Program Reviews

My Global Works Costa Rica experience was the best trip of my life. During this experience, I was able to try so many new things, like surfing, zip lining, rafting, living with a family and communicating in Spanish! At first I was a little anxious, but the group and leaders were so welcoming. For most, the thought of a home stay is scary. I was nervous at first, but my roommate and I became so close and our family was also so gracious and welcoming. They were so generous in opening their home to us, and we enjoyed each other's company and interacting with the kids. Upon arrival to the airport, we were immediately welcomed and introduced to our new acquaintances. They soon become great friends. The Global Works leaders already knew all of our names and we had talked already multiple times via Facebook and phone calls. I could easily identify the group members and leaders by our matching shirts. I could already tell the trip was well organized and planned, and I felt very safe traveling with Global Works. Prior to our arrival in the community of Santa Cruz, our leaders informed us on what to expect, and gave us tips for conquering the language barrier. We also received letters from our family prior to arriving in the community. After arriving, we were introduced to our family and then went home with them. While interacting with our families, we all shared so many laughs, smiles and memories. I felt very comfortable and never felt unsafe. Each day we had "weather checks" one on one with the guides, to check on us physically, mentally and emotionally and see how were adjusting. The leaders were very approachable with questions or problems. The community was well selected, and the "ticos" were very friendly and welcoming. It was a pleasure to work in the schools with local kids, who were very gracious and enthusiastic. Overall, this trip was an eye opener. It allowed me to experience an entirely different culture and language. I was able to meet life-long friends, as well as my "second family" who I still keep in contact with. I would highly recommend Global Works and this particular trip to a friend, or anyone interested in broadening their horizons and trying something new. This trip creates memories to last a lifetime.

This trip was not all I expected it to be.

Although the group of students on my trip was great, the staff and how the trip was run overall was somewhat disappointing. Mostly everyone on the trip was very responsible and wasn't trying to get in any trouble, yet the staff was incredibly overbearing and ridiculous at times. One particular staff member was over involved and tried to constantly hang out with the students when we were trying to have time with our friends. She meddled into our business and asked us questions that were sometimes strange. She even provoked students and ended up yelling at them in public locations such as calling one girl out at a pizza place. The other staff were also somewhat of a let down as they tried way too hard to control everything we did. I understand Fiji may not be the safest in certain locations, yet I felt as my hand was being held the entire time, instead of letting me enjoy the experience.

As for the safety, there were many times throughout the trip where i felt as if we were not in the safest of locations. One particular "hotel" we stayed at was located directly behind a village we did not know. This was a bit scary as we were living basically within this village and didn't have locked doors on our room or any safety measures.

As for the food and drink, this was also a large disappointment. We were insured that we would have clean water to drink from and were deceived by our trip leaders once again with this. After giving us clean water for the first few days, after we arrived at the home stay things changed. We began getting rain water that had been treated with certain chemicals like bleach. On several occasions we found parasites and other live bugs swimming in our water bottles. There was so much bleach and other chemicals in our water at some points where i couldn't even drink it anymore because it tasted completely like pool water and was making me sick. We begged the leaders to get us bottled water and finally after several days of begging and pleading our wishes were granted, but that didn't take away the several days of being sick because of the bleach water. As for the food, this was not the trips fault as we ate traditional fijian food at most places, but it was pretty awful. During the village stay i found myself eating nothing but white rice for ten days because it was the only thing i could actually stomach.

The hostels that we stayed at were pretty gross and rooms were often overcrowded.

Finally, the trip outline that is provided online did not correlate with the actually trip in the slightest. There were many activities promised on the website such as "swimming with dolphins" that were not even on the agenda at all. They were simply used as promotional devices to get people to sign up and this was something that really upset me.

During the homestay, i found that my family was very welcoming and kind the whole time. However, i didn't always feel safe in the village and some villagers made me very uncomfortable.

Although the trip itself was a great learning experience that i took a lot away from. If i had the chance, i don't know i would do it over again. Being sick 17 out of the 28 days was very unenjoyable and the trip was definitely not all i hoped it would be.

I had a wonderful time on the trip. I loved the activities we did, my host family, and it was overall a really great balance of learning, having fun, and meeting new people. I did get more comfortable speaking Spanish, though the levels of everyone's Spanish were very spread out, which meant not everyone improved quite as much as they could have had they all been equal. Overall, I had a ton of fun, met some really wonderful people, and learned about a new culture and worked on the language.

My group was amazing. Nothing was ever too much for us. Despite working 8 hour days on Proyecto Mano Amiga and putting our backs into laying concrete for the sewing center foundation, we all gathered, giggled, swam and sang every night and generally had an unbelievable time together.

Nearly everybody on this trip fell sick with something nasty, and we were all throwing up and feeling blue within the first week of the trip. However, thanks to our incredible leaders and already great friendship, we leaned against each other, found out ways to get better, and didn't back down. That was probably the best part about my trip - fighting through adversity as part of a team that I knew I could rely on.

This trip really impacted my life. It gave me a whole new outlook on life, as we walked pretty much everywhere, got to immerse ourselves in the day-to-day Nicaraguan culture, and meet amazing people. Along with the challenging work we got to to do help the community, we spent a lot of time together as a group and I made some friends that I will have for the rest of my life. My leaders made the trip even better, I felt completely safe and comfortable being away from home for three weeks; their organization skills were awesome too as we got to do so many activities whether it be the actual service projects or exploring Nicaragua as bonding activities. I would definitely go on another trip, and want to do service work for the rest of my life!

This really was a fantastic trip. The way we got to interact with the locals, our peers and leaders was amazing. As well, the experiences we had with the service, as well as our day trips were fantastic. The home stay was easily the highlight. The family experience strengthen my confidence in my French. I also enjoyed the people in my family very much and it was great to hang out with French kids my age and learn about their culture. Not only did I meet people from my family but I met other families and my home stay brother's friends which made the experience all that more enriching. I truly enjoyed this trip and would recommend it to anyone that asked.

The experience I had with Global Works in Panama was unforgettable. I would not hesitate to go again, even the exact same trip. In Panama, I learned a lot about myself with the help of the staff, the other kids on the trip, and the Panamanians. Working along side the natives made everything much more fun. When we were assigned an seemingly arduous task, it became all the the more fun and enjoyable when the people living in the community would show up every single day to help us out. Everyone I met was super excited to met me and they were all extremely nice and they were very interested in learning from us. There are no words to explain how much I did not want to leave. I would definitely do it again.

My trip to Panama was truly impact full! I met magnificent people both who live in the states and ones that live in Panama. I became more confident with myself by not being afraid to put myself out there, like when I got up in the schools dance competition in Santa Fe ad bernied with the kids. I absolutely loved being in the San Blas because it showed me how life can be so simple, how we don't new materials for true happiness. Overall I learned more about myself and how impactful a small gesture can be.