Program Reviews

I was a VIA Fellow for 2 year in Yangon, Myanmar from 2012 through 2014. This was truly a transformative experience for me and I've recommended VIA very highly to many friends and contacts since. VIA has a small but committed group of staff members who have passion for their work and vast experience in creating strong partnerships with local organizations and schools in the countries in which they place fellows. I really felt that my voice was not only heard by VIA staff but welcomed too. They are great about giving fellows leadership roles and in supporting us in terms of cultural adaptation and development of professional skills. I wouldn't exchange my time with VIA for anything.

I was a long-term VIA fellow in Yogyakarta, Indonesia during 2011-2013, where I worked at a local grassroots NGO focusing on improving rural technologies. Through VIA and YDD, I had the opportunity to work on these issues firsthand with experts in the field, both from Indonesia and abroad. VIA provided constant support while I was on the ground, and events such as orientation and the mid-year retreat helped to solidify a deep bond with other VIA fellows working throughout Asia. The experience was unforgettable and I am forever grateful to VIA and its staff, and my coworkers at YDD in Jogja.

I took part in a VIA program in Jogja in the summer of 2013. The academic support and coursework was broad without feeling unfocused. We dived deeply into a handful of subjects and had the chance to work directly with social scientists with research specialties in Indonesia. One of my favorite things about the program was that it was half American students and half Indonesian students and each American was paired with one Indonesian to work on a research project together. No study abroad program is fully immersive but this was one of many things that VIA did to bring the American students both closer to the country in which we were living while resisting the urge to shy away from the dynamics of power and privilege that allowed us to fly across the world and "study" a culture. Many pieces of the program seemed designed to highlight this tension: the readings were critical of Indonesia's internal social inequities while also shedding light on the ways that Western intervention has served to deepen and amplify these issues; the professors with whom we studied came from both Western and Indonesian backgrounds and taught at both Western and Indonesian institutions. I met great people, learned a great deal about Indonesia, and learned even more about research and social dynamics.

I took a Gender and Conflict in Indonesia course through George Mason University, and we relied a lot on VIA for guidance. They are literally the best people you will ever meet. VIA helped set up our daily activities, so I was able to see the Ramayana Ballet, go to a women's co-op on chocolate, and eat great food. My class and I got to walk through the Prambanan with a group of archaeologists (you will love these people and miss them when you leave), and learn about the reliefs. If you are undecided about wanting to do this trip, then look at my review as the sign you need to make you do it. You do not want to miss out on this trip of a lifetime. So, sign up to go to Indonesia with VIA and tell them that I (Chika) sent you.

Serving as a VIA fellow for two years at an education post in Yogyakarta really impacted my life. I like to think that I became wiser and more insightful about life during the years I spent in Indonesia, and that is something that has made my time volunteering so meaningful.

What I appreciated most about my post was given the trust to pursue activities and projects that I thought would fulfill students' needs and demands. For example, I noticed that quite a large number of students had an interest in going abroad but were not quite sure how to start the process. In response to this, I put together a two-weeklong program (one workweek in Yogyakarta, one full week abroad) to Chiang Mai which was met with great success. I also got VIA involved; we were able to coordinate my program's schedule with VIA's summer training. Even though we didn't run the same program again this summer because I was leaving, it warms my heart to know that this was a catalyst for smaller programs so that students are still able to benefit from an abroad experience.

It's already nerve-wrecking standing in front of a classroom, but try doing that in a different country where the culture is different. And as an educator, you put on many hats - facilitator, counselor, director, program manager, curriculum designer, proctor, etc. I learned a lot about the teaching profession. Learning-on-the-job while under mentorship from my supervisors helped me tremendously, and those skills that I learned have been crucial in allowing me to thrive in my current position where I teach at a high school. I look at every student and see so much potential in them, and that is what makes teaching such a rewarding experience. The results and effects may not be immediate but when the lightbulbs go off and you see the sparkle in your students' eyes because they understand something new, that feeling of pride and accomplishment is hard to beat.

Of course, there are times when I'm sure my students thought that my classes were challenging, that I gave too many assignments, that I asked too many questions, that I was too strict on formatting down to the font, that I was crazy in making them sing along to a punctuation rap, that I gave them a nonsensical poem to learn parts of speech; I'm hoping that years down the road, they'll encounter again the things that they've learned and remember to pass on their knowledge.

Overall, I highly recommend VIA, and the changing structure of the fellowship, in my opinion, will provide fellows with a greater experience. Fellows have a deep sense of purpose and are present at their posts and for each other. The small cohort size allows for a tight-knit family that could be hard to find in other similar immersion programs. VIA has staff based in the US and in Asia who are ready to assist within their capacity. You will impact the lives of the people who meet and work with, and they will also impact yours.

Prior to spending a year in Myanmar with VIA, I had already spent considerable time abroad, including a Fulbright Fellowship in Indonesia. So while it wasn't my first time abroad, it was definitely the time that had the most significant and long-term impact. I returned from my year with VIA and spent a year studying Burmese in graduate school and later applied for a PhD working on Burma. None of this would have been possible without VIA.

What I liked about VIA was that volunteers, fellows, staff, interns - everyone was made to feel very included in the organization itself - we weren't clients - just as the local organizations we work with are not clients - we are all partners. The staff tried their hardest to help us to troubleshoot problems in the field and come up with creative solutions and work with our partners to create new linkages and new programs.

