Program Reviews

I tought maths, geography & HIV/AIDS awareness in a secondary boarding school near a small town. I also coached the school basketball team, helped with the PE department and made the mistake of forgetting I was in the land of long distance supremacy when I agreed to do some road running...

The teaching side of a trip with AV set me up brilliantly for university, building confidence in standing in front of a room to present and taking me out of my comfort zone. I've actually now found myself in the teaching profession, something I would never have predicted before embarking on AV!! (I even break out the Swahilli now n then!)

Outside of the classroom the opportunities to travel and explore the country was brilliant, explore rain forests, hot springs, rural towns and fellow AV's schools on the weekends and holidays. In free travel I saw Nairobi, climbed Mt Kenya, took the overnight train to Mombassa where you eat your breakfast whilst travelling through a national park with wildlife visible as you eat, explored Mombassa, up and down the coast staying at wonderful beach towns and ultimately a two centre safari with the rest of the AV group.

Was such a great experience that (gulp) 12 years later I still talk fondly of my time there and would wholeheartedly recommend AV to anyone looking to embark on project based travel, a wonderful experience!

A fantastic experience from start to end with a group of people that no one knew before the airport.
Having also spent the Millennium in such a fantastic and magical Kingdom such as Nepal really was a memory of a lifetime.
The safari in Chitwan National Park was very well organised also with rafting and rhino stalking.
I wonderful 4 months of my life, that gave me the independent travelling bug I still massively have to this day.

AV are made up of a great team, who take your experience seriously. They are a small organisation, so can give you much more personal attention than huge organisations, which are solely interested in taking your money. I had a fab time with AV and still see my AV friends regularly.

Though quite some time has lapsed since my experience in 2001, I wanted to share my experience as it has sigificantly impacted on my life.

When I went to India, I has just turned 18 and though nervous, I was also excited. the support that AV offered was fantastic. Before I went somone interviewd me and took time to get to know me than the bigger gap campanies other firends went with did. We had a great induction on our way to the vilages. We were visited by Richard half way thorugh our placement and also at the end. We also had local support in the interim if needed.

The experience was challenging, exciting and rewarding. The sites, the smells, the people were all so vivid. The children at school were so keen to see us and full of questions. We went to weddings, Indian festivals, locals houses for dinnerand experienced aspects of Indian culture no holiday has ever given me. Ooooh and don't let me forget the delicous food. Cheap, yummy and being vegetrain is easy.

My confidence was greatly improced by the experience. I gained insights into another culture and was able to see things from different perspectives. This has stuck with me to this day and has only benefitted me in terms of my career. When I first left university , I moved to London. Without my AV experience, I do not think I would have had teh confidence in myself to do this. The experience helped with job interviews as I had an endless list of examples to use in the interview.

Three years later my brother went to Kenya with AV as we had been impressed by AV@s organisation, its ethos and how it really cares about people on the scheme, the schools and teh local community. My brother met his future wife in Kenya on the scheme. 3 nephews followed some years later - so thanks to AV, I am also an Auntie :)

P.S. I do not come from a rich family but had a part time job and also wrote to local companies for sponsorship in order to take part. It was worth every penny. Plus, once you get to India the cost of living is very low.

Go for it!

Daily life is Nepal consisted of cooking breakfast in our flat before going to the schools to teach morning lessons, returning home for a quick lunch before heading back for the afternoon. After school we would go shopping for food and prepare traditional Nepali dinner of daal bhat before reading, playing cards and writing our diaries by candlelight. I taught 14 year olds in the mornings and 7 year olds in the junior school in the afternoon. This meant that I experienced teaching using the government text books but also have the opportunity to play games and be more creative with teaching methods in the afternoons. I loved the freedom of living in a flat with four other volunteers and sharing all our cooking disasters together, whilst also being made to feel part of the community by the school and by becoming friends with the other teachers, being taught to cook, taken to beauty salons and even attending a local wedding. From the best to the worst, the incredibly friendly Nepalis and breathtaking views of the Himalayas to the squat toilet, I couldn't recommend AV Nepal more for anyone wanting a truly authentic and stimulating experience

Starting the day with the habitual pancakes, getting dressed and then walking through the market space to get to the school. We'd walk with the students along the dirt track, weaving in and out of the mountain scenery. We'd have lunch with the other staff, something was always prepared for us by the sister. After school we'd have time to relax and write in our journals whilst sipping freshly brewed chai tea, before going to night school. In the evening we'd have dinner and retire to our rooms reading our books or play uno with our host family kids. One of the most unique and beautiful experiences I've ever had, I felt so involved in the community and would go back in a heart beat!

When I was looking online for projects abroad to do on my gap year, I was wary to stay away from projects which are commonly described as 'Volun-tourism'. This is why AV particularly stuck out from the rest for me, since it is one of the few projects which properly immerses the volunteers into the culture, rather than acting as outsiders imposing themselves onto the culture. This is the best way to really get to know a place and to feel like you're one of the community, it wasn't like being a visitor, I really begun to feel like I belonged there, and everybody was so welcoming.
I really wanted to go to India, and the year I applied (2013), AV had two projects in India,both in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal. I chose to do the project which involved living with a Lepcha family in the foothills of the Himalayas, although AV chose the village and family that I would be staying with for 3 months. I had no idea what to expect, but was warned about the culture shock and very basic living conditions, which I knew would make the months a challenge, but all of this excited me.

