Program Reviews

I have always loved the culture at India having visited the country a few times when I was young but never got the chance to visit the beautiful city of Udaipur. I searched through a lot of volunteering websites but this project stood out to me the most. I felt it was great that it gave me a chance to give something back to underprivileged children in the rural areas of Udaipur and also being able to explore the city whilst being there.

The home at Bedla had a welcoming atmosphere when I first arrived. The family at the volunteer house is very supportive and whether you are concerned about something, need help to plan a trip on the weekend (like how I did with my Jaipur trip) and just general queries, they are really happy to help.

I have lots of memories here to name - from the games we played with the children in the orphanage and rag-picking community and them always being intrigued by our life and what it was like back home haha!

Another special memory was the determined nature of the children in the disabled school
to carry out the craft task involving making a paper owl. There were some individuals who had no hands and managed to gluestick the paper on the cardboard. I also really liked when we played games with the boys in the orphanages and their 'secret handshake' they made us to do as well as their cheeky smiles upon our arrival...

Days out with the whole volunteer house was really fun as well. My best memory was when we all went to the Udaipur mall for dinner and I tried something new that was a traditional dish. It was nice to wind down and talk to other volunteers in the house after a busy day!

I realised during the end of my time here that the impact we made on the children was nothing compared to the impact they have on us and how we cannot take our life for granted.

I spent 4 weeks volunteering at the Belize Zoo through Pod Volunteers and it was a life changing experience. The amount of time I got to spend working with the keepers and animals hands on was much more extensive than any kind of volunteering or interning at zoos in the US. It was fascinating to see how things are done different in the zoo there versus zoos I've been to in the US. I learned a great deal from the keepers, the bonds they share with their animals is incredible. It was a lot of hard work in the heat and humidity but I was excited to get up and go to work every day. The staff at the TEC is amazing and do everything they can to make your stay comfortable. Free time on the weekends is fantastic since it gives you plenty of time to explore everything Belize has to offer. I made friendships in Belize that will last me a life time. The people of Belize are so kind and welcoming to visitors. It made traveling solo as a woman much less scary. I would go back in a heartbeat to spend more time with the people and the animals.

I grew up with a love of elephants (animals in general -- but specifically elephants) and a love to travel. I have traveled all of Europe and have always had a dream to go to Asia to (ethically) spend time and care for elephants. A friend of mine told me about Pod Volunteer so I did a little research and asked the Pod Volunteer team questions that they promptly and happily answered. From there, I planned my trip. I explained that I was travelling alone ( I am a female in my early 30s) and I had just a couple concerns. They directed me to any resource about solo travelers, forums with fellow Pod Volunteers and a packet on EVERYTHING that I would need to know. Their communication with me was one of the only reasons I followed through with such a bold (for me) trip. Being at the elephant refuge was an experience I will never forget. When people ask me about my time there, I find myself at a loss for words. The only thing I can really convey is that it was incredible. I have amazing photos to look back on and I keep in touch with some amazing people I have met there. It was a lot of work, volunteering at the refuge, but getting to be near an animal that means so much to me was an experience I will never forget.

My first passion in life is animal welfare. Animal Aid in Rajasthan, India is a great place to care for and learn about Street animals of this area. Many animals that wouldn't normally be given a chance at life due to horrendous circumstances such as paralysis in my own country, are given lots of love and a second chance at life at this amazing shelter. Life and love are intertwined at Animal Aid, and it's a winning formla.
One of my favorite dogs I met there, had lost the use of all four of her legs, but was happy and loving to everyone who came to visit her section, often howling out for attention until she got it, bobbing her head and wagging her tail simultaneously, while getting chest and tummy rubs. And when she was put into one of the doggy wheelchairs, I just thought she would explode with happiness! Just to be upright for a change was such a joy for her!

I volunteered at this project for 4 weeks and had an absolutely amazing experience. Prior to my departure, any worries or questions I had were taken care of by the Pod Team, which put me at ease!

Upon arrival at the project I felt so welcomed by the community, the team and fellow volunteers; you could not find a friendlier country to volunteer in than Ghana. At first it took a few days to adjust to life in the village and to adapt to a way of life so very different from home, but within a week I had adjusted to it and did not miss home at all!

Whilst the kindergarten was open in term time, I worked there in the mornings and in the afternoons I occupied my time reading, playing or doing crafts with children in the village.

When the kindergarten closed in the Summer I really enjoyed having the opportunity to teaching maths and English to small groups. The children were so enthusiastic and keen to learn, it was really amazing to see how triumphant they were when they grasped something new!

Although a month may not be the longest time, I felt I was able to achieve so much in that time. Volunteering with the children was the most rewarding and worthwhile experience, the hardest part was having to return home! Volunteering in Ghana was one of the best decisions I have ever made!

“I cannot recommend this project highly enough! It was such a great experience and one I will never forget... a dream come true! 2 weeks was definitely not
long enough!

My trip was well organised from start to finish, I never felt as if I was alone, as I knew the PoD team was there if I needed. All the staff at the park are very friendly and helpful.