I highly recommend the fellowship program for anyone interested in immersing themselves in a new culture and learning new skills - at any stage of your career.

I did the Arts & Social movement program a few years ago and I didn't realize it then, but it actually lead me to discover my passion for traditional medicine. The program is a perfect blend of independent academic and social exploration with just the right amount of structured activities by people who really know the place and culture. We met super inspiring people all around Yogyakarta running amazing non-profits & NGO's, and through this, learned about the needs, struggle, and history of the city. It was an intimate group to travel with and, Izzy, our host & leader-extraordinaire did an amazing job of cultivating real community and helped to forge really meaningful friendships between participants and with the many people we met in Indonesia. Not to mention all the super fun memories like some hilarious karaoke, a beautiful weekend trip to Bali, & the punk-style motorcycle show I stumbled upon.

Back to the traditional medicine thing: when I got sick during the trip, one of our hosts offered me a traditional remedy and I was totally surprised when I woke up completely cured the next day. With the help of people I met in Indonesia, I ended up using part of my time studying what that was about and learning about their traditional medicine. Not long after returning to the states, I have begun my studies of traditional Chinese medicine & I credit this line of interest to that first spark of wonderment in Indonesia. I am so appreciative that I went to Indonesia and through staying with people who are actually from there I had the opportunity to not only experience something I most certainly would have not had I been back-packing alone or traveling as a tourist.

I did a 10-week VIA program in Yogyakarta under the direction of Izzy Rhoads. Izzy was very knowledgable and approachable. The programming was spectacular -- we visited many religious/spiritual sites like Borobudur (definitely a must-see in a spiritual country like Indonesia). I stayed in a homestay, which I would highly recommend! It was a cool way to practice the language and get a taste for home life in Yogyakarta. Because of this program, I was inspired to take time off from school to spend 9 months in China!

VIA is an honest, self-aware, and responsible organization that you can trust to do as much as any organization can to provide you with a good experience abroad. They prepared my long-term Indonesia volunteer group with readings, lectures, and discussion on Indonesian history, culture, and language, and also discussed realistic expectations for what impact you can expect your volunteering to have on the local community and yourself. Better language classes and professional preparation (learning to teach English, in my case) would have been helpful, but perhaps they’ve improved these by now. If you’re proactive and don’t rely on VIA to spoon-feed you everything, you can prepare yourself well.

I was placed in a safe community, Yogyakarta, in a school that truly wanted a volunteer (as opposed to a school that had a volunteer foisted on it by the terms of a grant or something). Everyone was extremely friendly, welcoming, and accepting of my different culture and religion. My liaison at the school, my VIA in-country field representative, and my U.S.-based VIA program officer were all very responsive to any questions or concerns I had. Also, these VIA staff made a point of asking for our experiences and opinions at our VIA Indonesia mid-year retreat, in order to keep our remaining time in Indonesia positive and to improve the program for future years.

The VIA website features previous volunteers’ recommendations that you stay for a second year, as this is when the experience becomes more rewarding. I only stayed for one year, by the end of which I was both ready to come home and regretful that I was leaving, especially because I wished I could have taught another year to use all the lessons I’d learned during my year there. The experience was at times difficult, boring, frustrating, and lonely, but I also learned a lot, found close friends, got to learn another language, had lots of fun, got to explore one of the world’s most beautiful and fascinating countries, and had a thousand experiences I never would have had if I hadn’t gone. Overall, it was a fulfilling experience. I’m not sure what difference I made to my students; I hope I helped some of them become less confused about English and inspired more of them to continue to pursue learning English (and learning in general) as a gateway to a wider world. By the way, if you’re going to teach at a K-12 school, you might consider bringing some children’s picture books in English to donate.

A note on Javanese food from a vegetarian perspective: expect peanut sauce, palm sugar, tofu, really delicious tempeh, white rice, coconut milk, some greens and other veggies, and fried everything. I LOVE Javanese food, but I did miss other kinds. They don’t have beans other than soy, mung, and kidney beans, so if I went back, I would bring dried beans! Or get them on a visa run to Malaysia.

Go VIA!

My two years in Indonesia contained some of the most challenging and the most rewarding moments of my life. I constantly reflect on my experiences and how much I gained from participating in the program. It's not easy. Things like this never are. But it puts life in perspective and it's an experience unlike any other. No one quite understands the feeling unless they've gone through it themselves, but that is one of the reasons how I've met and kept some of my closest friends today.

What distinguishes VIA from say Peace Corps or the other volunteer programs out there is the intimacy and the support. It's a small program composed of excellent staff and volunteers. They are socially conscientious and care about the communities in which they work. The volunteers have a say in the direction of the program and often times they return to VIA as program coordinators and directors. You're not just another volunteer, they get to know you as a person, listen to what you want out of this experience and give you freedom to explore. Also, you are able to work with NGOs rather than teaching English if grammar is not your thing.

Indonesia is a fascinating country with the nicest people that I have ever met. I knew near nothing about the country before I went and came out with a wealth of knowledge. It helps that the language is an easier language to learn. The country is so varied and ridiculously beautiful that you'll fall in love with it, especially if you dive, surf, or hike.

Of course volunteering abroad in a county like Indonesia will be difficult and things aren't perfect. But, if you are debating the different programs, VIA should be at the top of your list. I cannot recommend this program enough.