Program Reviews

I loved volunteering here. Not only did it give me the chance to enhance my Spanish skills, but it exposed to to a new culture and new people that I still keep in touch with years later from all over America and Costa Rica as well. The program was very convenient and helpful. The town is adorable, with a beautiful landscape. It rained almost every day I was there, but only for an hour or so. Puriscal is a dry town, so if your looking for a good night life I wouldn't recommend here. The people I met and the experience I had was invaluable.

I did the CCS program in 2007 and really enjoyed it. CCS provided us a flat in a local neighborhood and cooked all of our food for us and provided all transportation. They took extremely good care of us and ensured that it wasn't just us giving our time, but the staff equally focused on educating us during out time there. They brought in speakers every week to talk about specific topics about India and the culture. I felt like I really learned about India more than any other country I visisted.

The volunteer work was rewarding and my placement was perfect. However my other flatmates had varied experiences. I wasn't provided many resources to do my ESL teaching and spent a lot of time coming up with lesson plans and working very hard at ensuring the students really learned something. However - I did like the amount of freedom I had in running the class how I wanted. You must be a self starter and take initiative to make the most out of this placement.

The program is expensive though - but they provide a lot of value in taking care of you in Delhi.

My time in Thailand is difficult to put into words. I volunteered in a day care center, where each day brought a smile to my face. We arrived to a sea of beautiful, happy & eager faces, from both the children and the staff. We had alot of fun, while trying to teach the group English through reading, conversation, and music. Our time was met with alot of caring and support from Cross Cultural Solutions, who were very sensitive to all of our needs. They were very professional, as well as open to all of the volunteers during our time there. As much as we thought we were giving, the impact of what we received is hard to describe. I don't really remember encountering any major difficulties. Getting lost, or having trouble with the language, was all part of the experience. I met wonderful people along the way, and will never forget this very special and unique time abroad.

Volunteering with CCS was very mediocre. Yes, they give you food and a place to sleep, but the staff seemed very over protective and more concerned with rules than with preparing their volunteers to do useful, sustainable work. The best part of my trip was when I left the home base and spent 2 weeks traveling in Tanzania on my own. While with CCS, I worked with a local public health organization and found out during my time there that the program staff really had no idea what the organization does and could offer no advice on how to help them in a sustainable way. Also, the program is extremely expensive and I always got nebulous responses when I asked what the money was used for. Additionally, the program staff didn’t seem to understand that after having paid the tremendous program fee, I was now travelling on a very tight budget. All of their suggestions for post-program travel were for the fancy “mzungu” (white person) hotels and busses and beaches which is not at all what I was looking for. While at the program base, there are so many required activities that I didn’t feel that I got much of a chance to explore the town where we were working or get to know local people – I spent most of my time getting carted around from one activity to the next with upper-middle class white Americans. The program staff even found it strange when I would refuse a ride to my placement which was a mere 5-minute walk from the homebase. I did learn a fair amount of basic Swahili there, but I can’t say that was thanks to the lessons that we had. Our teacher was less than spectacular and mostly gave us long lists of vocabulary words that she would read out loud to us. If you’re really looking for an easy and comfortable first trip out to another country CCS will give you that, but if you’re looking for a deeper experience with a lower price tag I would recommend looking elsewhere.

This program was amazing. I loved where my placement was and liked how they did things with us in the afternoon so that we could get a better understanding of the cultural. The staff was amazing there and loved showing us how to cook, play their games, and whatever else. They were all very supportive and easy to talk to. I would definitely use them to go again!

I volunteered with CCS for 8 weeks in the summer of 2007. I loved my experience. I read a lot of negative reviews so I had to add my experience.

The “Home Base” all the volunteers stayed in was in a nicer neighborhood. I volunteered with my wife and we lucked out and go our own room with our own attached bathroom. Other volunteers had to stay in larger rooms with bunk beds. The house had wireless internet, lockers, hot water (in the mornings), 2 housekeepers to clean the common areas, a cook, 24 hour security, etc. We had no curfew and the staff was very flexible and accommodating.

We volunteered in the mornings and came home in the afternoon for lunch and then had optional language classes, culture classes, trips and free time. I know Portuguese so I skipped the language classes. The food was local. So some volunteers weren’t always crazy about it but I liked it and thought it added to the cultural experience. I did however teach the cook to make American style pancakes.
We also had weekends free so we got to go on weekend trips to tropical islands and amazing waterfalls. I went rock climbing, cave exploring, hiking, swimming, to lots of beaches, and even a cigar factory during my weekends free.

