Program Reviews

I cannot thank the team enough for making my time in India so incredible and enjoyable.
I was initially due to attend a project in July but due to visa problems I was unable to do so. Sahil was a massive help when these problems occurred and was in constant communication with me to try and help sort my visa and provide alternative means of getting a visa. He also suggested an alternative trip somewhere else or the same trip at a different date. I elected for the later as I had my heart set on coming to India, I had to pay a small fee of 100 to transfer projects but apart from this all of my original payments were transferred over.

Once in Dehli the team were fabulous. Shankar and Dheeraj were both so friendly and welcoming. Shankar is an amazing cook and looked after us so well at the volunteer house. Dheeraj was a wonder guide in Dehli and provided an amazing sightseeing day filled with information and experiences. The team were always on hand to support us in any way we needed whilst we were in India.

The KNS was an amazing experience that I am so grateful to have been a part of even for just three days. The children's English was excellent and I was impressed by their skill and enthusiasm. the project also provided me with an insight into the poorer parts of the city and the children who lived there. The elephant volunteering in Agra was the experience of a lifetime and it was incredible to be able to be so close to the rescued elephant.

The tours in Agra and Jaipur were both also wonderful and filled with many lovely places to visit and facts to learn. Vising the Taj Mahal has been on my bucket list for years now and I am incredible happy to have now ticked that off the list thanks to this trip!

During my entire time in India and before there was constant support from the team and I always felt safe. I cannot recommend the company enough and I look forward to booking another adventure with them to explore somewhere new!

Translated by Go Overseas:

I was part of the program at the health center of Buena Vista, it was very interesting to see the different ways to approach health in Peru. The people were very nice and I was able to go to all the services of the health center to observe (doctors, obstetricians, psychologist ...). In addition the family I was in was great, lots of good times together and it allows to know the life of people in Peru. I really loved this experience. This also allows to visit the region which is beautiful, with all the archaeological sites. The city is also very beautiful, its center is super nice. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who wants to discover a culture and live with people.

Original Review:

J' ai fait partie du programme au centre de santé de Buena Vista, c'était très intéressant de voir les différentes manières d'approcher la santé au Pérou. Les gens étaient très gentils et j'ai pu aller dans tous les services du centre de santé pour observer ( les médecins, les obstétriciennes, la psychologue...). De plus la famille dans laquelle j'étais était super, plein de bon moments passé ensemble et ça permet de connaître la vie des gens au Pérou. J'ai vraiment adoré cette expérience. Cela permet aussi de visiter la région qui est magnifique, avec tous les sites archéologiques. La ville est aussi très belle, son centre est super chouette. Je conseille fortement cette expérience à toutes les personnes qui ont envie de découvrir une culture et de vivre avec les gens.

Joining Volunteer Solutions was a choice I'll never regret. Not only was their website the most user friendly compared to other organizations but their response time was superb.

You may be swayed away by negative reviews from past volunteers but I wouldn't worry about most of them. First off, you have to be very open minded and flexible when volunteering in India because the unpredictable can and will happen. For me, that's what made the experience an adventurous one whereas for others it may not appeal to them.

Before going to India, I highly recommend visiting another 3rd world country like Mexico to prepare yourself better. If not, then you may be in for a big surprise. India is a different world that's full of color, chaos, fun, joy, humility, and wonder. Therefore, be prepared for an experience of a lifetime that can be fully enjoyed when you're patient, energetic, and adaptable.

Seeing the monuments and taking pictures will definitely impress your friends on social media. However, the importance of that will fade away once you fully embrace the opportunity to serve the lovely children of India. They're so sweet and happy to be with volunteers. They can be crazy at times but you learn to love them on first sight and you'll develop relationships as if you were a close family.

Before you embark on this opportunity, here's two pieces of advice: First, don't overthink about whether or not you should go. Just go. It's worth it. Second, remember the children's names. Nothing makes them more happy than remembering their names, one by one. That's one of the best things you can do for them. Write them down if you must but make an effort to know their names and call them by their names.

I had one of the most enjoyable months of my life in Cape Town, South Africa.

I volunteered with Volunteering Solutions in Cape Town after a recommendation from a friend who did it two years ago. I was placed at Gingerbread house kindergarten and had a wonderful time with the kids. Volunteering with the kids was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. During the program I stayed at the volunteer hostel in Observatory. It was a wonderful experience to meet so many like minded volunteers from all around the world. I made some great friends and Noel, the house manager was a great help always. During free time I hung out with other volunteers and we did trips to Robben Island and the Garden Route. The local team including Kevin were of great help, meeting us regularly and helping whenever required.