AV were absolutely fantastic before I left for India. I had an hour long phone conversation with Sarah, one of the people from AV based in the UK, in which I was encouraged to ask anything. It was also an opportunity for her to get to know me, so that when they needed to pair up volunteers they could match us according to our interests and personalities. I also went to Devises where the AV head office is, with my mum, to meet Sarah to ask any further questions, although I know some of the other volunteers just did this meeting over skype. I didn't have the best internet connection whilst in India, but I know AV were really great in occasionally updating my family at home on news from us out there.

It might sound a bit strange, but what I liked most about AV was the fact that there presence wasn't at all obvious when we were out in India. This is in fact a compliment to AV, because it meant that they let me and Rosanna (the other volunteer I was paired with), just get on with it. I remember the day we arrived in the village, a taxi jeep dropped us off at the top of a very large hill and whizzed off (it was such a hurry we actually forgot to get our loo paper which we had specifically bought and tied tightly on the roof). I remember feeling that having been nicely eased into India with a week long induction in Kalimpong, we were finally on our own. If we needed help or were worried about anything, we had a mobile phone, but other than that we were on our own. This is what AV do so well, they seem to have organised everything to nicely before we go away, that when you're there, they leave it up to you.

Although AV is based in England, on each of their projects abroad there will be someone there to make sure if anything goes wrong, we're not completely alone. In my case Tendup Lama was this contact, and I cannot praise him enough. We only saw him about 4 times over the three months, but he was always at the end of the phone if we ever needed comfort, and he was the most generous and kind man.

So we were welcomed so warmly into the village, as soon as we arrived. Fed unbelievably well. The first week involved visiting all the families in the village, and they all insisted on giving us tea accompanied with maybe eggs, or noodles or biscuits, or rice and dahl, but whatever it was, we were always expected to eat it all! Which was much more of a challenge than you can imagine for sensitive British bellies. We taught 5 days a week from 10am-12pm, which compared to some of the other volunteers in other villages, is nothing at all. We also taught in what is called the Night School every day from 6-8pm, which is purely for the Lepcha children in the village, helping them with their homework, teaching them songs and dances, as well as them teaching some of their traditional culture. The primary school which was government run, wasn't the most organised institution, and so teaching hours were always changing, but this added to the spontaneity of it all.
Once we arrived in the village, the children persuaded us to help out in their Sunday School, as there were lots of Christians in the village, we taught them songs every Sunday morning.
We lived with a family, and although the children were away in the town at school, we very quickly made many friends with the other children in the village, who we either taught in the primary school, or who came to Night School.
After school we would generally help cooking over the log fire, going into the jungle to collect food for the goats, go for walks with the children, or visit the other AVs in the nearby market village which was an hour's walk away.
At the weekends, we preferred to stay in the villages, as the older children didn't have school and it was the best opportunity to spend time with them. We would go for picnics, help them cut crop in the jungle, or play games inside.
The nearest town is Kalimpong, an hour and half drive away, we probably visited about 5 times over the three months. This is where you can get internet, and go out for meals. We would meet the other AVs in Kalimpong occasionally. We also came here for Holi festival, which was over the Easter Weekend, and was the Hindu festival of colour, to celebrate the beginning of Spring. All the AVs (12 of us), met up for this and was a lot of fun.
We were given the equivalent of a Half Term, and were able to go to Darjeeling one weekend, and on another occasion we went to Sikkim. We could have done more trips at the weekend, but felt it was better to stay in the village to make the most of our time with our family and the friends we were making.
In the village there is a combination of Christians and Buddhists, and we were involved in both of the celebrations which was so interesting.
During the month I got completely attached to some of the people there, and although it is difficult to stay in touch, i write letters and send text messages.
The living conditions were basic, but you get used to them really fast. Me and Rosanna shared a bedroom, and also had a sort of living space for ourselves. The loos were long drops, and to shower we filled up a bucked from the hose, which was cold water. We also washed our clothes in this bucket.

The project is relatively expensive, and this might seem strange when you are organizing this at home, but I can confirm that when in India it was really clear as to where my money had gone. Whilst I was in India I didn't spend a single coin of my own money, because on arrival we were given our money back in installments, to pay our rent to the family, to give to the village as a gift or donation, and also for spending money.

Overall, the three months was completely amazing, and I would recomend this project to anyone who is willing to make the most of it. The family we stayed with were incredibly generous and kind, and so I would hate for someone to arrive who wasn't going to make the most of their time there. It is tough, seeing as there is a massive language barrier, but this can be so easily overcome with patience, enthusiasm and determination. The project is so worthwhile because although 3 months is definitely not enough time to teach a child good english, it is plenty to give them confidence in their learning, and we were constantly reminded that this was the most important thing for us to do.

I had the best time and will always remember the trip. It truly was the rolls royce of gap year projects - fantastic and worthile work with friendly and deserving people, a brilliant support network, an unbelievably beautiful country, plenty of fun, drinks, partying, gossipping and so much laughter. Brilliant opportunity to explore this magnificent country. Plenty of exercise as well (long walks, white water rafting, safaris, climbing mount kenya!) I felt safe and well looked after at all times. I also met my husband, a fellow AV-er, out there as well! Thank you AV!

I have so many amazing memories of my one in Kenya. Av were amazing. They actually care a lot about each person and made great effort to pair you with someone you would get on with. My av partner and I are still great friends and 4 of them
Came to my wedding in 2011. I loved Kenya and the programme was great, we went away every weekend as a group and had such fun. Would and have recommended them to a number of friends. Do it!

My experience is Uganda was absolutely incredible and being the opportunity to go to such an amazing country and feel like you had support behind you the whole time both in Uganda and back at home was very reassuring.
AV were great in placing us in such schools with great teachers where we really felt like we could learn and help others learn along the way.