Program Reviews

Nepal is a country based on deeply-rooted faith, tradition and welcoming attitude towards guests. Coming from a Christian society, I have been exposed to a variety of Hindu and Buddhist places of worship during my cultural week. The first week provided me with opportunities to grow, learn and immerse myself to be able to understand their way of life.

The week started off with a pooja (Morning Prayer ritual) and our coordinators gifted us with a Nepali Name. I was given the Name Menuka, which means “Princess”.

Although I have seen plenty of places of worship, the walkthrough Kirtipur was the activities that stood out the most. Despite it being so close to Thamel, it is very different from the city. I was able to interact with the locals, both young and old, allowing me to experience a different side of Kathmandu. It is refreshing to see locals being so open and friendly to foreigners.

To further immerse my fellow participants and myself into the Nepalese way of life, the coordinator arranged cooking classes, Nepalese language class and Yoga. I personally feel that the cultural week is essential as I might not be as an empathetic participant if I had not gone through the program.

For the second week, I have been teaching at a kindergarten for underprivileged children. I feel grateful to have been part of an organization that is able to provide free education for these children, allowing to enter into public school. It has been an interesting journey to be able to communicate and deliver lessons to these children as they have very basic English skills. Initially, found it a bit of difficulty to connect with them due to the language barrier. However, I quickly learnt to communicate and understand after a few days of interaction with them.

The process of getting to know them is definitely a two-way street and the children openness towards me made it easier for me to develop a deeper connection with them.

Saying goodbye to the children is going to be difficult because they left an everlasting impression on me with such a short period of time. The experience is definitely worth it and it is a something I would most definitely recommend to anyone who is considering volunteering in Nepal.

The highlight of Sri Lanka was definitely the team; the drivers, coordinators, managers, chef, cleaners – everyone was so helpful and lovely. Everything felt very well organised and I felt very comfortable to talk about anything with them. The people of Sri Lanka in general were all so beautiful and friendly.

The food was really good both at the accommodation and at the projects! I love spice, rice and curry so I was always happy. There was plenty of vegetables and plenty of food so always had enough to eat. The accommodation was clean, a nice temperature, hot and cold showers, lockers for valuables, good location.

One of the highlights of this trip was that I got to immerse myself in a cultural-rich environment, Tacloban City. During the time, I have been given opportunities to interact and connect with the local families and children, which in turn, brought me immeasurable amount of love and joy. I was assigned to a community-feeing project at Cangumbang; and this experience was incredible from the beginning till the end — from planning, forecasting ingredients, buying extra things out of my own expense, cooking to serving there weren’t moments I didn’t enjoy. I really looked forward to each day visiting the community there and feeding the sponsored children of up to 35. After feeding, I have enjoyed the playing and chilling times with the children because they are all welcoming, amiable and simple! In addition, this trip has made me cherish all that I have, such as access to clean drinkable water and advanced public health facilities such as paced pedestrian roads.

The team was welcoming and warm-hearted. I could definitely tell that my vision with the organisation, is alike. Because that the Philippines is predominantly a Christian (Roman Catholic) country, I felt much more spiritually connected to the land and the people. The food provided by my homestay was simple yet delicious! I had no issue with the local food there at all because the filipino cuisine is very much like my home dishes, which I have found soul-comforting. Except that I had experience epsiodes of diarrhoea at the same time with my accompanying brother when we had our first contact with the restaurant foods in an adjacent mall.
My homestay nanay was nice and friendly and has always treated me like a family. I just needed to report an incident of break-in into my homestay house. My homestay was alert of this thereafter and has changed the lock of the back door and the team was aware of this issue. So I believe this security issue would be improved in a later term.

With the nutrition project, I think the future volunteers could accomplish more aside from feeding the community children. Outreach activities related to optimal nutrition could be planned out and developed, so that more and more young children and families will have a fair chance to learn from qualified health professionals and tackle the issue of malnutrition city-wide. Outside of placement times (mine was between 1pm to 5pm), I think we could have some site visits so we can understand what other sites are currently doing but again understand that the staff were busy with their own workloads.

We had a great time volunteering at the Nutrition Support program in Ho Chi Minh City!

It was such a fulfilling experience to come help out every day and work alongside the other volunteers from all over the world and the local staff to serve really good food to the people of this community.

Kenny was wonderful about escorting us everywhere and explaining our tasks and translating everything from Vietnamese to English.

We got up early in the morning to head to the kitchen and help the staff that’s already been cooking for hours to prepare healthy, filling, and delicious meals for people who otherwise would have a hard time getting something to eat. It’s clear that the members of this community appreciate and benefit from this program and the people who run it, some of whom are volunteers themselves and have been helping out every day for years.

Giving of our time and energy to work together and get to know everyone at the kitchen felt refreshing and satisfying, as well as gave us a unique opportunity to be exposed to real local culture. Everyone was super welcoming and made us feel at home, even through the language barrier that existed on both sides.

