Program Reviews

This is by far the best voluntary project I have ever done. It was truly the best experience because I was actively involved and could see how projects abroad help with conservation in San Cristabol and also helped to employ locals working with the projects and the locals who also support volunteers there during their voluntary programme.
My activities ranged from planting Otoi trees- I must have planted more than 60 trees which I am so proud of and hope to go back one day to see them.!!! These trees are the tortoise staple diet.
I helped at the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre- the only protected haven centre on the island where giant tortoise, endemic to the Galapagos are kept safe and bred. To feed these animal, clean their pools and observe them was such an amazing experience and to think they were nearly wiped out by sailors not so long ago. We must share this planet with them and their existence now is our responsibility and we must protect them!!!
I was also involved in monitoring sea lions- what an absolute thrill- to see these playful animals.
Invasive Plant removal- sadly the sailors also introduced plants such as Black berry, guava which have altered the ecosystems of the islands and are displacing the endemic plants by competing for food, light nutrients and geographical space. The eradication of these invasive plants is done by hand using machetes- its such rewarding work as you get to do some manual work- keeping in good physic( building strong biceps:)
Plant nursery -reforestation of endemic species is essential to these islands- putting seedlings into soil- getting dirty and regenerating mother nature- you can't imagine the joy of feeling and touch soil the life force that sustains the all that grows on this planet.
Beach clean up- yes sadly there is litter on the beach because people are still very ignorant about the impact of plastic and the dangerous rubbish. So being there and showing and telling the locals how unique their home is fundamental in educating and encouraging them to recycle.
The Galapagos islands are unique, mesmerising, spectacular and enchanting. The animals there will turn you into a giggling child, the excitement and joy you will experience is indescribable . You will encounter iguanas which are very unique to these islands,birds such the blue footed bobbies , red footed bobbies, frigate birds, finches etc, sea horses, sharks, whales, dolphins, turtles, sea lions and of course the tortoises themselves-hence the name Galapagos.

Please, please go- its an experience that you will never forget. I strongly recommend going with Projects Abroad because in my opinion they are professional, supportive and above all they are following some of the World Health Organisation's 17 Sustainable Developmental Goals.

I took part in this program in 2017.
When I was young, I dreamed of being an archaeologist and my dream came true in Perù.
We did many things in the field: measurements, excavations, cataloging, cleaning and the fatigue of work was shared with the group.
Staying in a host family gives me the opportunity to discover and meet Peruvian culture up close.
Cusco is an amazing city rich in history and monuments. During the weekends I visited Machu Picchu (of course) and I saw from there the sunrise, then Arequipa, the White City, and Lake Titicaca.
It was the first time I travelled alone on the other side of the Ocean, from Italy, and I didn't know what to expect. At the airport, PA staff welcomed me and organized a tour of the city in afternoon, in order to allow me to move on my own.

I had a very good time in Cambodia.
I took part in the "care" mission and took care of a child in the middle of the jungle, in a school.
The projects abroad team is great, safe and available.
I recommend

It was rewarding experience.
I spent a realy good time with the other volunteers.

After the mission, in the evening, we did a lot of activities: tasting tarantula, water blessing, football, bar ... and every weekend we went to visit Cambodia.
I stayed only two weeks and I recommend to stay minimum three weeks, the time passes too quickly and the country deserves to be discovered.

The apartment where we stayed was very large, well placed and very friendly. Delicious food, we were very well taken care of.

For sur I will go again with projects abroad when I will have some time.
Just enjoy and go!

I spent 1 month to help sea turtles conservation at Cuyutlan, Mexico. Each day was special : night patrol, cleaning nest, mangrove conservation. Take care of animals in el tortugario was an incredible experience where i met so kind people. Thanks so much for this. I recommend for all lovers of nature.

I spent one month in the national park Barra Honda on the west side of Costarica. It has been for sure an memorable experience, I could enjoy that kind of environment 24 hours a day so I saw every face of it. The program is conservation, research and maintenance, the tasks and activities varied every day according to the plan, to the need and to the weather as well since it was the transition phase between rainy and dry season (December). The staff was really prepared and I could learn something new every day. That was important since any task was always supported by reasonable ideas. Being an biologist, it was the perfect spot for a volunteer program, I could give a great help for taking care of the park and at the same time discover the beauties in it. Every moment, day or light, it was time for any new surprise. I was very happy for doing that and I highly recommended the program.