I would definitely recommend this experience to other participants. Cape Town is a great city and you shall surely have a great time. Thank you so much to the staff in South Africa and Volsol for making this trip possible.

This experience was truly incredible. It was amazing to see the different efforts that are in India to help reduce poverty and give an education to the local children. All the other volunteers were lovely and up for exploring the city together. The VolSol team were very helpful with any of our issues or any questions we had. I felt very safe in a very busy and different culture due to all their efforts.

I had a great time working with the Ladies in the womens empowerment group. It was great to see the efforts put in to give them a sustainable income. It was also fun to help out and stitch and paint some of the bags ourselves.

This trip is definitely something I will always remember and would highly recommend to everyone! Not only do you get to help the local community but you get to explore an amazing, beautiful and vibrant city.

Staying and volunteering in Delhi can be daunting for some, and VolSol provided us with great care and attention to detail that made everything easy, and allowed us to settle in to the busy city comfortably.

They work closely with meaningful projects, and connect people with some brilliant work. We worked with a women's empowerment project, that was working to teach women skills that would encourage them to support themselves. They were making bags, in line with India's new ban on single use plastic, making useful items beautifully.

Other projects seemed really interesting, and I was amazed by the amount of opportunities VolSol could offer to help us better understand the world - in the future I hope to continue to engage with VolSol to widen my eyes to the opportunities and key underlying issues that are affecting people today.

I really enjoyed. It was a very good time. I hope I had given the little ones as much as they gave me. Makimei needs more support - progressing, I believe. Margaret and Rachel are engaged and housemothers are dedicated.
Regarding Volsol/ Go Overseas, Joe Ngugi is very kind and available. Everything was fine - accommodation, food, visits to the parks. I am pleased to be part of. Thank you for your project. Keep in touch.

Kindest regards,
Joana Barata

Our 18 year-old daughter went to Portugal for the 2-week experience in September 2019. It was one week in Lisbon, then one week in Porto. The week in Lisbon was outstanding, but her experience in Porto was an utter disappointment and potentially dangerous. After two days in Porto, we counseled her to leave the program.

In Lisbon, she stayed at an Impactrip hostel that was sex segregated and safe. In Porto, she stayed at a run-down hostel and was assigned to a room with a middle-aged male tourist—not a program participant. In Lisbon, she was with a cohort of other program participants her age. In Porto, she was alone. In Lisbon, she worked until 6 PM. In Porto, she was expected to work alone until midnight and travel alone back to the hostel. Perhaps you can see why she and her parents were so surprised and disappointed by the Porto experience.

We talked with a VolSol rep in Lisbon and told her that the situation was unacceptable. The rep offered to find another volunteer option, but by this point, all trust had been lost. At our own expense, we put our daughter up in a hotel and she finished out her remaining days in the city as a tourist. The clear reality is that VolSol has a strong program in Lisbon and a terrible, ineffective, and dangerous program in Porto.

Our accomodation and food were excellent and a short commute to the school each day. Shankar, the house manager, was very helpful in addressing any and all of my queries and is a great chef!
The teachers I worked with were very welcoming and open to our new ideas and the children were fantastic and always eager to learn and play games! The school itself is in a slum which is an eye opening experience but it was great to see how happy all of the children were every day and that they genuinely enjoy school.
As a city to live in, New Delhi has a huge amount to offer and is as thorough a culture shock as I have ever had. There are some amazing things to see and it being part of the Golden Triangle and a relatively cheap flight away from places such as Varanasi or Mumbai make it a great base from which to explore India on weekends etc.

There is a disconnect between what this program promises and what it offers. The best parts were our host mother, who was very sweet and the driver who picked us up. My wife and I are medical professionals (doctor and nurse) and expected to be working in a hospital where we could be of significant use. While the program is advertised for medical professionals with all experiences the majority of volunteers at the hospital were medical students from Germany and Denmark who seemed to be very bored as they did not have much to do. It is a money making program for the hospital (which is understandable as it is government run and relies on donations for supplies) as every volunteer has to pay the hospital to work there. But the hospital does not offer much for the students. In fact my wife and I spent most of our week helping to teach the medical students (who were very grateful we showed up) and taking charge with patient care to the extent we could given the language barrier. Rounds and teaching are very haphazard and by 12pm there is not much do do. Also volunteering solutions never gave our information to the hospital and so there was a delay in us even getting started on Monday. I think they mostly let it slide once they found out we were actual medical staff and not students (which they kept saying is rare for them). If you are a medical professional I would not recommend this program. If you are a student, your mileage will vary but it did not seem the students there were very happy with their experience.