Program Reviews

I spent 6 weeks in Cape Town to work in an over 30s Teaching and Community Development project. That was one of my best times and most valuable experiences I had so far.

In the mornings we went to pre-schools in two different townships and helped the children with all the typical pre-school stuff: getting to know numbers, colours and shapes, writing their names, learning to listen. With the younger children it was mostly about chasing, playing and cuddling.

The afternoons were spent in two other townships where we provided after school programs in a library or a foster home. It was really great to see that the kids have a safe to go after school. We helped them with their homework, talked about their future plans or just played or danced with them.

It was so rewarding! And so many of the kids are so much fun! And I learned so much! It was just great.

Furthermore, Cape Town is an incredible beautiful place and me and my fellow volunteers spend a lot of time exploring the city, gazing at the scenery, strolling through pubs and restaurants. I loved it!

Thanks to GoEco for making this wonderful experience possible.

Volunteering abroad was recommended to me, and I surely recommend it to others thinking of travelling overseas and looking for a good way to start in a new country. Having the program set up for when I arrived in Australia gave me direction and purpose in getting familiar with the new landscape and environment I was in. The organization gave me a good introduction, our accommodation and food were good, and the friends I have made on this project I still keep in contact with during my travels in Australia. Best of all, volunteering has given me the opportunity to travel in areas that I would most likely not be able to see from a tourist standpoint. Our group drove for a few hours outside of Melbourne into the lush rainforest for weeding, path clearing and tree planting. The work was strenuous but it felt good to be doing something productive. Our tour leader was very informative and educated us a lot on the vegetation and animals of the area. From then, I have gone on my way to continue travelling the rest of Australia on my own but it has given me a good starting point.

I was on the "Teach Children and Surf in Cape Town".

Goeco helped me with everything I needed and assisted me in every step on my way to Cape Town.

There, volunteer share a big house and they're splitted into double or triple rooms. It's definitely not a five-star hotel and the food is quite bad, but you don't go there looking for jacuzzis and saunas (even though you can look around for them in the neightborhood).

The overall experience has absolutely positive, demanding but extremely rewarding. I meet lots of beautiful people there, and I surely will keep in contact with them in the next years!

Andrea

The house were we stayed quickly became our home. Every volunteer from a different place, with stories and experiences to tell, made it very easy for us to join in. The food provided was excellent, done by two cooks who were not only in charge of preparing our daily meals, but were so friendly that they even became like our confidents during the month. The coordinators in charge were very attentive, making you feel extremely safe.

The project is very well planned. It all starts with the Introduction Week. We got to see every detail in Goa, even a Hindu film. Namita, the coordinator showed us around Panjim, Goa´s capital. We visited Old Goa, took Yoga, cooking and even Hindu lessons! My favourite was our visit to the Spice Plantation, where I got an Elephant Bath, it was incredible. By the end of the week we had a real insight into Indian culture, and knew a lot about Goa.

Our week involved two programs, which we were able to choose. In the mornings I would attend the Slum Project. It involved teaching and playing with kids who are living in these slums. It is very rewarding to see how they progress during these weeks, as the first days made me very sad when seeing their living conditions. I had a very emotional experience with a young girl (12 years old) named Jyoti. Her family was from the North of India, however they lived in Goa during the monsoon period, making mattresses to sell. Therefore, the constant moving around prevented Jyoti attending school. I was shocked and very sad to see how little things she knew, but I therefore proposed myself to teach her something. It was hard, but by the end of the month, Jyoti knew how to write and spell her name, as well as how to say the body parts in English. I was extremely proud.

In the afternoons I would attend the Women´s Shelter program. Here you would spend time talking and playing with the women and young girls who lived there. It was good to see how they all had their ambitions and were prepared to fulfil them. Olivia, an 18-year old girl, had been working hard and had therefore been awarded a scholarship to pursue further education in Bangalore. It was hard to hear their stories, as many of the women had been abandoned or abused by their husbands. Us volunteers were there to help them, but I must say that many of the times the girls helped me. Those happy moods, that sense of community, ah we were all best friends soon. I really hope I can go back and visit soon.

It is the best experience of all!

