ISV (International Student Volunteers) Reviews

This was by far the greatest thing I've ever done! I worked in community development and saw how much of an impact our work has on the families! You make incredble friends while having a blast! I absolutley LOVE this program and would go back every chance I could If I could afford it!

On January 19 2013, I travelled with International Student Volunteers to South Africa for what was undoubtedly the most amazing, rewarding month of my life!

I chose to undertake a conservation project - I worked with 19 other students, 2 amazing ISV leaders and 3 incredible members of the host organisation WEI (Wildlife Ecological Investments) at Masebe Nature Reserve.
Here, we stayed at the local 'Telekishi' community in traditional huts. During the morning, we would wake up early to do bird counts out in the field (by the end of the two weeks we were all expert bird spotters, and could even mimic some of the native bird calls!). After the bird counts, we conducted transects - we essentially measured the vegetation to help WEI identify if the land is suitable for use as a game reserve again. Driving to each site we saw an array of animals including kudu, impala and giraffes! We went for hikes up the nearby cliffs for spectacular views of the area whilst learning about the history of the area by a member of the Telekishi community.
Additionally, we visited the local school – this was so much fun, and incredibly rewarding! The kids were so excited to see us, it was so hard leaving them. We taught the children about the water cycle, and the importance of keeping our waterways clean and unpolluted! Also, we were involved in meetings with adult community members that taught them the importance of caring for the environment.

After two weeks of volunteering, we had to say goodbye to Teleskishi :( - and hello to the adventure tour!
We started off in Jeffrey’s Bay, Port Elizabeth - here, we stayed in awesome beachfront accommodation! This place had a really cool vibe about it; here we had surfing lessons and explored the surf shops.
Then we headed to Tsitsikamma National park, where we went ziplining, hiked along the coast to a brilliant open waterfall, and those of us who were keen bungy jumped off Bloukrans Bridge (216m high - the worlds highest bungy jump – this was amazing!). 

Then we headed along the spectacular garden route to Cape Town. Here, we spent 5 days doing activities such as going up table mountain, visiting Langa township, visiting the local markets, going to a 25m long buffet with African entertainment and face-painting, visiting seal and penguin colonies, and on our free day some of us went shark cage diving!
Then we flew up to Johannesburg and drove to Blyde River Canyon; just after we unpacked, we walked outside our accommodation to find kudu walking around, and then sat and watched monkeys playing as the sun went down! Here we went canyoning in the worlds largest green canyon, went river tubing, and relaxed in the pool in our free time.
Our last stop was the amazing Kruger National Park – we went on a night drive and a full day game drive – on both occasions we saw animals such as giraffes, elephants, buffalo, jackals, lions and zebra, among others!
The worst part of the trip was coming home – I’ll definitely be visiting South Africa again!

ISV really opened up my eyes to the world outside of my own. In January 2012 I headed off to Africa with ISV. I got to really experience not only the culture of Africa but also really understand the hardship that the people there go through. It was so rewarding to give back to such an amazing community and see how appreciative the people were of our hard work. I now appreciate my home country and everything I have so much more.

Another positive that came out of ISV was that I was always too scared to travel to Africa by myself and none of my friends wanted to come with me. When I heard of ISV, I thought it would be an easy and safe way to travel. Turns out, I was 100% correct. In fact, so correct, that I extended my trip another 4 weeks and continued to travel around Africa by myself. If it weren't for ISV, I probably never would have ended up going to Africa. The ISV staff really looked after us and made me feel safe the whole time. There was not one moment in the 4 week ISV program that I felt unsafe or in trouble.

I would definitely do another trip with ISV and recommend ISV to everyone as you get to have the best adventures, make some awesome new friends from all over the world and also make a difference in the world, even if it may only be a small contribution - every little bit of help counts. ISV is the best thing I've ever done out of all of my travels.

My time volunteering in Costa Rica was incredible! Each morning we would wake up and hike in the rainforest, watch the sunrise, and get to observe all sorts of animals. Our host family was so generous and kind that it was a joy to live with them. The entire community that we worked with welcomed us with open arms.
And don't even get me started about the adventure tour. It was absolutely wonderful and I could not have asked for a better way to travel the country. You get a good mix of the tourist locations and the local secrets. You have a wonderful guide that knows more about the country than you will ever be able to wrap your mind around.

A big thank you to ISV for giving me the opportunity of a life time. From two weeks of volunteer work, camping in Swaziland, immersing myself in the African bush, to an action packed, fun and fulfilling tour around South Africa, i cannot fault the program.
Making life long friends from around the world, Bungy jumping in Storms River and learning the local language Siswati, were definite stand outs of my trip however 4 weeks with the program and i would not change a thing.
I highly recommend this program and if you do decide to become a volunteer and travel with ISV i highly recommend the 2weeks volunteer work and 2 weeks tour including the optional activity package :)

My trip to South Africa was the most eye opening and heart warming thing I have ever done! The things I experienced and the things that I saw while I was there will live within my memory and my heart forever! I would highly recommend travelling to study, volunteer and adventure to anyone and everyone. Trust me if I can do it any one can! All you have to do is dream and believe! Hands down the best thing I have ever done and I will definitely be doing it again soon.