My placement was teaching English at a community school for underprivileged children called CEIFAR (There is a Wikipedia page about it that I wrote). I taught classes twice a week, helped in their regular classes twice a week and it was closed on Fridays. On Fridays, I visited other placements like a center for kids with HIV/AIDS, other English schools, some daycares etc. Since I spoke Portuguese, the staff liked to have me visit lots of different placements on Fridays where I could help.
I thought the mornings we not enough so I got permission to volunteer in the afternoons at an orphanage. It was down the street from CEIFAR. There I just mostly played with kids and talked to them. The got little attention from adults as they were very short staffed. The kids loved it and I had fun too.

My wife (a med student at the time) volunteered at the center for kids with HIV/AIDS. Upon her request, the staff worked out a once a week placement with a local community doctor so she could observe and do some things to help out.

We thought the staff in Brazil was fantastic. I still keep in contact with the house manager through Facebook. He went above and beyond by helping me fix our crashed laptop, and helping us change our plane tickets so we could stay a little longer.
I checked me receipt and I paid $4119 for 8 weeks. That includes food, transportation, the house to stay in, language and culture classes, day trip outings, the staff, insurance and I’m sure maybe even more than that. I talked to the house manager and he said the most expensive part of the whole thing was the insurance.

The other volunteers were wonderful and I made so many lasting friendships as a result. So many of the volunteers tried to extend their stays because the loved it so much. One volunteer I met had already volunteered with CCS in Brazil for 3 consecutive years.

I loved my experience so much that I looked at jobs at CCS when I got back. After seeing what they pay, I quickly changed my mind. The position I was looking at paid $30K a year to work in NYC. I make twice that on the west coast.

I highly recommend CCS.

CCS made my first volunteer abroad experience seamless and memorable. From the moment the driver greeted me at the airport, to my thorough orientation to the country and the city, right through to the introduction to a group of adorable 1-3 year olds at an underfunded daycare in Langha (a Township outside of Cape Town), CCS could not have made the experience better. I spent six weeks alternating between the three different worlds of volunteering, learning about the culture & history of Cape Town, and spending some free time enjoying all that the city had to offer. I made friends for life while staying in the secure home base and never once worried for my safety. I would volunteer with CCS again in a heartbeat and I would encourage anyone to travel to Cape Town and experience the beauty of this country's people. I loved every moment of my time in South Africa (except the moment where I had to say goodbye to the little children who will always have a piece of my heart. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to volunteer with CCS.

The typical daily schedule was as follows:

7-8:30 : wake up, breakfast, get ready
9-12:30 : volunteering (my project was planting trees in a village, but I believe they change the project each session)
1-3: lunch, free time in house
3:30-6 : evening volunteering, guest speaker, or cultural trip
6:30-10 : dinner, free time in house

The times I listed are approximated, because I don't remember the exact schedule, but that is the basic format of the day. The guest speakers taught us Ewe (ay-way), a local language, the history of Ghana, folktales, drumming, songs, and dances. All of the lessons were interactive, so it isn't like sitting in a classroom lecture. They try to make it as much fun as possible for us.

I only really had one weekend there, because I arrived on a Saturday and was given the weekend to catch up with the time zone and rest, and I departed two weeks later on a Saturday morning. The one weekend we had, however, was a lot of fun. On Saturday, we took a trip to a lake where we could play soccer, volleyball, swim in pools, and take kayaks out on the water. This was extremely fun. We also visited a monkey sanctuary, which is a jungle where wild monkeys will approach you and eat bananas out of your hands! It was amazing!

My volunteer group consisted of 11 people from the U.S. and Canada, and we all traveled as a group. In addition to that, there was a group of about 20 Ghanaian teenagers and adults who joined us daily to help with our volunteer work. By the end of the two weeks, I had formed extremely strong friendships with both the U.S./Canadian volunteers, and the African volunteers.

Living in the village is a lot of fun. The safe house is very isolated (there is a long dirt road off of the main road), but there are several families that live right around the house. Many of the children from the surrounding area came over to our yard sometimes to observe our activities, and sometimes join us. We had two large vans that picked us up and drove us everywhere, so living down that long road was not an issue in that sense.
I got to know a lot of the local people. When I was leaving, many of them gave me phone numbers and addresses to stay in touch, and a few of the teenagers even have facebook. Even today, almost a year after my trip, some of them occasionally chat with me online.