GoEco itself have a very good customer service and support. They answer any email and respond almost immediately.
The program started off with 2 days in Jerusalem where we had a tour of the city and different markets.
In terms of the project at the lodge, I stayed for 3 weeks at the mountain eco lodge. I was worried about getting there at first, however the trusty field coordinator Yan helped me and gave me a guide with all of the information necessary as well as providing a local cellphone incase. There were many activities to be done, such as watering the plants, planting, learning about the plants and gardening. You can also learn about how the lodge attempts to be a sustainable establishment.
The lodge also have a camp site, where people come from all over the country to camp for a few days and look over the beautiful views of the mountains. At the camp site, there is work that can be done also, such as making sure that everything works smoothly there: making sure it is clean (bathrooms, showers, bins) and accommodating and assisting guests with anything they may need help with.
You can also help make food for the guests if you wish!
There is also an orchard, that was unfortunately not blooming when I was there, but I was told that past volunteers were able to pick all of the cherries.
I was able to chose what I wanted to do and if I was being asked to do something that I felt uncomfortable with, I simply voiced my feelings and I did something else.
What I loved best was the fact that I was able to be in touch with nature and far away from a big city. As I was able to be quite independent, especially since I was the only volunteer there at the time. (Many people cancelled due to the conflict.) I also loved that I got to cook myself and used so many local vegetables and fruits.
In addition, I also got to visit the Nimrod Fortress and visit the neighbouring Druze communities.

I did the "South Africa - Teach Children and Surf in Cape Town" with GoEco and it was the most amazing trip of my life!

I spent my mornings in a township teaching 3-5 year olds how to speak english and spent my afternoons surfing and helping 13-15 year olds learn how to surf.

The hostel SaltyCrax an volunteer organization SAVE that GoEco paired me up with was top notch and full of extremely awesome and helpful people. If felt very welcome, was able to settle in from the time I arrived, and truly felt like Cape Town was my home for the 6 weeks I was there.

In addition to the volunteering and doing other activities in the Cape Town area, we had the weekends free to ourselves to explore. I went on a tour of the Eastern Cape and got to see a bunch of other amazing towns and areas of South Africa and even got to surf in the Indian Ocean at Jeffreys Bay!

I know I would not have had as awesome and fun filled a trip if I didn't book with GoEco, so I truly recommend them for any and all volunteer trips abroad!

David Kolakowski

At the beginning of 2012 I made a list of things I wanted to achieve that year, and volunteering was on the list. I saw the GoEco site and decided spending a month on the beach in Costa Rica helping sea turtles would be a good choice. After spending a week in San Jose at the Spanish language school I headed to Camoronal. The staff and volunteers at the project were great, and I made some lifelong friends.

Daily duties included beach and camp maintenance, with time off to relax when it got too hot. The night patrols were my favourite experience while at the project. Waking up in the early hours of the morning to walk a dark beach for a few hours may not sound like much fun, but witnessing the sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs is an incredible experience. Also knowing you were making a difference and deterring poachers, while relocating the eggs to the hatchery, was a great feeling. Hatchery duty was worth the long hours sitting in the dark when the hatchlings emerged. After taking measurements we released them on the beach for their long, perilous journey to sea, hopefully someday to return to the beach to lay nests of their own. They are the cutest little creatures you will ever see as they make their way down to the water.

I loved my time at Camoronal, it was a beautiful place to spend time. The nearest town is a little trek away, but I loved the remote paradise that I called home. And I do get cravings for gallo pinto for breakfast every now and then.

The experience in Costa Rica changed me forever. I am now studying Marine Biology with the hope to eventually work with sea turtle conservation projects around the world. I would definitely recommend this project, and one suggestion I would have for any people interested is to learn a little more Spanish to have more in depth conversations with some of the staff who only speak Spanish.

This was a wonderful experience! Hand feeding the pandas three times a day was really fun! I loved meeting tons of people from all over the world. Watching the panda cubs playing was the best! I stayed there for two weeks, which seemed like the perfect amout of time. People that were there for a month or more told us that the routine got a little boring after a while.

My Experience
In January 2014 I volunteered for two weeks in Goa, India. I had the experience of my life; I loved meeting the other volunteers, exploring the area during the introduction week, spending time at the projects and learning so much about not only Indian culture but the cultures of the volunteers around me as well. I can’t say that I have a favourite part of the journey, the whole this was incredible and suited me down to the ground!