I spent 2 months as a medical volunteer in Arusha. Work at St. Elizabeth hospital was very challenging, but it gave me personally so much experience and a new way to look at the world we live in.
They gave me a lot of work and I got free hands to work with the patients as I was trained in school back in Finland.
I also got local students of my own that I got to teach, this was very educational for me.
I worked in medical ward for one week which gave me a lot of knowledge about the local sicknesses such as malaria, HIV and AIDS. After this I got to work in maternity ward with pregnant women, which I enjoyed a lot. I also spent some time at pediatric ward, but I decided to go back to maternity ward for my last weeks. Here I got my own clinic room where I got to work with European standards.

I did this experience last summer (2019) and, I think, it was the best choice I could make: to leave alone, go to another continent and help others. It wasn't easy to adapt to African culture, to their rhythms, to their ways of relating, to their food. It was hard to have no bathroom (but a mass grave), no shower (but a bucket), to live in precarious hygienic conditions; but it was a fantastic experience! I confess that I had moments of psychological failure (not because I wanted to go home, but for what my eyes saw and my ears listened). Little episodes marked my experience in Ghana.
I saw happy children for a simple hug or for a little candy.
I saw children licking a candy card to the last millimeter (and sometime eat it) ... because who knows when they can have another one again.
I saw children who, despite having only one biscuit for themselves or a small ration of food, always shared what they had with other children who had nothing.
I saw children having fun with nothing: a broken-down little car or 2 chewed crayons for hunger, but these little babies were happy because they were full of energy and creativity.
I knew an invincible host, who is fighting her breast cancer from countless years, but who, despite everything, is full of life and wants to do everything possible to ensure a future for her little 12-year-old daughter.
I met a teacher who is fighting from 26 years to welcome children up to 5 years into her school to stimulate them to learn English (so they can have the bases to go to school and study and build a better future for themselves and their own land). She, with the help of some other inexperienced teacher and some Projectsabroad volunteers, currently welcomes over 80 children: she is often tired, but she is always extremely positive and ready to do everything for her community! She hopes that those children won't be future homeless and / or drug addicts.

This is wasn’t the first time I travelled alone, but I have to say that is has been totally different from what I had done before. The first days I got there, it was on a weekend, so almost everyone had left to go visiting the country; for this reason, the first couple days were quite hard psychologically, I thought I was completely alone. But then, everyone came back from their trips and also the people who were on my same exact project arrived. From then, I started having so much fun, knowing everyone’s different backgrounds and becoming friends with some of my partners in the project.
I think the High School Special program is built in a good way: the mornings are dedicated to tasks in the national park (which by the way is absolutely amazing, with every different kind of lemurs, birds and plants), for example doing animal and plant censuses, helping in the tree nursery and fixing the paths in the forest, while the afternoons are about helping the community through building useful things: we built benches for the football field, a fence for a water pump, and also doing many trash pickup sessions also with the locals. Also, in this project, the weekends are already planned and included in the price, so it’s a nice touch (we tried once to go with the others from the normal project, but they said we couldn’t because we had to stick to the program). I made unforgettable memories in Andasibe, and its the reason why I decided to leave again with Projects Abroad the year after, that time in the Galápagos Islands.

I went to Nepal to do my intern for my French University, my subject was "Study of Common Leopard (Panthera Pardus) in ACAP". It was the best expérience of my Life as well Humanly as professionnaly ! There was the best coordinator ever in this place, it's more than my superior he was my friend and he helped me so much to write my scientific article !

The View was incroyable and the jungle too, the people was so nice !
The food on site was a little spicy for a French girl like me 🥵😂 but really good, the cook chef on site was really good and we had a good time helping him.

Thanks Projects Abroad, thanks all of the coordinator, thanks Raj Family for every thing !

ps : Becareful the walk are very very hard in this place, it's better if you have a training before you go there.

I volunteered through Projects abroad's nutrition program in Cusco. The contact with Project abroad's team in Cusco was fantastic and supportive, and the experience itself completely eye opening and thoroughly enjoyable! I spend most days in a Wawawasi, getting and idea of the typical foods and recipes used, as well as some of the challenges face by the group leaders there. We spent some time in the local markets too to become familiar with the produce available and prices. Towards the end of the placement I delivered a couple of presentations on the importance and strategies to increase the micronutrient content of the meals as part of the work to reduce childhood anaemia, and having analysed the menu at the Wawawasi provided some suggestions on portion sizes etc