International Volunteer Services

Why choose International Volunteer Services?

We are an international volunteer organization, with programs in South East Asia and South America, which differentiates itself, above all, along three lines:

- By offering a very personalized service in English, French and Spanish, of programs that we ourselves have either personally volunteered on, or have been involved with on-sight. This service is provided either via mail, skype or phone calls, or, when possible, in person.
- By offering quality programs starting from 9$ per day, including food, accommodation and orientation.
- By providing complete transparency of our organization; Volunteers pay a set registration fee to us and pay the local NGO fee directly to the NGO, of which we receive zero commission.

We provide information not just on the program tasks and schedule, but also on all necessary bureaucratic tasks that need done (visa, vaccines, travel insurance...), as well as in depth information about the region, its culture and history.

Website

www.intvs.org

Founded

2014

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Reviews

Hilo Rojo opens it's arms to anybody who feels like they can help towards improving the lives of this beautiful children.
What is truely beautiful and humane is that many of the students have so little and yet give you everything. They may not have running water, a proper roof to sleep under, a stable family to support them, but they shower you in smiles, laughter, curiosity, and trust.
An important factor for any volunteer is the language and being able to communicate in Spanish because it will obviously be a barrier when wanting to connect with the children.
My 5 weeks at Hilo Rojo were just not enough and saying goodbye to the children, to the group of volunteers you spend you whole days with was really hard.

What would you improve about this program?

This organization and continuity of projects is to be improved. So many volunteers come and go and start beautiful projects with the children, the clases or even the whole school. However many of these projects get lost as soon as the volunteers say goodbye. To help the project keep moving forwards they really need to work on saving the information of past projects, being able to continue them or pass them on to the next group of volunteers.

Claudia and I, a beautiful, curious and brilliant student.

Translation by Go Overseas Team:

I wanted a change and to live new experiences and I decided to go to do a volunteer. I discovered this thanks to Xavier from INTVS who at all times was very kind to me and taught me all the possible options, finally I chose to go to teach English to Vietnam, in this way I would also improve my level in the language while enjoying the country.

From the first moment I arrived everyone was very attentive and they helped me in everything necessary, in VPV they were very friendly at all times and the house was very good. Very rich and varied food and super nice companions with whom I spent great moments and lived very good experiences.
I traveled through different parts of the country with my housemates and taught at HUNRE University.
Original:

Quería un cambio y vivir nuevas experiencias y decidí ir a hacer un voluntariado. Descubrí este gracias a Xavier de INTVS que en todo momento se mostro muy amable conmigo y me enseño todas las opciones posibles, finalmente elegí ir a enseñar inglés a Vietnam, de esta forma también mejoraría mi nivel en la lengua mientras disfrutaba del pais.

Desde el primer momento en el que llegué todos fueron muy atentos y me ayudaron en todo lo necesario, en VPV fueron muy amables en todo momento y la casa estaba muy bien. Comida muy rica y variada y compañeros super majos con los que pasé grandes momentos y viví muy buenas experiencias.
Viajé por diferentes sitios del país con mis compañeros de la casa y enseñe en la universidad de HUNRE.

En todo momento me sentí muy acogido y feliz. Vuelvo con grandes historias y experiencias que contar, con nuevos amigos y con mejor nivel de ingles. 100% recomendable. Ya estoy pensando en mi próximo viaje a Ásia!

What was your funniest moment?

Un día que se nos fué un poquito de las manos en Old Quarter con la bebida y los globos. Cuidado con los globos hahahaaha

Paisajes preciosos, pero cuidado con las motos

It felt like home. For me was an incredible experience, learn about the culture, the food, the people made me grow up a lot and see how big and incredible is our world. Everyone on staff felt like family to me. Mom Tick is another mom for me, all the time she was teaching me everything about her culture, we went to visit many beautiful temples, we went to the typical market, was incredible see how people there buy the fresh food and I had the opportunity to taste different flavors, animals and spices, love it soooo much!!!
I learned and gained so much from this trip, I understood how important are the simple things, how can you give love with just a smile or a selfie,
Thailand is the most beautiful place on earth where I can feel love and peace everywhere.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?

Just be open to learn about a very interesting culture, you’ll be amazed about everything there.
Be ready for the best food all over the world.

Teaching English in Na Chueak has been the best experience of my life. Living in Mom Tik camp gave me another point of view of the life. I discovered what I really needed to be happy and I will never be grateful enough of what I learned and got from those children.
If you have the chance, just go! It will be 10 times better than what you expected.
I discovered a new culture, and met amazing people in a country much better than what I imagined. People are open-minded, grateful, polite, respectful and super fun. I felt safe all the time, in the city, and in every visit I made in the country. Also the food was amazing. Dad (Mom Tik husband's) took a lot of care of us cooking not spicy food and helping us with all the stuff we needed there. Even driving us to the city sometimes. Definitely an amazing experience.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?