A day in life at the projects:
So you actually got to choose two projects; a morning project and an afternoon project. I chose the women’s outreach program and the children’s slum. Breakfast is served from 7:00am to 8:30am and the cars to the projects leave at around 9:00am. None of this is concrete however (so if you sleep in you won’t miss out, they will wait for you!). For the first few days of the project you are generally accompanied by one of the coordinators or another of the staff from the house.
At the Women’s Outreach Program we started with some exercises. We sometimes incorporated some yoga or meditation, and then moved on to our activity of the day. The women enjoyed card games and were very interested in learning any new games we had from our home countries. We always offered card games but also offered a different activity, such as painting or drawing. Unique activities are much appreciated, and it is obvious that these women have done a lot of art before. We brought along some biscuit decorating equipment which they enjoyed very much! The first project only goes for a few hours, and you are back at the house by around 11:30am. This is flexible as well, you are able to arrive at the project earlier and leave later if you want to! You have a while before lunch is served (any time between 12:00am and 12:30am) and don’t leave for the next project until about 2:00pm.
At the Slum Project the volunteers visit a 'classroom’ of sorts that the local slum children attend every day. This is not an actual school, and some of the kids do attend the local primary school, although for many of them this is the only education they get. You spend your time teaching the children english, maths, and a variety of other subjects. There is no real syllabus, and you have a lot of leeway with what you teach the kids. After almost two hours in the classroom the volunteers bring a snack which they hand out to the children. After the snack the kids head down to the field nearby and play games with a ball that the volunteers provide.
The afternoon project ends at around 4:00pm, so you actually have the entire evening to do whatever you please. I spent some of this time exploring the local markets, heading out for dinner with the volunteers, and so much more! The volunteers don’t have to be home until 10:00am, but the coordinators are very flexible, and even allowed our group to come home at 2am once!

My favourite thing about the entire volunteering experience was the relaxed atmosphere. The volunteers are given a lot of free time to explore the area on their own, and the house rules are very laid back. You are also given a lot of free reign when it comes to the projects; as I said before you can extend the hours at each project if you desire, and you can introduce really anything that you want. Any activity that you can think of can be introduced in your particular project! You can ever initiate routines within the projects, for future volunteers to carry out after you leave. The biggest accomplishment that our group achieved while volunteering was the introduction of toothbrushes to the slum children. One afternoon we went into the local market and bought 40 toothbrushes, a lot of hand sanitiser, and toothpaste. The next day we came to the slum and gave each child a toothbrush. Before their snack we got them all to wash their hands, and after their snack we had them all line up and brush their teeth. Many of the kids hadn’t done this before, and the minty flavour was something very foreign and not altogether pleasant for a few of them. Hearing back from the volunteers that stayed on longer than us the toothbrushing and the hand washing was something that stuck, and it is still a daily routine for all of the kids.

This experience is something that has changed me so much, and I am so glad that I found this website! I did this project just before my final year at high school and it has given me so much motivation and life experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life! GoEco is one of the only organisations that accepts volunteers from 17 years of age, and I’m so glad that they do or I wouldn’t have been able to attend the project! GoEco took care of everything, and answered any questions that I had about the project or my travel plans. I would definitely (and probably will) travel through them again!

I recommend this project to everyone!

Alex xxxx

I fell in love with the kids I taught, the nature, the language and the people that I worked with. The adults and the children were hungry for knowledge, affection and attention and I'm glad I was a part of their life for a short amount of time. 3 weeks was not enough! I learned some basic Zulu, and I was able to communicate to the children and the locals of the Zulu tribe. I even managed to teach a whole lesson in Zulu on my last day, and the kids answered me in English!

I'm so happy I volunteered through GoEco. GoEco has been there for me from day one, helping me with whatever was needed for this trip. I was supposed to volunteer at different project with children in Mozambique, but that program was canceled a week before my flight. GoEco immediately contacted me, and told me about another similar volunteering project that had a space for a few more volunteers in St. Lucia, just a few hours away. I jumped at the opportunity! I mean, come on, who wouldn't?