Program Reviews

I attended the teen conservation program in Barra Honda national park. It was a great experience! It was a good mix of cultural immersion at the brief homestay and various excursions and real deal conservation work in a national park. I loved that students came in from all of the world! It was so cool to do cultural comparison! It was a good mix of education, work and time to relax and spend time together. The staff is great, super accommodating and welcoming! They also made it really easy for me to sign up even though it was later in the summer.

One thing I would say is that the program is a lot of hiking and mostly in the jungle. Also There isn't a whole lot of language immersion since it isn't expected of you to know Spanish so look elsewhere if you want serious spanish practice.

I did the highschoolproject in Senegal for two weeks. Those weeks were the best weeks of my life. I learned so many things. I made a lot of new (international) friends. I lived in a whole different culture and that was a wonderful experience. I worked with the locals and I met people with beautiful personalities. Me and the other volunteers build a little school and we teached English and French to a few students. We also played with the little kids. The first days were hard, because I was homesick. It was my first time traveling alone and I had never been in another continent. Everything was so amazing that I wasn't homesick very long. In fact, when I came home I was homesick from Senegal. I came back home five months ago and I still think of this experience every day. I think this experience will stay with me the rest of my life. I would recommend this program to literaly everyone.

My experience was incredible! The people are very friendly and kind. I felt like I was able to fit in and there was never a dull moment. Working in the Public health program, I got to learn so much about medicine, outreach, and community. This experience truly changed my life. I really enjoyed the ability to cater my project to what I want to do and create my own program as well. In Madagascar, they gave me the ability to both learn from the community and other minds as well as bring my own strengths to the table. I was able to implement my love for arts and crafts within the project as well as my interests in planting. This experience also helped me to gain life long friends that I still speak to today. I am very grateful for the experience.

My experience with projects abroad was amazing. It was my first trip alone and was very excited. I am glad to have done this. The work I did made me feel that I did helped other people. Would like to do it another time!
I did a building project for about three weeks. The first weekend was quite a culture shock but hey I got used to it very quickly. I got that weekend a mini tour around town and a quick look at the building project that i would be working from. The other people working there, were also at my host family, so it was really nice to already know some people. My first building day was heavy but very statisfying. I had a small meal together with the little kids from that school. Nice experience! And ofcourse, I had time in the weekends to see some things from Tanzania itself!

The most unique aspect of my volunteering experience was not only mixing with new people on the trip, but mixing with Ghanaians. Such as our host family, people in the communities and schools and specially our Supervisor Philip. He was so caring making sure we were happy at all times, he pushed us to our limits and filled the whole day with life changing activities. We still keep in contact with everyone we met there and so it’s such a memorable experience. What is also amazing is the envolvement even after you’e left. Even today I am still discussing fundraising to donate to a school we visited. It was also very good how the staff visited us at our homes regularly to make sure we were okay. It was extremely amazing how we had a great taste of their culture, playing ball games outside at night, but also showing them some of our culture and our games.

In June I went to Ghana with projects abroad to take part in a medicine internship. It was my second time visiting Ghana with projects abroad and I had such an amazing time! As a medical student the experience of the hospital system and how it differs from the uk system was invaluable and I learnt lots about tropical diseases not seen in the uk. I also went to the leprosy camp as part of my project and got the clean and bandage wounds. It was good to be able to get so hands on and it felt like we were really helping the community by being there. The projects abroad staff were all so helpful and supportive and you never felt like you were on your own. I was staying with a host family with a couple of other volunteers and this meant I felt I had a more immersive experience of the Ghanaian culture and made my time there much more enjoyable.

I went with Projects Abroad the summer of 2018 to Nepal for their medical internship program for teens. It was my first time out of country alone, and as a 15 year old, I felt completely safe! Everyone on the staff and especially the coordinators were so helpful and always ensured I was safe, healthy, and having fun.

The program is structured on a rotational basis. You’re split into groups and you’ll spend everyday at a different hospital or clinic. There are also labs, lectures, and outreaches, and sightseeing tours set up for you. For the program itself, the most important thing is to be proactive. The doctors at all the hospitals you go to speak English, but they won’t take time out of their overcrowded schedules to interact with you! However, if you show your interest and make an active effort to be k clover, they’ll be more than happy to accommodate you! I still remember some of the beautiful conversations I had. I got to help perform biopsies at the cancer hospital because I asked, and the surgeon said sure! I also do a delivery, an abortion, and many, many eye exams.

Nepal is a beautiful country with a very diverse culture! The program was based in Chitwan, near the Indian border, and it was very, very humid. The hotel you stay at all have AC though, and I honestly looked forward to returning to a blast of freezing air from my hotel room. The locals are so friendly, and the food is delicious. Gosh I still miss the momos. It’s important to keep and open mind when you go, because Nepal is still a developing country and it is to be expected that things are not the standard they are at back home. That being said, it was a very enriching experience, both in terms of the medical procedures I learned and from the diverse cast that made up my group! I never thought I would have a conversation about the Italian school system or Poland’s geographical features, but I did, and more!

I had a phenomenal time helping build a school in Nepal. The home we lived in as volunteers was a fun and safe place to be. We were transported daily to the work site by the staff. Staff members helped us learn how to do each step of the construction process as well as checked in with us personally to make sure everything was going well with the work and at the home site. In county support had weekend trips available to us to join with itineraries ready to go for us which was helpful. As a volunteer I felt I was supported and safe, I had flexibility but also felt productive with the work schedule. I've traveled with other organizations before that were more cost effective but lacked the same level of support. Since I was traveling alone this time it was great to have the full support of Projects Abroad staff.

Based on San Cristobal, there a good variety of things to do, and the team make sure that you see a lot of the island and participate in different types of projects. There are some early starts, and some of the work can be physical, but you feel like you are part of the local team doing useful work to help conserve this unique place. You will get the chance to see many iconic species of animals in this project from only a couple of metres away. The host family and local project team are all passionate about their work and will ensure that you are looked after.

Top tip - if you want to have side trips, a drink at the bar, or buy any souvenirs, be prepared that this is not a cheap destination and you will spend $$$ quickly - but it is definitely worth considering if you have the opportunity once in your life

Projects Abroad changed my life. It is quite expensive but worth every penny. The staff, the support, the safety, the smiles, I cannot stress this enough- it was the best 2 weeks of my life and I want to do it again. Those mere two weeks made me realise how unhappy I was in my life at that moment and gave me the kick-start to change it. Without my supervisor, I wouldn’t be living the life I am now. Since those two weeks, I have dropped out of university, looking to buy and rent out a house for students, and using the income and my savings to travel the world and volunteer. I am currently volunteering on a farm in Ontario, Canada and I am here for 4 months. My life has changed dramatically simply from seeing how my help CAN change other people’s worlds.