We also got to taste the locally sourced dishes that were made in the kitchen, and everything was delicious! Some of the meals were certainly not foods that we would have found on our own and that was extra special. We love experiencing local food and culture wherever we travel, so this was an absolute treat.

We highly recommend Nutrition Support program to anyone visiting Vietnam and staying in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s truly a fantastic experience that you will never forget.

What did you accomplish in your program this week?
Assisting staff with day to day tasks, eg walking, feeding, cleaning. Helping with promo material and admin.

How was your program coordinator?
Amazing, happy to answer every question well.

What did you enjoy most from your experience?
Experiencing different types of dogs shelters and going out in ambulance.

What didn’t you enjoy from your experience?
Nothing – loved it.

How was your food and accommodation?
Really good. I will miss the food a lot!

Comments on overall experience
Nice to see feedback being taken on so quickly 🙂

Thanks, Rosie

Volunteering on this project was undoubtedly the most challenging but rewarding experience. I loved getting to know the kids and share some of my knowledge with them. We shared many laughs, songs, and stories together.

The most memorable parts of the experience for me was immersing myself within the culture and staying with the host family. I enjoyed learning about their way of living…. it was truly an eye-opening experience.

This experience had its challenges – the food was basic, there was no shower or washing machine, it was hot, and I felt way out of my comfort zone. But by the end of it I didn’t want to leave. I have made amazing connections, have awesome memories, and can’t wait to go back next year.

I've lived on Yanaya island for 2 months. Believe me, when I say that I have watery eyes each time someone asks me about my trip. This is the best trip in terms of social experience and personal development. The kids are amazing and the language barrier doesn't exist anymore. I took with me some fishing gear for the village and every two days we were out fishing "Fiji style". I celebrated my birthday there and it was one of the best, thanks to the all-island ! I met so many interesting people and made new friends with the others volunteers.
You will see change in their life but also yours.
Don't be scared it's Fiji Time.

Thank you for the amazing opportunity to volunteer in Fiji. Having met our amazing host family Masi and Mere but also their house mum Lesi. Going to the farm and truly experiencing the farm life and visiting the villages connecting with the people was the highlight of my trip.

One opportunity I had was unfortunately taking a lady to the clinic in Suva with dangerously high Blood Pressure and known hypertension. I know Jules would have records of what village and where. I am terrible with names but lol I could take you there in a heartbeat lol. It was an amazing opportunity to connect with a local clinic and Doctor, once I gained the trust he was happy to share some very valuable information about the health system and it's guidelines. He pointed me to the national guidelines of Fiji and he unfortunately seemed frustrated with the current situation from both the government and being to follow up with villages.

However, since being back I have been looking for and at the Fiji Guideline documents that supported the doctors information I have included the PDF of the guidelines. At the first stage of T2DM and hypertension is the non-pharmacy otherwise known as (SNAP) Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol and Physical activity which is outlined in their documentation. And understanding that your program is supporting and promoting the Nutrition aspect of SNAP.

When sitting on the floor talking with the woman after health checks in the villages, they were asking a lot of additional questions about nutrition because I felt they were less inhibited. The health nurses in nearly all the villages were keen to learn more and would benefit from additional information that is in line with their guidelines SNAP. Providing support for them to promote and educate their families in the village.

Thanks again for the amazing experience.

Got to know more about the culture and city. Explored less touristy areas and prepared for volunteering program. Everyone was so helpful with any questions or advice we needed. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.The hikes were really fun – amazing scenery and nice to be away from the busy city and off the beaten track for a while.

Food is delicious! Just a little bigger than I normally eat. Accommodation was very comfortable, a little noisy at night but you get used to it very quickly. It was nice to see a bit of the city and have Rajesh explain some of the history along the way to the house. Nice to experience the local culture/ customs with the bus. Food is fantastic! Very delicious and filling. Meal times were a good way to have a break and relax. Accommodation was also really good, very easy to commute to breakfast! The bathrooms were also really good. Just a little noisy at night but it’s ok.

best bits...
Language lessons – very helpful, we had great teachers!
Cultural classes – very interesting to understand more
Cooking class – nice to give Dai a break and learn new recipes that is easy to remember for home.
Making a map of the area – would have been nice to be shown around as we got lost!

Coordinators always happy to answer questions or help bookings etc. Super friendling and approachable and welcoming.

My experience has been great so far me and Amelia have really enjoyed it being able to teach the kids art and English, play football with the students and even did swimming lessons for the kindergarten children in the sea. We definitely feel at home with the family here in Fiji too. We’ve been fishing Fiji style, swimming in the rain and climbing up the big rock near the school. Currently, we’ve been organising the library as all the books were on the floor at the back of a room so it's taken a while. Definitely an experience I won’t forget!