Program Reviews

This project was incredibly well organized from my pickup right to my drop off at the airport one month later. Not only did I gain experience in psychology but I also was fully immersed in Jamaican culture and had the opportunity to learn about other Jamaican projects and how they work together during community days. I felt very at home during this project and also had the freedom in weekends to travel throughout Jamaica and go on many adventures. I was also fortunate to have made lifelong friends with other volunteers from around the world with whom I now stay in touch daily. This project also taught me the importance of culturally appropriate treatment approaches in my field which i now use daily. So grateful to have had this experience and hope to return again.

I could not be more grateful for my past experience with Projects Abroad. It was an extremely humbling and meaningful experience. I taught English and helped in a primary school classroom. I loved meeting the children and teachers. I loved being immersed in the culture and grew extremely close to my host family. I just went back to visit them 3 years after my volunteer experience. It really changed my entire outlook on life. The appreciation and gratitude that I feel is unmeasurable and I don't feel that I would be who I am today without that experience. The experience is what you make of it.

Culture shock did hit me in the beginning and my host parents were so supportive and loving. I really felt that they considered me a part of their family.

I learned so much in my three and a half months in Senegal doing microfinance work. Saint Louis is a very nice city by Senegal standards and the program staff were absolutely wonderful. The food is good and they do a good job of giving you meaningful tasks and showing you what life is really like for the people you work with. Go out and explore the beautiful opportunities available and you will have a great time. The food is a bit bland and repetitive but is a good insight into how people live in Senegal every day. My cohort's host families were nice and we developed good relationships over our time there. I would recommend this program for college aged students who are interested in post-colonial Africa and want to experience how the majority of people live in the global south.

Let me start by saying that I was 56 when I went and all though most people on the project was half my age, I had the best stay ever. I worked ind a kindergarden for 8 weeks, where I had an hours teaching/activity, so I had to come up with something new to do with the children every day, but they were so sweet and loved all the things I came up with. Staff in Thailand was perfect and took very good care of us, they made sure we were safely transported around and teached about the way of living in thailand. They also made a series of field trips, elefant hospital were we helped cleaning, turle clanning project and much more, so I will highly recomend this project to all
Project aboard staff was very infomativ before, during and after the project, so I felt very secure during from start to end.

Half a year ago I stepped onto a plane (alone for the first time) going to Kathmandu. I knew the journey I was embarking on would be one that would in part define my life. A friend who had done the Medical Programme for High School Students said that if I was undecided about going to Med school, then I should take part in the programme. Now, as a medical student (awaiting my 1st anatomy exam) I can say that my journey in Nepal with Projects Abroad has been the crucial step towards my medical career.
All the things that I have seen and done while in Nepal, both in the medical aspect (ie. clinical rotations in numerous hospital wards, as well as seeing a dissection and surgery) and the socio-cultural aspect (eg. learning Nepali dances, trying the cuisine) will stay in my memory forever.
The only thing that I can do now is to thank the entire Projects Abroad team (especially Acquilles) from the bottom of my heart and recommend the trip to anyone who might be interested!

Visiting the Galapagos has been a lifelong dream of mine. I was traveling solo so I searched for a program that would give me some structure in an unfamiliar country but also enough freedom to explore as much as I wanted. Projects Abroad was perfect for this. The volunteer work was fun and worth-while and the staff and host families were beyond amazing and helpful. On the weekends and evening I had plenty of time to explore other islands, scuba dive and see everything I wanted to. I made lifelong friends from around the world. I highly recommend this project, and can't wait to participate in another one some day.

Plan a trip for as long as you possibly can. This may seem obvious but I thought two weeks was enough, and it flew by and I wished I had more time to explore and be with the people from the project.

For 6-months I volunteered with Projects Abroad in Argentina. During the day I worked in a materinty hospital and once a week in a children hospital, additonally, twice a week in the afternoon, I thought adults english. Projects Abroad supported me in every step of the journey, including changing host families, looking for more volunter opportunities and for activities to do on the weekend. During my time I was never bored and enjoyed every minute of my experience to the fullist. Even when times got rough and I was sick Projects Abroad was there for me and a staff member brought me to the hospital any waited with me at 3 am in the morning for 4 hours. If you are looking for an amzing opportunity to volunteer, I can only recommend Projects Abroad.

This was my second time volunteering with Projects Abroad. I chose to volunteer on the Youth Development project which is based at a school in the Nawalparasi district near Chitwan National Park.

At the school, I helped run debating sessions for the students, ran English reading and writing classes, ran workshops on the importance of conservation and sports classes, small scale building and helped at with the school meal programme which Projects Abroad pays for.

I felt as though I made a great impact on the lives of children that needed it the most and I can say truly, without hesitation, that this project is amazing and worthwhile.

At the Weekend I went to the National Park where I saw a wild Tiger and Indian Rhino! + Gharial Crocs! Truly amazing.

I really enjoyed my expierence, the children were incredible and throughly enjoyed learning new english words. The staff were constantly there to help us translate words when communication got tough or when there was a problem. At the start of the trip they brought lots of drink cans which we could go and get at any point in the day we wanted, to help us in the heat. We took regular breaks when renovating the building and we took afternoons off to explore phonm penh. On the weekend we drove up to Siam Reap, to see Angkor Wat. We made sure to maximise the short 2 weeks we were in this country, I made great freinds all over the world who I am still regularly in touch with. I wouldn’t of wanted to spend my summer any other way, it was an expierence of a lifetime.

I had an AMAZING time with ProjectsAbroad in Sri Lanka for my elective!!! I wasn't a medical student at the time, but instead a Healthcare Scientist Trainee in Neurophysiology, and even with this they tailored it so well to fit my interests! This was my first time travelling alone, and the planning and organisation was great and so helpful, which made it so much easier! The staff there were so friendly, I got to meet some amazing people and learn so much in the hospitals with the opportunity to attend seminars. We made the most of our free-time to travel around - we were placed in Galle, but got to visit Kandy, Udawalawe and Welligama, and tried surfing, went whale-watching, visited tea plantations, and ate lots of awesome food (all with the advice of people we met, the staff there, and the host family!). The community work was also great, and the team there really do work hard to ensure we're contributing to community and local people. The host family were lovely too and it was great to immerse into local life! Would definitely recommend ProjectsAbroad!!