Program Reviews

Costa Rica is an absolutely stunning county, with even more stunningly, nice people. The ISV program was very organized, and jam packed with humbling, once in a life time experiences. My experiences range from seeing monkeys swinging in the trees outside your door, to sliding down slippery muddy hills in the rain forest. The program forced me to learn a lot about myself, as well as learn about the amazing culture of Tikas and Tikos (Costa Ricans). It is an experience that I will always cherish and would not give up for anything.

This trip is AMAZING. There are no words to describe the experience you will have if you go on this trip. You not only are able to make a difference, but you have so much fun doing it and meet amazing people along the way. HIGHLY recommend ISV and Australia. Just do it! I promise it'll be the best experience of your entire life.

This trip was, by far, the most incredible thing I have ever done. I signed up knowing that it would be a new experience and I would be stepping out of my comfort zone, and that is exactly what the trip was about. I knew nobody going into the trip, and came back with lifelong friends. I learned so much about the many cultures of Thailand and so much about myself. My favorite moment was being surrounded by elephants and exquisite people in the jungle-something I will never forget.

I have been living in two completely different countries throughout my years so far. I have also been lucky to visit quiet a few. But for the first time in my life I felt a total connection with nature, people, and everything else around me. I visited some areas of the tropical rainforest which to me seemed more beautiful than the Swiss Alps with the difference of that of a very warm Summer breeze. The San Pedro community welcomes volunteers in such a way that you can't help but feel part of it and urges you to apply some of that warm welcoming family feeling back home upon the termination of your program. It has taught me so much about sustainability, environment but most importantly to continue pouring a piece of our heart in everything we do. This experience brought out the best in me but it also taught me how to apply it into daily chores in helping our community. Not just a life changing experience, but the kind of experience that everyone should live more than once. It fulfills you in ways one cannot imagine unless experienced.

While traveling on the adventure portion of the ISV program, we went to Fraser Island.The waters around the island are known to be shark infested, so swimming is not allowed. We had the opportunity to fly in a tiny plane around the island and during the flight we saw multiple sharks, whales, turtles, dolphins, and sting rays! This was my favorite location in Australia and it was so exciting to see marine life from a plane.

For those of you interested in immersing yourself into a Costa Rican jungle, this is a great opportunity for you to spend 2-4 weeks volunteering to gather important data that will help protect valuable natural spaces.

I was lucky enough to go on an amazing trip to Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Not only did I get to experience the amazing culture, I also got to take care of one of the most magnificent creatures, the Elephant. It's hard to put into words how extraordinary this trip was. Every morning our group got to wake up to the sound of Elephants. Not only did we get to hear them every morning, we also got to dine with during breakfast on occasion! I wanted an up close experience with these animals and I got it. As volunteers, we cleaned the animals's "beds," fed them yummy fruits and vegetables, bathed them in the River Kwai, but we also got to help the sanctuary where the animals lived. We helped maintain the greenery and also traveled to collect more food for the hungry animals! Personally, living with these animals was my favorite part but experiencing the amazing culture in Thailand was eye-opening. While I have traveled in the United States, this was my first adventure abroad and the people of Thailand were some of the nicest and most welcoming people I have ever come across. My trip turned out to be more amazing than I could have ever imagined. I feel so lucky and so greatful to have been apart of something like this. Even though it has been a few years since I went, it is one of my most fondest memories that I continue to share with anyone who will listen! :-) It would be a dream come true to be able to go abroad again and volunteer somewhere special.

We've all had those moments. You know, the ones that may seem insignificant, but we just cannot seem to escape. During my time in Australia, I experienced these moments about a thousand times. The one that stands out the most occurred while traveling to Darling Harbour. As soon as the train came to a halt and the doors opened, a gust of air blew in and breathed some crazy sort of new life into me. I stepped out of the train completely in awe of the millions of twinkling lights that filled the harbor. It was an intense moment of realization of my own existence and I couldn't help but to think, "I am really here," over and over again. I couldn't have gone on this trip at a more perfect time, after my first year of college. I learned so many things about the many new friends I made, but more importantly, I learned a few things about myself. That part of the trip is absolutely priceless.

Volunteering at Nancite beach in Costa Rica was an incredible experience. I was able to work hands on with the sea turtles as well as help the environment by cleaning the beach. Patrolling the beaches at night was amazing, even though we were sleep deprived. The cause for the project was enough to keep us motivated to keep waking us up for the shifts. It was an unbelievable experience and I learned so much working with the sea turtles and the leaders were very knowledgeable about everything!

I have been traveling since I was a little girl when my parents started sending me abroad. I love to visit new places and by far South Africa is my favorite place. Meeting new people and seeing new places is my favorite thing. ISV was able to give me this opportunity while helping people in need. My group just happened to be composed of 11 girls from ages 19-24 and for me growing up going to all girl schools this was completely fine for me! We were told we were going to be building a playground and honestly I wondered how we would finished in two short weeks but we worked so hard we finished it before the two weeks ended. We were working at a daycare in a little village and we got to interact with the children, which was my favorite part. This one little boy at the daycare every morning when he saw me he would smile crawl over to me and lift his hands up as to ask me to pick him up. He wasn't even a year old and he made my days better everyday. We had a very diverse group of girls we worked with so when we had discussions we got to broaden our views by seeing the viewpoints of others. ISV made sure we learned about the country we were in and the problems this country we were in were facing and have gone through. This made it an amazing learning experience. After completing 80 hours of service we went on to the adventure part which was so much fun. This adventures pushed our comfort zones to say the least. I sadly misplaced/stolen so I had to go on an adventure of my own to get a new passport in a foreign country. This was definitely pushing myself out of my comfort zone but ISV helped me find accommodation and made sure I was safe along the way and got me caught back up to the group after my two day delay. We got to not only visit South Africa but we visited Swaziland and Mozambique as well. Who cannot complain when going on one trip and seeing three different countries. It was a three for one deal. I learned a lot about myself on this trip. For example, I never knew I didn't like enclosed spaces until some of the activities we did. I also got to learn about the people I met and how much their lifestyles are different than mine. Because of ISV and this opportunity I have changed my major and I am not changing schools to be able to follow my dreams of starting a nonprofit school or orphanage one day and I am forever grateful of that!