, Country Director for Sri Lanka

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Micol
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Medical Volunteering Program

I decided to travel to Ghana for the medical volunteering program to understand if medicine was really the degree I wanted to study. It was pleasing to know I was following the right path, which wouldn’t have been possible without this experience.

The first impression was not really good, as I arrived to the airport and found an unpleasing weather and couldn’t find the staff members who were supposed to take me to the hotel. But after this first moment, I felt very welcomed. I spent the first night in the capital (Accra) and the day after traveled to Cape Coast, where I met the other volunteers. I believe that what made my experience special, besides the wonderful activities, was my group, that was composed by a variety of nationalities. Thanks to them, I developed team work abilities, time management, and learned not only about Ghana’s culture, but also about my friends’ culture.

All the bonding was linked to the activities I did, such as community services, travels to the leprosy camp, awareness lessons about malaria and cholera in local schools and day spent at the city hospital to observe the nurse and doctors’ work. I couldn’t have done none of them without the help of our supervisor, Mohammed, that was always careful to show us the right procedures and made sure everything was fine.

The only complain I would make is about the food, which wasn’t very good, but bearable for three weeks.

I hope everyone who decides to live the same experience will find it as pleasing and amazing as I did. And I strongly recommend this program to any student who is studying, or willing to, medicine. :))

Response from

Hi Micol,
Thank you for your brilliant review. It's warming to know that we are able to provide such beneficial experience for both the volunteer and the recipient community. Your hard work and effort towards the High School Specials Medicine project in Ghana is greatly appreciated. We hope to see you again on one of our projects or internships.

Emmanuel Abaaja, Country Director for Ghana

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Karissa
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Care Project in Nepal

I am a solo traveler from Australia and then was my first time traveling overseas on my own. While any new experience has its nerves, Projects Abroad were there to support me. From the induction on my first day, weekly cafe meet ups, group supervision and our whatsapp group chat I had support to flourish in this environment and make the most of my project. I volunteered in a school for children with disabilities and as a social work student used my skills to promote different teaching styles for children with disabilities to extend their learning experience and outcomes. In a classroom where English is limited this is quite difficult to achieve but through my ProjectsAbroad supervisors guidance I was able to achieve this in a way that didn't undermine the teacher but still allowed the children to benefit. My highlight was seeing one of the little girls smile while learning words in English. Another aspect of my trip that surprised me was the social side- I was on my own in Nepal, quite shy and didn't expect to mingle but ProjectsAbroad supported this with weekly activities so that I met new people and we would all go out and travel on weekends. These social activities like scavenger hunts, traditional cooking, yoga and trivia brought people from all over the world together and was a great opportunity to get to know each other. This gave me the confidence to travel around with the group and visit 8/10 world heritage sites in Nepal and travel to several different towns to experience more of the country. Overall this trip was empowering for me as a young woman as it not only allowed my to do something that I love- working with children but it put me out of my comfort zone and demonstrated that I really can do anything I set my mind to. This was my big crazy adventure and I'd recommend it to anyone who is willing to embrace the unique country that is Nepal.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
To future travellers I say be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone. I know it can be terrifying but its so worth it in the confidence you get from it. Also being in a foreign country sometimes doesn't agree with your stomach so make sure you pack hydrolyte, or gastrostop to get through the tricky situations like 9hr bus rides.
Response from

Karissa, wow!
Thank you for your incredible review. Projects Abroad and the local community really appreciate your hard work towards the Care project in Nepal. We’re here anytime to help you organise your next meaningful adventure.

Sajani Amatya, Country Director for Nepal

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Svea
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

New experiences and new friends

I was in Cape Town for a Human rights and law project. We had a supervisior who always stayed near us, so we never felt insecure. Also our host family was super cool, we felt save and got the best meals everyday. However also the project was great. We met a lot of people, who were so impressive. They showed us, how they live even if most of them had no money. We tried to help them every time we were in the townships with cooking or creating schools. We also had a moot court to see the legal aspect in South Africa, it was an unbelievable experience to work on a case which really happend. To understand the whole topic between black and white people we visited a lot of museums and historical buildings. And next to all the beautiful moments, we met a lot of new people and found friends for life.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Always be open minded, even if people look different or have no money, they can be the nicest people you meet in your whole live.
Response from

Hi Svea,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this excellent review. Projects Abroad and the local community really appreciated your help on the High School Specials Law & Human Rights project in South Africa. We hope to see you again soon on one of our projects or internships.

