Program Reviews

This is a superb programme which gives young people a very valuable insight into a fascinating continent. My time in Kenya has stayed with me and allowed me to look at the world in a more rounded manner than just from a Western European perspective.

I can't recommend AV enough - they were great from start to finish, providing pre-departure support which exceeded expectation (and assured my parents of my safety) and in-country support. The AV rep in Tanzania was Lynette, and she was excellent - always at the end of the phone if you needed help or advice, and we met up with her several times during the trip. Saying that, we were given plenty of independence in our respective schools and could travel during the placement and afterwards in free travel as we pleased.

School: I stayed on the school premises with three other girls. Whilst the accommodation was very basic, including a lack of electricity and sporadic running water, it meant that we really bonded as a team in those early days and we soon adapted to our way of life. We had great fun trying to make a cake without an oven! We taught in pairs, and again this was a challenge to start with, but we soon got the hang of it and had great fun teaching the kids English, and occasionally art and singing. It was a bit manic with 100 kids but such an experience! We also took sports classes every Tuesday and Thursday which was great fun. The other teachers were brilliant and really helped us out, especially Dainess and Godwin who became our really good friends as they were also our neighbours. We now have a long standing relationship with the school and the area as we sponsor a little girl through school. We never would have had that opportunity had it not been for AV.

Free travel: We had a two week half term which was amazing. In it we climbed Kilimanjaro which was an incredible experience, even if like me you hate trekking! We then went and recovered on the paradisiacal Zanzibar where you can learn to dive, laze on a white sand beach with a really cheap cocktail or go to a beach party at night. After the placement was over, we all went travelling together as we'd really bonded as a group. We started in Uganda where we went white water rafting and bungee jumping, before heading to Kenya up the coast and then on a safari in the Masai Mara. AV is really unique in the sense that you all start together and end together so you really get to know each other and to this day we are all really good friends and meet up at least once a month. It's also unique in that it combines a long volunteering placement so you can actually make a sustainable difference rather than a short visit and the opportunity to travel afterwards, with the support of the company. I really don't think there's a better organisation out there offering what AV does.

I was in India with AV for four months in 2008.

Though some time has lapsed since then, some things still stand out. In particular, I met two of my best friends there, who were in the same group as me (we shared a room).

The food is some of the best you will ever taste. We cooked all the time and I still make curries at home using lessons I learnt there ('the key to North Indian cooking is jheera-dhanya').

Teaching is hard, but it is fun playing with the kids in the playground and your work is appreciated by the teachers.

The landscape around Darjeeling is beautiful, and a slightly easier climate than on the plains. The tea plantations stretch for miles and are unlike anything I have ever seen before or since. The trek we did in Sikkim was unforgettable - lush and green at the bottom, getting sparser as we rose. When we climbed to Kangchenjunga base camp at the peak of our route, the sunlight broke through the clouds, to reveal peak after peak. It was one of the hardest, but best experiences of my life.

The AV support network is impressive - I'm sure as much so for parents as gap year students - and in particular Tendup Lama and Richard Venning had invaluable local knowledge. My friends and I attend the AV Carol Service on Farm Street every year, which always makes for a great evening and attracts quite a crowd.

In all, you may have moments in India when you think - your feet are tired, your room is damp, you want some cornflakes. But acclimatising to local life; the smells and sounds; the language and clothes - even the very strange loos - these are the experiences you will never forget.

Teaching in Kenya was totally amazing I found it to be a highly joyful experience. I think the only thing that was difficult was that I knew that AV is a for-profit organisation. Although profit is not a bad thing, I felt like If I had just gone to Kenya by myself and volunteered at a school and given the school say 500 pounds I could have done an enormous amount of good. However, it is very unlikely that I would have as an 21 year old gone to Kenya without support. As a young person this is an excellent trip, support is always available. However, what would probably be a more beneficial piece of advice for anyone who wants to be a teacher. Train to be a teacher, do that. This will more than likely be of far better use to the world. However, if you are looking for an adventure and you've got loads of cash. Why not splash it on this.

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!