ISV’s motto is ‘Impact you world’ and they offer students the chance to make difference in developing countries. The truth is though, if one participates in any of the ISV programs then chances are the culture that you immerse yourself in will have a greater impact on your personality than you could ever imagine. I participated in their 2013 summer season on a 4 week program in South Africa focussing on projects based on community development and it was genuinely a life changing experience.
A group of 14 volunteers worked in the township of Dunoon, approximately half an hour out of Cape Town, where our goal was to build a shade roof outside the community centre. The community centre runs a crèche for the young children as well as a communal gathering area and so the shade cloth was to give them a place to shelter whenever the sun if it got too hot.
Priscilla, a local woman took it upon herself to run her own crèche about 10 minutes away from the town centre and here we worked putting up a new fence to keep the kids safe instead of the patchwork of rotting wood palings, torn tarpaulin that was being held together by a countless amount of bent, rusty nails. The work was gruelling at times but we encouraged each other to keep at it and whenever you put the tools down there would always be kids that would throw themselves at you to be carried, take photos with or just to kick a ball around. By the end of our 2 weeks we had achieved all we set out to do and had a little party with the kids. Seeing their joy and knowing this was the last time you’d rub thumbs and say ‘sharp! Sharp!’ was bittersweet to appreciate the simple joys of life was one of the greatest lessons that the people of Dunoon could have taught me.
The next 2 weeks consisted of a tour of South Africa which saw us travel from Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and finishing in Kruger national Park. It was a whirlwind tour that saw friendships develop whilst doing a variety of activities such as kloofing (canyoning), abseiling, learning how to surf in Jeffrey’s Bay and encouraging others to face their fear of heights at Bloukrans Bridge Bungy; the world’s Highest bridge bungy.
Now to truly make this a South African tour we were taken on safari drives one in the evening and a full day drive in Kruger National park where we saw zebras, lions, rhinos and elephants however the leopard stayed true to its character and remained elusive as ever, which really isn’t a bad thing as it gives me more incentive to go back to such a wonderfully diverse country.
From the leaders they have on project and tour to the way they shape the program what ISV ultimately does is reward students who participate with irreplaceable memories and new friendships and return home with a greater perspective on life and their impact on their world.

For more information check out the website http://www.isvolunteers.org/

Volunteering for ISV in South Africa has impacted my life forever. I participated in a wildlife conservation project in the Kingdom of Swaziland which included tortoise tracking and setting up camera traps to monitor baboon activity in nearby game parks. We camped for 2 weeks in a game reserve. It was like a 2 week long, 24 hour a day safari! Meeting the beautiful people of Swaziland and South Africa was a most wonderful experience that I will never forget.

Last Wednesday I got back from my trip to Costa Rica and it wasn't until my last Saturday there, when I was in Samara, that I actually felt like coming home. Up until then I wanted to stay because I absolutely loved it there and didn't want to leave. Particularly the people and the town I did my project in, San Pedro.
It was through ISV that I had the opportunity to go, have the time of my life and meet some amazing people. During my project, my group and I were in San Pedro working to help the community by building an eco house for their coffee season so that they could store their materials and tools for when they were planting coffee plants and we were also making eco bricks to make a small bridge for the community to use.
During the two weeks we were there, not only did we become close as a group and become friends but we also became quite close with our host families and really come to feel at home there and like we were part of the community. And it is just an amazing feeling knowing that my group and I helped build something that the community needed and will be there for a while.
The town and the people who live there were so wonderful in welcoming us and making us feel at home that towards the end of our project, when we were driving back into town the day after our second day off it felt like we were coming back home from a camping trip or something—we really felt like we were at home there.
After the project, we rejoined a lot of the people who also went to Costa Rica and went on a two week adventure tour around Costa Rica and again had an amazing time. I met new people and formed new/more friendships with them and had a great time travelling around visiting new towns, staying in beautiful hotels- some of which were surrounded by equally beautiful scenery and natural surroundings- and the activities were so much fun- I honestly don’t know if I would have considered zip lining if I hadn’t gone to Costa Rica but it was honestly my favourite thing that we did there.
Being able to have this experience was amazing! I had the best time and it was honestly the best experience I have ever had. I learned a lot- not only about the environment and being more conscious of how I use things back home- but also about myself and different living is over there and how easy it is over here.
Coming home to Australia and not waking up in Costa Rica and seeing all the friends that I made there everyday seemed like a strange idea at first and unreal the night before we flew out of Costa Rica and it slowly got more real as we all started going our separate ways- whether we were going back to Australia or New Zealand or whether we were going travelling somewhere else- the things we did and saw and the friends we made, made that more special because no one else will know what it was like for us or know how much fun we had.
I am honestly looking forward to going back one day.

For the first two weeks of my trip, I volunteered in the remote north-eastern corner of South Africa where we gathered data to determine how well the nature reserve was coping with the number of its animal inhabitants. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of the wildlife, the unique beauty of the landscape, hospitality of the local people and explored the landscape surrounding us.
The highlights include the unparalleled natural beauty from the top of mountainous landmarks and, of course, the company of your volunteering peers.
The following two weeks were comprised of adventures that took us all over this beautiful country in high excitement and safety. From Kruger to Cape Town and everywhere in between. Highlights included kloofing, bungee-jumping, shark diving, surfing and many more.