Harry Kent, Head Office Coordinator for South Africa

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Ludovica
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Medicine High School Special un Mongolia

This Summer I had an amazing experience in Mongolia. It was my second project with this organisation because the previous Summer I went volounteering in Peru which also helped me to understand that Medicine is what I really want to study.
In Mongolia I had the opportunity to meet new friends from all over the world and local people as well. Mongolians are really kind and always make you feel comfortable. What about the medical experience? It was really hands on thanks to the many workshops for example sutures, IVs, installing nasogastric Thebes, CPR and BLS. Moreover, I was given the opportunity to take ambulance shifts for 3 days and I also watched two surgeries (a lung abscess and ENT operation). I’d really recommend this amazing project!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Enjoy every single moment of your project because time will fly so fast!
Don’t judge the other culture which will obviously be very different but try to get the most out of it and make lots of new friends. Everyone on my project was so kind and we used to laugh all the time
Response from

Hello Ludovica,
It sounds like you’ve had a fantastic time away on our High School Specials Medicine project in Mongolia. The effort that you put into the project was admirable; you are truly appreciated by the local community and Projects Abroad. We’ll see you soon on another project or Internship!

Otgonbayar.T, Country Director for Mongolia

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Caterina
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Care & Community Project in Mongolia

My experience with Projects Abroad has been amazing for many of its aspects.
My volunteer work consisted in teaching English to some Mongolian children that live around the capital (Ulaanbaatar), and creating with them a garden where they could play all together. I had the opportunity to meet their families who have been very kind to us and I have been lucky to get in contact with a community of people that made me feel useful and who appreciated my help.
This experience also enriched my personal identity in an absolutely positive way. I have been honoured to offer what I had to give, and doing so made me understand that, if we are determined to do so, we can make a difference in this world.
In addition, this project has helped me to better understand what are the topics and issues that interests me the most and helped me to decide which study career to attend : it is thanks to my volunteer experience in Mongolia that I am studying International Relations and Global Affairs in my first year of University!
I strongly recommend to everyone to participate to a program of Projects Abroad because it is an experience that can change your life only for the better!

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
Mongolian culinary tradition has a lot of dishes prepared with goat's milk. One day, one of the families of the children we were teaching English to, invited us volunteers to have lunch with them and the main course was a soup of goat's milk with dumplings!
Response from

Hey Caterina,
It was amazing to read and learn about your wonderful experience on our High School Specials Care & Community project in Mongolia. We hope to see you on another one of our projects; you’d be welcome back with open arms.

Otgonbayar.T- Country Director for Mongolia

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nynke
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

thank you projects abroad

In the summer of 2018 I went to Sri Lanka together with a friend of mine. I have had an amazing 3 weeks during the medical volunteering in Sri Lanka, for real the time flies when you are traveling with projects abroad. The programme was perfect because of the variety. We had time to see the beautiful culture of Sri Lanka, visit different hospitals and most important to help the people in disadvantaged community’s. And I am really thankful projects abroad made this experience possible. So thank you!!

What would you improve about this program?
I really don’t have an idea of an improvement for the programme. Because for me the programme was perfect.
Response from

Hello Nynke,
I am happy to hear that you had a great experience with the Project Abroad team. Your amazing effort into the High School Specials Medicine project in Sri Lanka is hugely appreciated. Let’s start planning your next Projects Abroad adventure!

Gishan Perera, Country Director for Sri Lanka

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Anna
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

14 AMAZING DAYS IN FIJI

My name is Anna, I am Italian, and last year I participated in the volunteer project in Fiji with my other peers. It was a wonderful experience, I really learned to know a different culture from my own, to work as a team during community work and being with children and my host family was great. I hope to make a journey like this again in my life because it manages to make you grow and mature. I would recommend it to anyone. I spoke at school, wrote in the newspaper and told my family about my experience but no one can really understand what I experienced: it is one of those journeys to live intensely and savor. I was lucky enough to be the only Italian girl so I had to experiment with my English (still too weak) and it allowed me to forge links with boys of different nationalities from all over the world.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
dear future volunteers I recommend you leave with an open mind, the will to do and so much joy to give. You don't have to start with preconceptions and you need to be aware that you are always away from home (for someone it can be a big problem). for the rest, have fun, have fun, have fun!
Response from

Hi Anna,
Thank you for your review on our High School Specials, Care & English project in Fiji. I’m delighted that you had a positive and rewarding experience. Your involvement with the project is hugely appreciated by Projects Abroad and the local community. We look forward to you volunteering with us again.

Karishma Nandan, Country Director for Fiji