Program Reviews

I spent 12 weeks in Cusco working at the Hogar Juana de Aza and living with a super lovely host family. Together with my host family I was able to get to know and explore the Peruvian culture and the country and I am grateful for this experience.
However, my work at Hogar Juana de Aza was different than expected. I had the idea of ​​working more with the young mothers, but in the end it was more like childcare. I spent my time playing with children between 2 and 6 and looked after them. Nevertheless I really enjoyed my time and took both the children and the mothers very close to my heart. I'm happy with my decision to stay for so long, because it obviously took some time for the children to develop a bond with me and for the mothers to fully trust me with their children. After the first few weeks, I realized that I could make an important contribution to the Hogar and that I was greeted with a big smile every day and said goodbye with a heavy heart after work. Even though I expected something different I was happy to be there. I would recommend going to this program but it's important to know that you will be working with children most of the time.

I worked at a company that specialises in constructing social housing. It's a family-owned business where the father is a lawyer, one son is an architect responsible for designing houses and overseeing construction sites, and the other son and daughter handle administrative tasks and interact with clients at the office. As an intern, my primary responsibility was to assist with administrative tasks. The company faced challenges with inefficient processes, where some tasks were performed without others being aware of it. This led to duplicated efforts and occasional tasks being overlooked. Therefore, I worked on implementing a solution in consultation with the team.

Key tasks:
- Maintaining up-to-date information
- Scanning and uploading signed documents to the platform.
- Compiling and preparing documents for submission to the foundation for approval.
- Automate the process of generating contracts with client-specific details, saving time and effort.
- Creating a user-friendly program to replace manual calculations done by the architect

I had a great experience, visiting an extraordinary country, with the best people.
I was placed in an excellent program. Working with native women has been fantastic. I came back to my country with new experiences, knowing a wonderful country with beautiful places to visit, and the kindest and warmest people. I surely recommend this project. I wish I could have stayed longer. I definitely think is a once in a lifetime experience. I received much more than I expected. My staying in Costa Rica has enriched my life.

i feel it could have been more environmental conservation, some times it just felt like i was helping with the tourism instead of the environment. the host family was wonderful and i made friends that i know will last a life time but for the actual position itself i struggled to find meaning and purpose in it. the organization did a good job of making me feel at home and were so lovely it was only at my project that i struggled and the people there did what they could do give me tasks related to environmentalism it was just a little misleading.

I spent one month in Antigua with Inlex, working in a medical clinic in the mornings and undertaking Spanish lessons in the afternoons. Alex and Diego made sure I felt comfortable and integrated into the community and my host family from the very start, and continued to check in throughout my time.

The clinic was so welcoming and the Spanish classes were incredible! My host family was also amazing and really went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable and looked after.

This was the most incredible experience and I’m so thankful to inlex for making it possible and supporting me through the experience!

My program went very well in Guatemala. I learned a whole lot about the technical aspects of cultivation in greenhouses, and helped (I think) by adding a pair of work hands, and all in all got a very deep and well-rounded experience. The cultural and language immersion of living in the Western Highlands of Guatemala was thorough and invigorating. I'm glad I chose to do this for the length of time I did (12 weeks), because I found myself integrating more an more into the work-site and people and life as time went by. Thanks very much for facilitating this and making it possible!

The support from INLEX was personal and reliable. It was so nice to stay with a local family the first night and have an informative ride to my program placement. I had many new and interesting experiences at Hawaii. The local staff were wonderful and the food was delicious. I met some friendly and helpful volunteers who made my stay even better.
Some unexpected changes occurred when I left the program to head back toward the airport and my Coordinator, Alex, changed arrangements and supported me the whole way through. As a solo traveler with minimal ability to speak Spanish, I felt secure with his assistance. I would recommend their services.

I had a wonderful time in Cusco, Peru, helping in a Kindergarten in the mornings and an After School Project in the afternoons. I played with the kids, helped with the Organisation of the daily work and helped the teacher with everything. I learned so much about the culture, met so wonderful people and was very well received by everyone. So I was able to give a lot to the kids, even without speaking a lot Spanish. Thanks for this amazing time. I really enjoyed being part of the daily life. Living with my host family was also a great experience.

I spent one month in Guatemala. As Physical thererapist i worked in a physio clinic in Tecpàn, chimaltenango district.
I can say that my expierience was incredibly great. The Family i live with was so human, kind and available.
The people in the clinic put me in comfort zone as we knew each other from many years.
The organization, inlexca, always supported me and always was present when i needed.
I have a guatemaltecan heart piece right now.
Thanks to all people i knew there, all in my mind, forever.
Por siempre agradecido.
Fabio.

I’m really glad I chose this program because I had a lot of freedom when it came to deciding in what way I want to support the program. Mariam, the Development and Communications Coordinator, supported me with anything I needed.
But since I “made up” my functions and duties in the project it made me feel like I wasn’t needed at all - which of course is good, because the project is important and should never depend on the help of the volunteer, but I was surprised by that.
If you are enthusiastic and have your own ideas this is a great opportunity to learn a lot about the culture though: since I worked in a program that helped women I learnt a lot about the problems and controversies in the country.
Apart from that, even making a very small impact makes me feel good, because it’s a non-profit organization which makes the lives of a lot of women so much better by helping them become more independent and self confident.