Program Reviews

I have had an absolutely wonderful and amazing time on my volunteer trip! Everyone has been so friendly and helpful. I've felt like I've actually been able to make a difference in people's lives and have learned so much on this trip!
I definitely will be doing this again!

My 4 weeks volunteering in Zambia was by far the most rewarding experience of my life. I worked at Maramba clinic in Livingstone and stayed in a guesthouse not far from the clinic. Livingstone is very accessible via the Airport and there are several flights to Livingstone from Johannesburg. I flew with One Time airlines, a budget airline company, and I found the flight to be comfortable. Ivor, who is the volunteer co-ordinator in Zambia, is very welcoming and insures that all the relevant arrangements was done.

Work: Maramba clinic is a very busy clinic and help is always needed. The clinic offers a wide range of services and thus you never get bored of working at the clinic. The personnel at the clinic are very friendly and the patients really appreciate the help provided by volunteers.

Accommodation: There are numerous types of accommodation ranging from a hotel or staying with a host family. I stayed in a guesthouse that provided 3 meals a day. The manager of the guesthouse is very friendly and helpful.

Livingstone: With a rich history and the Victoria Falls near by, you will not run out of things to do over the weekends. The town is very clean and restaurants serve the most amazing meals. If you are in Livingstone you must try a drop scone at Wonderbake and the local Nshima dishes at food place. There is a shopping complex that sells everything you need and the prices are reasonable. Bungee jumping is also a must. Oh and don't forget the Livingstone museum.

Getting around: Taxis are the best way to get around. These taxis are blue in color with red number plates. Just make sure you do not get over charged (Ivor can help with this). There are also a list of tariffs in the taxi, so just ask the driver.

I found Livingstone to be very save, but I do not recommend that you walk around alone at night.

All in all this was by far the best way to have spent my holiday. I made
allot of friends and learned great life lessons. If you want to make a difference in someones life while having allot of fun... Zambia is the place to go!!!

From the half dozen or so volunteer placements offered, I chose to work at a domestic violence shelter in Quito. Once there, the shelter staff decided to have me work with the children because of my teaching experience. It was frequently difficult work, but it wasn't hard to see how valuable it was for the children and the shelter as a whole. I really formed some relationships with the kids there. It was hard to leave.

The local volunteer foundation in Ecuador also offers a lot of fun opportunities to the volunteers, e.g. salsa classes (free), weekend excursions to different cities (reasonable fee), etc.

Quito is dangerous if you don't take sensible precautions, but it's a great city. And Ecuador as a whole is a beautiful country.

I went alone to mexico in january 2011 , i had an amazing experience helping out in a local community with estela, being my host . The city was a three hour bus ride from Mexico,cuernavaca. Each day i worked along side Estela in providing health care and learning for the children of the city. I helped teach english during the evenings as well as playing with the children . Each day a task was set out, from painting and making the centre look inviting . Estela used her home as a visiting centre for the children of the locality as well as tours from all over the usa.As well as having a degree in natural medicine Estela would cook for the local children , teach them english , use her home as a safe environment for the children. I was welcomed as one of her own family and on my days off i would get to visit the breautiful scenery , volcnoes, pyramids, natural springs.

During this stay i forgot about all my stress in western europe, and i returned a more relaxed person, i will return in the next year , i had a wonderful experience.

I had a wonderful time while volunteering in Nepal for 4 weeks. I was involved in the medical program while I was there. The local team was very supportive, knowlegable and helpful in adjusting to day to day life in Nepal. However, the hospital that I was placed in was very quiet while I was there and there felt like was no real need for me to volunteer there. Due to this I was placed at a different hospital which was slightly busier.

The local team was very passionate about what they want to achieve in Nepal with the schools and orphanages that they support and the health clinic that they want to set up.

My time in Senegal was amazing. Through the organization, Love Volunteers, I stayed for two months (July and August 2011) with a host family and volunteered at an orphanage 5 days a week for three hours where I helped feed, play with, clean babies. My host family was extremely generous and friendly which made my experience in Senegal even greater. Senegalese people in general are very friendly and the country is known for its hospitality (Pays de la Teranga). I met people from around the world and immersed myself into Senegalese culture by eating the delicious food, learning some basic Wolof phrases, attending a Senegalese Wedding wearing a traditional dress,getting a Senegalese name, and fasting for a day during Ramadan to show solidarity with my host family during my stay in Senegal. The programs coordinator, Binetou, was extremely helpful in showing me around Dakar and the orphanage where I volunteered to help me integrate into my surroundings. All of the staff at Love Volunteers responded quickly to my questions and were extremely helpful and honest. Not only did I volunteer in Senegal, I was able to explore this beautiful country, and practice and speak French outside of a classroom setting. Overall a memorable, exciting, and enlightening experience!

Well, I dont have anything bad to say about the program, because I loved every minute, every person I met. I never imagened I could find so much love and tenderness behind the Tailand people. I remember their smiles, there careness, the way they looked at me with so much care and happiness. This feelings are more greatness than any richness in the world.
There is a song whicha name is, The time of my live and I didnt get the chance to say it loud, but I do it now:

Now I've had the time of my life
No, I've never felt like this before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you

Thank you from the deep of my heart.
Cristina

Me and my husband went to the massai program together and we had an amazing time ( if you don`t mind my husbands reaction to the malaria tablets...) We stayed with a familiy a couple of hours drive from Nairobi and it felt like another world :-) We did a garden project were we gave the local ladies seedlings and small plants,and we showed them how to take care of them,we also made a garden at the local school. We felt our work made a difference in the community and the people were really gratefull. The only negative point is that we had to make up our own project since the NGO were not informed what project we were joining (they were told we were teahing...) We had a great time our six weeks in Kenya and we lived with a including an very welcoming family that took us in as an extention of theire own family :-) The staff at the NGO was also easy to get in touch with so we felt very safe and well taken care of. The only ting I regret about the trip is that I brougt way to many clothes ,so there was no room to bring all my gifts and souvenirs home.... It`s difficult to write a review just from the top of my head,but I`ve told LV to give my mail adress to anyone of you who want to ask questions,I`ve also written a short review on LV and facebook sites.

I loved Costa Rica and the people I met. I would have stayed for several more months if I could have.

I most enjoyed meeting other people in the program and my Spanish teacher was amazing.

I definitely recommend going to the beach!

Me and my wife spent an amazing 2 weeks roughing it in Mtendere East, Lusaka, Zambia in December 2011. We arrived on the coach from Vic Falls half way through a 3 month trek through Africa. Our chilled out policeman host met us at the bus station and our first adventure was the local bus to our compound over the rough untarmacced terrain.

After a night of pure fear and "what the hell are we doing here" we took a couple of days to get acclimatised before starting our 2 weeks in the orphanage. Unlike the stereotype, our orphans were aged from 9 upwards, and we had to entertain them with some educational help, such as maths tuition and English, creative art and games. WE were pretty much left to our own initiative, which was scary but at times but extremely rewarding. The highlight was definitely taking the kids to the local waterpark, a pure treat and the excitement of the kids was special.

Love Volunteers were always accessible by email (when we ventured out to the shopping malls for a bit of R&R) and keen to know how we were doing. OUr host was eager to please, but chilled out and let us get on with it. The living was basic. Water from a borehole, no fridge, Nshima rather too regularly and roaches and lizards on the walls. But that made it even more of an adventure.

I'd say Love volunteers is a great organisation for seeing the true Africa. We were the only two Mazungu in Mtendere so felt truly embedded. Great value and a superb experience.