Program Reviews

I spent 4 weeks in Morocco interning at a local news agency, and I can't recommend this program and country enough. From my pre-travel questions about visas and accommodation, Love Volunteers and their partner were there the whole time. When I landed in Morocco, I met the program staff who worked tirelessly to make my stay here both safe and enjoyable. I think what differentiates the team is how interested they are in making you feel comfortable and like part of a family. I lived with students and others from the UK, Italy, Canada and so many other places in a beautiful traditional Moroccan Riad inside the medina and feasted on tasty Moroccan cuisine the whole time. The wonderful thing about the local staff is that they pride themselves on making sure that you experience the best of Morocco's diverse culture! This might be my first, but it won't be my last visit to Morocco.

My time spent in Morocco has most certainly been magical, with so many new friends and memories that have been made.

I enrolled myself onto the Journalism internship for 4 weeks, working with Morocco World News where I was writing and editing articles on a daily basis in an office environment with other lovely volunteers. It was interesting to experience and appreciate firsthand how much work goes into a news-based area of the media.

In terms of Love Volunteers and their local partner, I have found their hospitality and support absolutely faultless - you couldn't wish for nicer people to be looking after you. They make you feel right at home and help arrange weekday and weekend trips, ensuring that you get the most out of your time whilst in Morocco. I stayed in the volunteer house which was amazing as you get to meet so many new people who quickly become your family, sharing stories over the dinner table and getting the chance to travel with them at weekends. It's a place where you make lifelong friends from all over the world.

Morocco itself is a beautiful country with an admirable culture, and the food is most definitely something worth witnessing! I traveled every weekend to places such as Chefchaouen, Marrakesh and Fes - all collectively representing the Moroccan culture but each one completely different at the same time. Rabat, where the programs are based, is also a wonderful place to explore both during the day and at night. This certainly won't be my last time visiting this incredible country.

I'm really glad I decided to spend 6 weeks of my summer teaching English to 3-6 year old kids with Love Volunteers in Rabat, Morocco. You know the feeling when you have an amazing experience that you don't want to trade anything for it? That is how I feel. First, I learned a lot during my volunteer because I was given a full authority to create teaching materials and activities in class. It was a fun challenge for me to build an interesting class from limited resources they had, which finally encouraged me to be creative and innovative. Second, I was staying with a very lovely big family who is extremely kind and fun. The first day I came, me and the family plus all the family friends went to a music concert together. Third, my volunteer schedule was very manageable for me to travel during weekends. So even though I was staying in Rabat, I had a chance to explore other cities and deserts as well. And last but not least, Morocco offers such an amazing culture experience worth to have! Moroccan food, art, language, people, and lifestyle are very unique and eye-opening knowledge. Oh plus, the program directors were really helpful and always make sure that the volunteers have the best time there. One day I was sick and Ali brought me to a doctor a few minutes after I called him. Lots of good things I can tell you but it was simply a complete personal growth experience for me.

A few months back, I was fortunate to stumble upon Love Volunteers while looking up volunteering opportunities abroad. I instantly got interested in the programs they had to offer. Out of the many programs I went through, 'Teaching at Monasteries' in Nepal caught my eye. I had been wanting to travel solo as well as experience volunteering in a different country, and this program seemed to be the perfect fit! Ever since I mailed them for the first time, Love Volunteers had been nothing but supportive and prompt. Apart from sharing a detailed guidebook about the country and the program, they answered all my queries promptly.

Having just a month off work in summer, I could afford to spend 3 weeks at the monastery. Those 3 weeks spent in Nepal have undoubtedly been one of the best times in my life! I met some lovely people, made life-long connections, traveled, taught, learnt and gathered tons of amazing memories! Staying at a monastery and interacting with monks was in itself a unique and wonderful opportunity, and I feel very fortunate to have experienced the same. Teaching at the monastery definitely had its own challenges, as they relied only on volunteers for academics (English, Math etc.) and there wasn't a curriculum in place. If you tend to get involved with the students and take your teaching seriously, then it gets challenging because all students have different abilities and levels, and ideally one needs to cater to their individual needs. That is possible when you have many volunteers on site, otherwise can be a bit difficult. Nonetheless, teaching and interacting with the lovely monks is really enjoyable, and one sure learns a lot!

Such experiences definitely teach you a lot, expose you to much more in life and probably make you grow as a person. One gets to experience life in a totally different context, often without the luxuries and comforts one is used to. However, what you gather is way more valuable - friends, experiences, memories, learning. It's all worth it. My words may not do justice to what I experienced, felt and learnt. All I can say is that it was one of the best experiences in my life, and I wish I could have stayed longer! Would love to go back sometime.

I'd definitely recommend Love Volunteers and this particular program to whosoever wishes to volunteers abroad and make a difference! :)

my experience in morocco, was a unique and one i would always cherish for years to come. having volunteered for a good part of my life, i have come to have certain expectations about a place, however i was in for a shock.

volunteering in morocco offered a chance to engaged with a different people and a different culture. although i struggled to adjust at the beginning, the program managers Ali and jihan were of great assistance, helping me with even the simplest of things such as were to have lunch. never have i come across such wonderful people who are keen to know more about you and were you are from.

the morocco volunteering, for me at least was set in a way that i could learn, offer experiences while allowing me to engage on an adventure of a lifetime

i would strongly recommend morocco as anyone's next destination for volunteer work.

