Program Reviews

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!!

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!