Program Reviews

I reallly love the host family that I am staying with. The clinic is a little run down, not many things work but for what we do do, it great. I love helping the people of Cusco. Also, the other volunteers are great this shows good quality in the program. I will tell all my friends about this and maybe they will do it also. I hope to reconnect with this host family in the future, they have been nothing but great. Loving every second.

The the healthcare program in Peru is an excellent way to engulf yourself in another culture and build upon your own healthcare skills and learn new ones. Living with a host family really helped me settle in and feel at home in Cusco and the other volunteers were great. The staff are friendly and easily contactable if you have any problems, the clinic staff love having new faces to talk to and teach. Overall an excellent program that is affordable and worth the trip wherever you decide to go.

First, my host mum Edith is one of the kindest and funniest people I've ever met. I lived in her home well fed with great food cooked by her and her maid, and I slept comfortably in a decent size room with warm blankets. Second, I had the pleasure to work with deaf children from the age of 3 - 8 at San Martin school of disability. The kids are crazy energetic. It was tiring work, and sometimes I do feel like quitting. But I learned to be patient and this would not have been possible if it wasn't for the love I have for the kids. They might be a crazy bunch, but they are so full of compassion and intelligence I just couldn't help but fell in love with them all. Last, Volunteering Solutions is incredibly fast at answering emails. One of their staffs here in Peru, Kelly, is great. She showed us around the center of Cusco and informed us about the bus system, restaurants we should eat at and food that we should avoid.
Overall, this is probably one of the most fun I have had. The program allows us a lot of free time to enjoy and explore Cusco. But this awesome experience wouldn't have been possible without my fellow volunteers. I was able to meet people from Germany, Italy, UK and America (from 4 different states) - bare in mind that there were 9 volunteers living in the same host family as I am.

My experience as a volunteer in Peru was truly amazing. From the second i stepped foot into Cusco and the school I felt safe and welcomed. I enjoyed helping the staff and the children as well as the traveling to get to know the surroundings and the culture of Cusco. With time I was given more resposibilities and I realized that we can actually make an impact in the life of the students.
The host family was great. Very nice and helpful people who stand by your side whenever you need them. My favorite part about Peru was the close proximity to locals and the variety of tasty food offered to us.

I felt very safe with the staff and the people here. I do wish that it was more guided in terms of transportation as we were unaware that speaking Spanish was basically a necessity, but after the first few days we got the hang of it and I quite liked the independence of the program. Our program leader Kelly had to take me to the hospital at one point, and I have never felt more cared for. The staff, other volunteers, and our lovely host mom made us feel very accepted and welcomed. It was a wonderful experience and very affordable for me as a student looking to help without money.

Most of my notes were made on my sheet where I reviewed each week, so I will try to keep this brief. The trip was amazing. For the price, I can't believe what we all got. Stay, food, and the trip included. It is great. We had so much fun. The kids were a handful but were still so amazing. I am going to miss them and hope that one day I can see them again. There were some days where they would spit on me and hit me, and some days where they would sit there and rest their head on my shoulder. Each day I never knew what to expect and I loved it. I felt like I built such a good relationship with them and when I was leaving they wouldn't stop giving me hugs. In all honesty I was nervous and not overly excited to work with kindergarten students just because I know how they can be, but by the end of the program I found myself wanting to stay longer. This program has made me want to do so much more in my community and makes me want to make more of an impact at home.

As for the after volunteer hours, my girlfriend and I had an amazing time. I was able to try Alpaca, guinea pig, lamb, and octopus. I enjoyed it all. The restaurants are amazing and all speak fairly decent english. We also got to experience some nice massages for really good prices. Everything here is priced very well and getting by is a lot easier without speaking spanish than I would've thought. Everything in this country is amazing and I want to come back one day.

The experience was really positive: I came in contact with a different reality I had never experienced before. The teachers were welcoming, helpful and trusting: I progressively was given more responsibilities and felt I could really make a difference in the kids' school life.
I learnt how to treat children with disabilities and I developed important skills such as patience and perseverance. Overall I am glad I chose this program since it suited me perfectly.

I had the most wonderful time during my three weeks in Cusco. It was a great way to gain some more experience in the medical field while practicing my Spanish speaking skills. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys helping others, experiencing other cultures, and practicing their Spanish. I will definitely return in the future to do something like this again, and to see all of the wonderful people I met along the way.

The program was truly amazing! Although, I would recommend speaking some level of spanish. You get a lot more out of it if you speak the language. The staff here was very helpful and our host family was amazing and sweet. In the weekends you can travel to many places like machupichu, huacachina, lake Titicaca, rainbow mountian, arequipa, etc. honestly there are a lot of things to do in the weekend. The placement was not a hospital, but a clinic, so there are no surgeries but you do get to learn a lot. Injections, suturing, cleaning wounds, etc. The exposure was amazing especially if you already have some medical training. Some tips include in the markets there isnt 100% alpaca, there are many good restaurants to try, and explore as much as you can! Also, bring gloves and some medical equipment because the clinics are very poor.

I liked the hoast family we stayed with and how the staff helped us with everything. I was a little disapointed at the description of the program because it stated that we would be assistissng in surgery and shadow doctors, but we never did any of that. What we mostly worked on was cleaning wounds and putting injections. The hospital practices were unsterill and we had to bring our own gloves and medical equipment. We had multiple ocations were we bought needles for patients that were poor (the staff would reuse old needles if we didnt buy new ones). Other than that Peru is a beautiful country with many hidden treasures. I would recommend visiting Huacachina and Huayana Picchu. If you choose this mission trip I wish you best of luck. Just remember that nothing in cusco is real alpaca apart from the high end stores. Sweaters should be 20-35 Soles in the San Pedro market (for 20% alpaca).