This 2-week experience organized by Love Volunteers Programs was the most satisfying and amazing one of my life. I spent my days in Sri Lanka, teaching English in a nursery and then teaching Sign Language in a special school. I loved taking up the responsibility of teaching English in an environment where its use was severely lacking. Everyone here in Sri Lanka is very accommodating and nice. I got to explore Sri Lanka over the weekends when I did not have any work. It is the most beautiful country in the world. Sometimes 2 weeks did not seem enough time, but I did my best while I was there. I hope I have left an impact on the local community, while they continue to grow stronger in their education. I'll be taking back many memories of this great program.

I volunteered as part of the Community Development project in Tanzania April 2016 for 4 weeks and the experience has been amazing.

Once you get past the culture shock, there is so much beauty in the country that it's hard to be anything but happy during the whole duration of your stay. I fell in love.

I was staying at the hostel owned by the NGO the whole 4 weeks I was there. There is running water, security, electricity, 3 meals a day and Wi-Fi, although inconsistent and you'd be better off getting a SIM card with a data bundle if you'll be there for a while. The staff are all extremely friendly and fairly helpful in giving tips and advise to aid you.

We did a couple of projects in my time there which included building a pond, planting vegetables and painting the playground of a local self sustaining orphanage, planting trees at a couple of primary schools and around the streets where the hostel is located. Each completed day was met with smiles of gratitude and appreciation by the locals which definitely made it more rewarding. The only thing was the scheduling. Tanzanians are quite relaxed with the concept of time so you might get frustrating sitting around and just waiting to get started.

There are plenty of ways to get around town on fairly cheap public transport too if transport is a worry to you. The local buses only costs you TSH400 (USD$0.20) per ride and if it's too cramped, there are taxis, tuk tuks or motorcyle taxis to choose from.

I definitely suggest budgeting a couple of trips during your stay in Tanzania as well. Safaris are a must do in Africa and in Tanzania, I highly recommend Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park. Unrivalled experience. If you're keen on climbing mountains, Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, is there too. The hostel staff can help you book these trips for cheaper so wait till you arrive to decide.

I've met great people along the way and have received so much support and help from both the NGO and Love Volunteers themselves. It is my first volunteering experience and I wouldn't have wanted it to have happen any other way.

Overall I had an amazing experience and don't have any bad things to say.

I had a terrible experience volunteering in Tanzania through Love Volunteers. I stayed there for a month with two of my friends. We are teenagers who wanted to do some good service work abroad. However, throughout the month, we were continuously lied to by the head of the NGO we worked with. He lied to us about how big the impact each project would be (turns out we spent 4 days installing a water system for a school only to find out that the purpose was to eliminate a 30 second walk for the students), and lied to us about the costs of the projects. We brought money to pay for the projects, and he give us ridiculous prices for all the supplies. Even his own employees were shocked when they saw how expensive he claimed the supplies cost, and they said there was no way those were the correct prices. Still, he took our money and probably most of it went into his own pocket. Several times throughout the stay he showed extremely aggressive behavior towards me and my friends, and yelled at me several times just because I would ask him questions about the projects or prices of supplies. When I reported all of this to Love Volunteers they promised to take action, but in the end they still decided to keep their partnership with this NGO. Do not volunteer here if you are looking for meaningful service work, or if you don't want to be taken advantage of.

I felt the "NGO" that Love Volunteers works with in Tanzania is a total scam. The director was extremely rude, aggressive, and made our stay at the hostel quite uncomfortable.

The "work" that they do in the community is not at all meaningful or impactful. The director himself said that the schools and orphanages don't care about the projects. Volunteers are often told to do gardening work at a school or orphanage, where as soon as they leave the work falls into disrepair and the NGO does no following up and will simply wait until another volunteer shows up and then send them off to do the same project over again.

The director of the NGO spends his time running the hostel and arranging safaris for guests, and takes on volunteers so he has money coming into the hostel. He sends them off to schools or orphanages and isn't concerned with the work they're doing. I absolutely would not recommend this program or any others with Love Volunteers. After I, along with the other volunteers went to them to explain everything that had happened, they said they were "investigating" things, but ultimately they continue to send this organization volunteers.

Hello fellow travellers, future travellers and everybody else. I am Sangy, Im from England and I'm 28. So here I am in Cambodia, Siem Reap teaching at Kidtea, a NGO school. So what brings me out here? When I was younger I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to be or do. But one thing I was sure about I wanted to help people. In what manner I did not know but from anything that would better someone's life even if it was by the littlest margin would be worth my time. Often as we get older you get swallowed by daily life and busy working away in much different sectors than you thought you would. But that desire to get out there and help people was still there so I finally took the plunge and booked myself on a project. This was a few years ago and still to this day I still hold such fond memories. To locals who take you in as their own family, to the children who are introvert at first who then go on to give you the biggest and warmest hugs, the loudest and happiest greetings, create such infamous drawings and humorously mimic my English accent.

As cliche as it sounds it has changed me. The world is such a vibrant and unique place with hundreds of different cultures and way of living, so to be a part of one and immerse yourself in a different way than solely visiting or passing through a place, is beyond eye opening.

This is my third voluntary project I have done abroad with Love Volunteers which itself speaks volumes and I just love it more and more each time.

But forget the 'Sangy Story'. If you have or are pondering about doing it, just go out there take the leap and make your own incredible story and journey.