Program Reviews

For three weeks I, a recently retired high school teacher and my husband, a recently retired IT engineer (my classroom assistant) taught English to several grades in a poor indigenous school in Quito. VERY FULFILLING. Friendly (albeit occasionally undisciplined) kids, appreciative staff, super helpful in-country support person. Celebrating spring equinox a highlight. Brought many teaching supplies and helped with English pronunciation. Very friendly homestay with generous hosts, comfortable lodgings and terrific food. Explored Quito's ethnographic museums, amazing cathedrals and lively city squares. Drove to the equator, volcanoes and cloud forest. Treated ourselves to The Galapagos at the end. Ecuador is beautiful and Quito is magnificent.

Global Crossroads always answers very quickly if you have any concerns due to your volunteering. The staff are also very nice and can help you set up everything you want to see. The culture and language program was also very informative and really helped with talking a bit Nepali. The Medical project in Nepal was very cool and i learnt a lot. The hospital staff was very nice, and loved to explain the cases, and teach you the most basic skills of nursing and being a doctor. My coordinator was very flexible and quick to help me book tickets, guiding or recommendations. The natives in Nepal are very nice and friendly. They are always trying to help you. Kathmandu is also a great city, and they have almost everything from great temples to hiking gear.

I arrived in Nairobi Kenya a week ago for a medical volunteer opportunity. I am a 4th year nursing student with a passion for global health and thought this would be a meaningful and exciting opportunity to both help and learn. Global Crossroads was extremely helpful in expediting my application and offering support in the process, answering all my questions very well. They connected me with the Kenyan country coordinator, Barnabas, who immediately touched base to begin the preparations to come to Kenya. He offered support and answered all my questions in a very timely manner!

Arriving in Nairobi was a smooth process due to good communication. Barnabas and Chris arranged to pick me up and Chris was waiting at the airport. They replied right away to my messages. I had a very warm welcome from Barnabas and his family at their home, and they made sure to answer all my questions and orientate me to the house. Throughout the week they have become like family, cooking delicious Kenyan meals and ensuring my needs are met. Their kids are adorable! I had the opportunity to go their church with them as well on Sunday.

Barnabas has always been caring, he makes sure to check in with me, give me directions, and makes sure I am safe. His team orientated me to the route to the clinic and made sure I am safe getting there. The clinic is located in Kibera; I was very concerned about safety before visiting Kibera but I found it is fine and the route is direct to the clinic. As long as I do not loiter on the path, I have never felt unsafe. Barnabas and his team have also have helped me buy a SIM card, load it multiple times, plan a safari, taken me on day tours, and helped me plan a weekend trip to Mombasa.

The clinic is in a church compound and has a doctor, a lab technician, a receptionist, and a dentist. They are such an awesome team. They were kind and supportive in orientating me to the Kenyan healthcare system, teaching me about medicines and diseases specific to this part of the world, and giving me opportunities to practice. Most people speak at least some English, though it helps to learn some words in Swahili. Be prepared to think outside the box and learn to do procedures etc. with fewer supplies than you may be used to.

The biggest concern I faced when deciding to come to Kenya was the safety. I had heard so many stories about how unsafe Kenya is. However, I find that as long as you are careful (as you should be in most places when travelling), take safety advice from the local team, and ensure Barnabas knows where you are, you will be fine. It has been such an amazing experience, and I highly recommend this program to anyone who wants an adventure and a great learning opportunity. I have not felt unsafe the entire time I have been here, and I walk to and from the clinic alone each day and have gone on a safari and other day tours.

Advice if you decide to come: Come with an open mind. Learn as much as you can. Be ready for water shortages if there is no rain (dry season). Be excited, because you are going to have such a great time!

I completed a two week medical volunteer program via global crossroads. It was a really great experience as I did not know what to expect.
The global crossroads team before my trip were always readily available to contact and provided all the information required. The placement itself at THK was really interesting and I learnt a lot about completely different health care system in a different part of the world. It was definitely a more observatory role, but during the ward rounds the team would engage and teach along the way.
My homestay with Michael was fantastic - he was always readily contactable and ensured we were as comfortable as we could be (despite the heat!), the rooms and bathroom are clean and the daily meals were great - especially the rice and curry for lunch! It really added to the whole program and I would recommend staying here as it provides you with a more genuine experience as well as having someone there that is able to assist you with transport/bookings etc.