What was a typical day at the project?
A typical day starts at 7am (winter hours). The first task of the morning was going into the orchard and replacing the old branches that the elephants feed on, with new ones. Throughout the day you work in 2hr blocks, depending on what your schedule is for the day you could be making dung paper or making books with the dung paper, collecting data by observing the elephants' behaviours in the field (I loved this task), making enrichments for the elephants or entering data that was collected onto the computer. The day finished at 5:30pm (winter hours). On the occasional day you would have a sleep-in or an early finish. We were also involved in night/all night observations of the elephants in the Boma.

What did you find most rewarding?
Being so close to the elephants and observing their behaviour. There were a couple of afternoons where they had a crazy half hour at the end of the day, very enjoyable to watch!

What did you find most challenging?
The physical tasks were not too strenuous. What I found most challenging at the beginning was remembering all the elephants and guides names!

What advice would you give others considering doing this placement?
Definitely try and go for as long as you possibly can! I was there for 2 weeks and it definitely wasn't long enough, although I did squeeze as much as I could into the days we had free. You are given 2 t-shirts to work in and also a jacket to borrow in the winter months. You must where these t-shirts during all hours of working, so I would recommend only bringing enough tops for the weekends. Some of the volunteers do go out to the pub/dinner on the weekend too, so perhaps bring a couple of nicer items to wear on these occasions. There is also a washing machine for the volunteers to use. For shoes whilst working, I recommend gum/wellington boots!

Why do you think others should volunteer abroad?
Volunteering abroad gets you out of your comfort zone and opens your eyes to other cultures and surroundings, I learnt so much from the people I spoke with during my time there. I found it a great reward being able to do my bit to help the project I was involved in.

Why did you choose PoD and would you recommend us to others?
Yes! This was my first time volunteering and I wanted to have a safety net incase anything went wrong. PoD were very helpful and organised from start to finish. There was plenty of information provided both on the website and the information booklet. Highly recommend!”

Bonnie – 2015
“It was a privilege to volunteer at Liberty Children's Home. Liberty offers a safe, healthy environment for children that provides them with the opportunity to grow both physically and emotionally. The children are well cared for and are really happy. There is a real sense of family and as in any family, the children are learning the skills that they will need when they become independent. The children were all very respectful, polite and receptive to the volunteers.

What an amazing opportunity to share both skills and love with those who have had a difficult start in life. Happiness is....volunteering at Liberty Children's Home.

What was a typical day at the project?
A typical day at Liberty would start at 7 a.m. with providing assistance in the kitchen to serve breakfast to the children. After breakfast, I would walk with the children to their bus stop and then return to the dining hall to do the post-breakfast clean up, i.e. washing dishes, cleaning tables, sweeping and scrubbing the floors. At midmorning I would assist with packing and delivering the hot lunches to the schools. I would also work one-on-one with a young boy who was unable to attend school and help him with homework and additional skills training (phonics/reading).

After lunch, I would assist with clean up and then assist where needed. (Washing the kitchen walls was necessary at this time as they were preparing for renovations to the area.) After school I would help the children with their homework and if time permitted, play with them before preparation for supper. Supper routine was the same as other meals. I also assisted with laundry and shampooed the dogs. Unless there was something specific to do, my day usually ended about 6:30 p.m.

What did you find most rewarding?
I found the interactions with the children most rewarding but I also found it fulfilling to be able to assist with the 'hands-on' tasks, i.e. helping with the cleaning. Getting to know the staff was a real privilege as well.

What did you find most challenging?
I can't really say that I found any part of the placement challenging. I liked Agatha's approach – not micromanaging but letting us seek out where we could best fit in.

What advice would you give others considering doing this placement?
My advice would be for them to be prepared to jump in right away and start helping. Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. There is plenty of work to be done and the folks are really appreciative of any help they get. Get to know the kids and the staff, laugh, have fun and work as hard as you can in the time that you are there.

Why do you think others should volunteer abroad?
Volunteering abroad forces us to have a reality check. What are the most important things in life?

Why did you choose PoD and would you recommend us to others?
Yes! I found Pod on line and I liked the history of the organization and also the fact that it was based in England. I have great respect for the British and their morals and work ethic. I wasn't disappointed. I hope to be able to return to Liberty.”

I first chose PoD in 2012 because I wanted to find a charity that believed in what they were offering, there were many websites and company's out there that seemed as if their main goal was to make profit rather than offering a personal, ethical, responsible volunteer experience. After such a fantastic first experience in 2012 I signed up again, in 2014 to help support the new volunteers with their experience.

From the onset of signing up for the placement Gemma and the staff at PoD were there for support. Wether it was a question as silly as "how many trousers should we bring?" They replied quickly and efficiently to reassure us that all would be ok.

The first time I volunteered with PoD I went with my friend, and although it was great to have someone from home, Gemma made it very warm and welcoming and we all quickly made friends with each other. People in the same resort were surprised when they found out we had only known each other for a couple of hours, rather than for a couple of years!

