Program Reviews

As a high-school student it was difficult to find qualitative medical programs accepting students of this age. My experience volunteering at the clinic for 2 weeks and rotating through each of the departments, hence spending a full day or more in each department, was simply incredible. From true hands on experience in terms of administrating injections or running lab tests, after initial instructions from staff, direct patient interactions and direct exposure to questions of medical ethics and conducts, this program was a very well rounded experience for those planing on a medical career. Outside of the clinical experience, there was sufficient time to explore the city of Nairobi, shaving with the local culture and customs. I enjoyed my time very much and would recommend it highly!

Very touching experience. However I find that the organization should give more of the registration fee to the host family as they did not have enough budget to serve the volunteers a lot of food. The host family were amazing people but they really need more money from the organization in my opinion. I paid a lot for this trip and most of it did not go to the host family only a small part which I find unfair.

I am a junior premed neuroscience student from US and visited Kenya for first time for 16 day stay. I volunteered in free clinic in kenya and stayed in Barnabas house with his family. The clinic was very good experience , I did rotation in all stations of clinic and learned a lot from Biochem lab where they did lot of tests in patients coming into this clinic. I ran several fundraises and donated medicines to clinic to help poor people from Kibera slums who cannot afford health care. I also visited few local places in Kenya like Bomas and giraffe feeding centers. Barnabas family were good hosts and gave us support and help with any questions we asked. I will come back in future to help and volunteer here in kenya as there is a lot of need of healthcare here.

My family visited Kenya for first time with my older son volunteering in med clinic and rest of us at Orphanage. The host family Barnabas and his wife and kids were very warm and hospitable.
They make sure you feel at home and we ate together as families during stay. it helped us learn about kenya culture staying with them. Thank you Barnabas, his wife Mila, his son Joseph, daughter Dina. Thanks to driver Evans and Joshua who drove us to different places. There was National museum visit and snake park, giraffe feeding attraction, elephant orphanages that we visited during the stay also. There is masai market to buy handmade masai products for gifts back home. we also went to Bomas cultural heritage show for Africans, and it was good show. overall we saw a lot of attraction and did a lot of volunteering.

My overall experience at the elephant orphanage was so special and unique. I got to meet many local people and I got to have dinner at one of the mahout's house (elephant trainer) who lived in the middle of the jungle - one of the most incredible and unforgettable experiences in my life. The food at the volunteering site was very good as well. I was also able to visit many sites such as waterfalls and factories around the area with the guidance of a staff member at the elephant conservation park. Furthermore, I got to make new friends and meet new people from all around the world. Apart from the volunteering work, you will also be able to have a lot of free time to make friends and travel around the area. I am so satisfied with the service and my overall experience.

My time volunteering at Millenium Elephant Foundation was absolutely incredible. I spent two weeks at the foundation, helping to wash, feed, and care for the elephants in a very personal way. We also helped clean their night beds so they were comfortable for the elephants as well as work on active projects around the foundation. I was also able to spend time with the other volunteers from all over the world, the amazing coordinators, the mahouts, and of course the volunteer village dogs. In addition, Michael and the Global Crossroads team made sure my trip and experience ran very smoothly by making sure to let me know I could contact them at any time. My experience was truly unforgettable and I highly recommend this volunteer program to anyone who has a heart for elephants and their wellbeing.

I volunteered in El Ceibo, which was very rural, nearly an hour from San Isidro Del General. I loved it and got to experience the very simple yet hardworking life of the ticos there. I worked alongside my host family in their day to day lifestyle, walking out to the coffee farm, working with plantain and corn and planting beans. The amount of fruit that I got to try was a delight. Despite the wet season, there was lots of sunshine in the mornings and into the afternoons. I'd recommend rubber boots to anyone coming here between April and December. Both as a deterrent to hundreds of biting bugs, and to contend with the mud. My hosts were able to show me some nearby wonders, but transportation was limited. Coffee harvesting starts in October for those volunteering with that as their interest.

In this program actually you are going to work in Rruz Roja Guatemala. I had a really good experience over there. What I did was basically helping nurses and preparation for the treatments. I got a ride of ambulance sometimes and it was actually very cool because you really can enter someone’s house and you will make a contact with real life of the people. That’s cool experience isn’t it??? In the clinic you will see various types of people, which helps me create the population image. Nobody speak English so you definitely need Spanish.
But honestly the homestay was not really good, the food was horrible and unhealthy... strangers come in and out all the time to use the shower room... thanks god that no body steal anything from me...
Anyway the experience itself in the hospital was splendid I would say. Thank you for the support.

It was a great experience for me in Ghana. Franklin and his family were very friendly and made me feel very comfortable. The nurses went out of their way to make sure that I had a fruitful learning experience about Ghana Healthcare system: * case study of malaria, typhoid, * using sphygmomanometer, * learning how to measure maturity of fetus stomach, * learning presentation of the fetus located the head, gender, cardiac activity, * using the programme to find gestational age from diameter of the head and femur length, etc. Furthermore, it was my unforgettable experience in Ghana with rich culture and cuisine. Thanks to Global Crossroad and their staffs for making my stay in Ghana very pleasant. I would highly recommend volunteering with Global Crossroad.

We had an incredible few weeks volunteering at a Monastery in Nepal. Our initial arrival experience was so well planned with our airport pick up, and being brought straight to the hostel by car made for a very easy and safe experience.

We spent two days at the hostel and were very thankful for the guidance we received regarding sim cards and money, as well as the wonderful food and hospitality provided to us by Didi.

We also had an incredible experience in the homestay and are very thankful to our homestay family for providing us meals, a comfortable place to stay, and for helping us around.

The highlight of our trip was being able to meet all the monks and spend time with them every day. They were a very hard-working group of boys and it was a delight to see how positive and happy they were every day we came to teach lessons.