In March, 2018, my husband Greg and I -- both recently retired professionals, me a teacher -- had the amazing opportunity of teaching in a Mayan village about an hour outside of Xela, Guatemala. This was a super supportive school, with colourful classrooms, appreciative staff, friendly students, and an encouraging administration who actually asked us to present a Professional Education session to his staff on HOW to teach English as a Second Language (with games, songs, posters etc). We LOVED every day in the school. Our homestay was fine and the chicken bus rides a bit scary, but our Spanish classes were helpful, and our weekend tours of Guatemala were fabulous. On the whole, we highly recommend this volunteer adventure trip, and we gained real insights into Guatemalan life. We are already planning for Ecuador for 2019.

It was an incredible experience in Kenya, it is hard to describe in words. From the moment I arrived I felt at home and very welcome in the centre. I volunteered to teach English & Math to during my 2 weeks stay at the centre & I was given the teaching aids that were necessary for classes. If I had problems or needed assistance other teachers were always there to help me. Barnabas was a fantastic source of information and advice during my stay. I found the students to be very eager to learn and very courteous in class. It was just such a pity to find them with only one book to work from for the whole class. Nonetheless, the teachers manage with what little resources they have & they are a great inspiration for the children. I extended my stay there by another week but that was still far too little time to be spending with such great children. I will definitely go back as soon as I can organize for it.

I was welcomed into the host family as their own. It really felt like home. My host sacrificed her own time at weekends to bring me to the Giraffe Centre & the Bomas of Kenya. She also helped me to buy provisions for the orphanage – taking another whole day of her personal time. In terms of the livings conditions I found the house to be most comfortable and the quality of the meals I received was excellent.

On the last week of my stay in Kenya I did the Safari as well. It was absolutely fantastic. The driver, Sammy, was very competent – I felt very safe in the vehicle on such rocky roads! He was also very knowledgeable with respect to the wildlife – in terms of both identification and giving us information about specific animals. The campsite was well run – it was clean & even had hot showers on our second day! The food was also very good.

The family was awesome! They made us feel like if we were at home, always caring about our well being and available for anything we needed. The food was really good, the location was very convenient in order to move around and go to Delhi and other places. We think this family has been very concerned about our security and so committed to us.
About the Hands on medical program, it was a 100% what we were expecting as we felt really useful and learnt a lot. The Doctor was very committed, and kind with us. He also helped us getting our tickets to go to Agra even though it was not his role inside the company. However, we think it would be really helpful for other volunteers if the first day, somebody would give them a daily schedule of the program with the time and places in order to organize better themselves. We also think it is very important that the company explains a bit better before starting the program which are the medical abilities needed in order to be useful during the project because we think without the abilities needed such as knowing how to use a stethoscope and doing complete physical exploration to patients, the help to the people wouldn’t be sufficient.
Speaking of our country coordinator, we cannot say much as we met him literally for 15 minutes. Luckily, his job was done by the family’s daughter, Sarita, who was quite helpful.
Overall, our experience has been amazing and has helped us improve our medical career; we would definitely recommend it to another person.

CAM Special Ed school is a wonderful program for handicapped children. The children are well cared for and the teachers are exceptional. However as volunteers without decent Spanish, and maybe even if we had good Spanish, we were much more observers than doers- something we had not expected and was disappointing for us. We really could not contribute in a meaningful way, but since the staff had things under control, that was hardly a crisis. We stayed with a wonderful family with good accommodation and always felt safe. Melaque has a stunning beach and the area is still ‘old Mexico’ with great eats and inexpensive prices. We reservedly recommend; all depends what you’re looking for. This opportunity is pretty laid back but may be suitable for some.

My adventure this summer was one only a few get to experience, I was lucky enough to spend 7 weeks in Costa Rica. Being seventeen I had no idea what to expect since I’d never really traveled out of the country, let alone by myself. Also being a student my budget was tight, thankfully global crossroads helped with that. Coming home I’ve now realized how much an impact this trip made on me. I spent the majority of my day in the orphanage I was volunteering in and my heart will forever lie with them. My Spanish wasn’t near great but quickly I found out love speaks beyond language. All these kids want is a friend and someone to laugh with. I would recommend that everyone does something like this at sometime in their life. It’s always said that you can find yourself while giving of yourself, and I can say from experience that if you give all of yourself you will indeed find yourself.

I had an awesome experience with Global Crossroad. Both the US based operations and the Ghana field staff were outstanding. Country Coordinator and The Field Liaison were both responsive and efficient! They went out of their way to ensure the volunteers had a great overall experience and no complaints. They even went above and beyond. I participated in the Easter Convention and visited Richard's farm house. Franklin also helped to coordinate the hotel options for me after my volunteering program. I was travelling around Ghana after my program; both Franklin and Richard would call me every few days to ensure everything was okay with me and to make sure if I made my way back home, safely. The attention to details and ensuring I had a complete experience was overwhelming.