I would stay much longer and would try to do more activities out of the camp with the children, maybe with the support of other teachers from the schools.

I spent a few months in Hanoi, teaching french at a primary school and English at an University. The kids were really sweet and involved, and so kind to me and the other teachers ! I had no experience in teaching prior to this, but I loved it. At uni, I got to know the students and they were really nice and fun :) It was a real sharing experience.
Also, at the house, we were dozens of volunteers from all around the globe, and I loved living in such a community which such wonderful people ! While I had privacy when I needed it, I also always had friends to hang out with. The immersion in the Vietnamese culture was great : I had an introduction lesson to Vietnamese, all the teachers and students were Vietnamese, the staff of VPV was Vietnamese (and really really friendly !), and all the women at my yoga classes were vietnamese !
I really recommend this volunteering if you're travelling alone, or with friends, whatever your age (even though there are mostly people around twenty in the house).

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Programs

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Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Xavier Everaert

Program

Turtle Conservation in Ecuador, from $550

Job Title

General Manager / Volunteer Coordinator

Xavier was born in Antwerp, Belgium, but moved from country to country as a child, finally settling in Barcelona, Spain where he successfully completed an M.B.A and bachelor in International Humanitarian Law. Xavier loves diversity and learning from different cultures. Volunteering opened his eyes to a new type of cultural exchange, whereby the volunteer helps the local community, but the local community at the same time can be of great value to the volunteer: helping to open one’s mind to what really matters. This is the message he wants to get across to his volunteers and is why he started INTVS.

What position do you hold at INTVS and why do you like working there?

I am the founder and general manager of INTVS, as well as one of the volunteer coordinators. I love my job, as it’s also my hobby. I had worked in sales for many years without much passion for what I was doing but then, after my first 6-month volunteering stint in Hanoi, Vietnam about 8 years ago now, I fell in love with every aspect of the volunteer experience.

Form the excitement of the preparation, to the fulfillment of the work, the friends you make, the smiles, the different food, culture…I now play a role in every part of this experience for other people, my objective being for them to come back with the same sensations I did.

Did you volunteer abroad? If so, where and what inspired you to go?

Yes, I volunteered in Vietnam and Cambodia prior to starting INTVS, and have since then volunteered in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador Thailand, and again in Vietnam and Cambodia. I’ve volunteered on and covered educational, orphanage, NGO, health, organic farm, conservation and animal welfare programs, amongst others.

The volunteering is different now because I now have to document the volunteer work as well, with the idea to not just get a sensation of the work myself, but also from others.

What inspires me is the knowledge that every time I volunteer somewhere, I have the chance to learn something about a place, its people, and culture in a more ‘hands-on’ manner, and at the same time give something back. I’ve always liked cultural exchanges, and volunteering also has this aspect. Above all, it helps people to learn about themselves.

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What does the future hold for INTVS - any exciting new programs to share?

In the near future we will not be opening more programs, just so that we can focus on those we have and, with the constant feedback of volunteers and our partners, we will continue to improve every aspect of the experience for the volunteers and the local organizations. Our objective is not to have a vast amount of programs as we want to focus on delivering the best possible service, which can be quite difficult if you are too widespread.

Our fever for volunteering and getting to know new cultures is however irrepressible, and so in the long run, we do envision opening a program in Laos with a potential partner that we have been in touch with for some time now. The program is a small village on the outskirts of Vientiane, where volunteers help local farmers and school teachers…but there is still much to be discussed…fingers crossed.

How does your organization differ from other ones in the industry?

We provide a service in English, French, and Spanish, but above all, we have a very close relationship with all the volunteers we send. We have numerous Skype calls with them prior to their departure, and whenever possible, we have face to face meetings with them (as we have a slowly growing community of volunteers in Barcelona).

We are also amongst the best-priced volunteer agencies out there, with the vast majority of our local partners offering programs that cover food, accommodation, and orientation.

And finally we are completely transparent with our cost structure. We charge a set registration price for our service which is always the same, independent of the volunteer’s time abroad, and the local partner has his price, which is completely separate.

In fact, all of our volunteers pay the program fee directly to the local NGO. There is no markup price or commission. The only thing we ask of our partners in return for our sending services is to always respond to any issues that may occur, whereby we can work hand in hand in order to solve these issues swiftly but responsibly.