Everyday was meticulously planned so that we got the best we could out of the experience. Wether it would be snorkeling, visiting temples, working in schools, going to the night market, traditional cooking class, staying with local families, dolphin watching, island hopping... it was all quite exhausting but it helped to create a fantastic life-changing experience.

The volunteering side was inspirational, when I first volunteered with PoD I was the youngest and many of the volunteers were full time teachers with some years of experience. Hoping to do Primary Education at university myself, I feel it really challenged me to develop my own teaching style which was engaging and fun for the children whilst not relying on the interactive whiteboards and other resources you may find in a typical english classroom. It is really quite interesting how many activities you can come up with, with just a few paper plates!

The thai children really value education and are excited to learn, their enthusiasm has kept me motivated to carry on with my teaching placements in an inner-city school where, its safe to say, some children would rather be anywhere else. Whenever I am having a tough day here, I watch my video I created which documented the trip, to keep me going through all the planning, appraisals and reflections I have to do. All that I can think is 'take me back!'.

I cannot speak more highly of this experience. To me, there is no other way I would like to spend my break, than to volunteer overseas with PoD. I wish to continue volunteering with PoD as I know they have my best interest at heart and that I can always rely on them for an amazing time.

I spent an amazing two weeks in Gboloo Kofi, a rural village in Ghana's Eastern Region with Village by Village, a tiny grassroots charity, and it was everything I hoped for and more. I think the really unique aspect of this project is the way the charity and the volunteers are so integrated into the community. We lived on a base in the village and interacted with the locals constantly, particularly the children. We were welcomed with open arms and although we inevitably stood out as foreigners, the people in this area are used to having volunteers come and go and it was clear that they were happy to have us there.

The charity employs local people to work on its building projects, including in senior roles, and works closely with the village Chief, Elders, headmasters, medical staff etc. to ensure that everything it does is in the best interests of the community. I had wondered about how much impact such a small charity could have, and like a lot of people I had had some reservations about the ethics of Westerners going in as short-term volunteers, but I was reassured by what I saw - their emphasis on working with the community means that Village by Village has a really positive impact.

The charity offers a number of different projects, so I was there primarily to help with childcare in the creche and at the weekly baby-weighing clinic, while the other volunteers who were there at the same time were on the building or film and photography projects. It was really flexible though - the volunteer manager was keen for us to get as much out of the experience as possible so we could get involved in different things if we wanted to and were encouraged to travel. In addition, what we did varied from day to day depending on what was going on in the area and what specific activities the charity had going on (for example, a new school built by the charity had it's grand opening while I was there). That said, a "typical" day for me would involve childcare in the morning and then various different activities in the afternoon - often some informal teaching or helping the kids with homework, playing some sports with them, or sometimes heading to one of the other villages. There were 4-5 volunteers while I was there as well as the volunteer manager, and we lived and ate together (mostly pasta, noodles, toast etc), and the base's location in the centre of the village meant that the kids would often come round after school, so there was no chance of getting lonely! We also ate Ghanaian food at a local family's house once or twice a week, and once a week made the trip to the nearest bar in the next village to relax and unwind a bit. There was no electricity in the village itself, which was great as far as I was concerned but the lack of light after sunset does take some getting used to! For those that wanted to, it was possible to charge phones etc. and get signal and even internet in nearby villages.

The language barrier was more of a challenge than I thought it would be, even though I'm a linguist myself and relished the chance to learn about a new language completely different from any I've been exposed to before (we had language/culture lessons from an incredibly knowledgeable local teacher once a week). I knew that Twi, a local language was used, but English is the country's only official language so I expected it to be pretty much universally understood. That wasn't the case though - most of the teens and a lot of adults had a conversational level of English so it wasn't a problem most of the time, but I did feel that there was a limit to how useful I could be with the kindergartners when we couldn't understand each other.

The potential downside of the flexibility of the projects is that it could also lead to a lack of structure. I think this depends a bit on the volunteer - you need to be willing to throw yourself in, be proactive and take some initiative as some of the projects (especially oneslike film and photography) are unstructured and you won't be told exactly what to do. I think this is a good thing overall but for some people, perhaps younger volunteers especially, it could be a challenge.

Nonetheless, the support from the charity and from PoD (Personal Overseas Development, the UK non-profit who places volunteers) was excellent, from the moment I expressed my interest right through the project and after I got back. PoD vets both the charities and the volunteers, which I found reassuring, and I know that they collect constructive feedback from volunteers afterwards and discuss it with the charities. It wasn't the cheapest way to volunteer but it was reasonable priced compared to similar options and considering the support provided.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience and well worth it. I spent a long time researching to find a legitimate, responsible company that I was comfortable with and a project that I felt would be both rewarding for me and genuinely positive for the local community, and I definitely feel that I made the right choice. My only regret is not going for longer!

We would be up and out the door by 6:30 am every day, with one day off during the week. Be prepared to walk a lot, work hard, and sweat every day. Don't expect it to be a typical "vacation," however this type of trip is so much more than that! You get to work alongside these beautiful animals and learn about them. The hard work and simple living is nothing compared to what you get out of an experience like this.