The accomodations were excellent. The house was very large. The front doors led into a spacious room with a long dining table and a circle of couches. To the left was a door into the girls' room and bathroom, and to the right was a door to a hallway. This hallway held the boys' room and bathroom, the program director's room, and the kitchen. Every room had multiple fans. There was electricity and running water, but no a/c, so the house was pretty warm, but after a day or two, I adjusted. The shower water is freezing, but after a long day of working in the sun, it actually felt great. The in-country staff cooked us three meals each day, and the food was delicious. I think I ate better there than I do in America (haha)!

One part of the trip that really stands out to me was the trip to Wli Falls, the highest waterfall in West Africa. We were able to swim through the waterfall, and it was such an unbelievable experience. We spent a lot of time in orphanages playing with the children, and just talking to them and seeing how appreciative they are of the smallest gestures was eye-opening. When I walked down the street in the village, strangers invited me into their homes to share a meal with the family. The generosity and selflessness of the entire Ghanaian culture was unbelievable. The whole trip was one of the most memorable parts of my life. The most challenging part of the trip was staying motivated in the morning volunteer sessions. I was there in late June/early July, which is one of the hottest and most humid parts of the year. Working out in the intense sun, digging holes, fetching water, and planting trees was physically draining. There was plenty of bottled water to stay hydrated, but I still had to force myself to keep working. The staff are very respectful and understanding, however. When any of the volunteers felt too hot, tired, or sick, the staff made sure they had water, and allowed them to rest in the shade for as long as they needed to recover.

I never felt unsafe during any part of the trip. I remember being worried about security prior to arriving, but as soon as I left the airport and located the staff, I felt safe. Local salesmen immediately bombarded the group of volunteers trying to sell us food, drinks, souveniers, taxi rides, etc., and the CCS staff quickly stepped inbetween and demanded that the salesmen leave immediately. We were then escorted to our vehicles and handed bottled water. This initial protection made me feel secure and comfortable. In the safe house, there were 24-hour guards who stayed in the house, or in the front yard to ensure that no one entered our house at any point without authorization.
In our spare time, we usually played card games, played sports outside, or just sat in a circle talking. I think we had a perfect amount of spare time. Sometimes, in the afternoon, the local volunteers would join us for lunch and free time, so it was also a chance for more cultural enrichment. We taught eachother games and songs--it was almost like a summer camp feeling. Although it looks like there is excessive free time in the evening, it isn't too much, because during that period, everyone needs to shower. In my session, we had 6 girls who shared one shower, and 5 boys who shared one shower, so we used about two hours each night for showers. We also had a phone and a TV in the house, so nightly freetime was often used to call home or watch television. The phone is not too reliable--it often takes several tries to complete a call, and once a call is made, it's lucky to complete a conversation before getting disconnected, but with a little patience it's not a big deal. You do need to pay for calls, but it isn't expensive. If I remember correctly, 80 minutes of calling is about $7. Some people purchased international cell phones for the trip. While this connection is more reliable, the prices are OUTRAGEOUS. I would not recommend this, because although frusterating, the landline will work, and for a lot less money.

I can honestly and easily say that the two weeks I spent in Ghana, Africa were the best two weeks of my life. Part of what made it so unbelievable and unforgettable were the people that I met. The other volunteers in my group were all extremely kind and welcoming, and also very supportive. Living in a house with them and having meals together around a large table made it feel like I was part of a large family. Not only were the volunteers fantastic, but the local people that I met were so welcoming and generous. Some of these people, by American standards, truly had nothing--they lived in mud huts with no electricity or running water, no means of transportation besides walking, and no toys besides what could be made from nature or from trash, yet they still wanted to share everything they had. This is the mentality of every person that I met in Ghana.

I highly recommend CCS to anyone considering volunteering abroad. It is more expensive than many other programs, however, the support offered by the staff combined with unlimited bottled water, three cooked meals each day, running water, electricity, transportation, cultural excursions, etc. more than makes up for the high price. My experience was well worth every penny I spent.

I spent 2 weeks volunteering at an orphanage in Guatemala City.
We lived in a house with all the other volunteers, which was nice, but not a great way to improve your Spanish if that's what you're looking for.
The work was challenging, but rewarding, and the staff was very helpful.
However, Cross-Cultural Solutions is very high-priced, and if you look I'm sure you will be able to find an equally satisfying program that is much more affordable. For example, I volunteered for 1 month in Costa Rica with Greenheart Travel, and it cost less than my 2 weeks in Guatemala.