Program Reviews

This was a meaningful program that I enjoyed immensely. I spent two weeks volunteering. I am mid 60’s, my volunteer colleagues were 18-25 with one other couple in their mid 50’s. Age had no barriers, the commradery was delightful. Each day’s work is different, and each day you see the results of previous volunteers efforts which gives you immediate satisfaction that your own efforts are meaningful. On one of my first days I saw a large grove of indigenous trees planted by previous volunteers.......and I immediately realized the value of the program. Working with the Giant Tortoises was my favorite. We planted, harvested and prepared (chopped different sizes for different tortoise age groups). Our typical day was breakfast around 7:15, work in The Highlands 8:00am-12:30 ish, lunch and free afternoons to explore the island (San Cristobal). We planted, transplanted a variety of indigenous plants and worked toward eradication of invasive non-indigenous plants. The best part was our hosts, Eduardo and Lucia. They provided a warm loving environment staying in their home and solid management of the program. They are 3rd or 4th generation Galápagos natives, they work very hard protecting their islands/environment and they treat volunteers with dignity and graciousness. I wholeheartedly recommend this program.

Me and my friend spent 3 wonderful weeks teaching children (age 6-12) in a primary school in Bali, Kuta. During the process of our online applications everything went smoothly, we were given all the help and support that we needed. The in-country coordinator Komang was more than just a support for us, he took us to a traditional Balinese wedding, showed us the most beautiful authentic parts of Bali and was there whenever we needed him. He was also really flexible and helpful when we wanted to change our accommodation or had any other questions.
About the teaching experience: We could choose in between two sites, Karangasem or Kuta. We chose Kuta and the school and teachers there are wonderful. They had one English teacher (Miss Surya) and we got the chance to teach alongside with her and help these wonderful, respectful and energetic children learning English. However, if you are seeking to have an authentic Balinese environment please do not go to Kuta, Karangasem is a much better option with the beautiful Mount Agung on one side and the sea on the other. Also as IFRE is a smaller organisation they spread out the volunteers all over the island hence do not really expect to meet with other volunteers, most probably you will be on your own.
I can 100 % recommend this program for anyone even if you haven't done any teachings yet.

I did the medical volunteering in/near Surin, Thailand in November 2019 initiated through IFRE and carried out by Starfish (a UK company).
IFRE was superb in answering a lot of questions I had ahead of time and for ensuring I made the right connections with the local group. They were also diligent about checking in on me during the experience.
The Starfish support staff was awesome. They were very friendly and supportive and treated me like a family member from day 1. They were constantly checking in on us and seeing if we needed anything. The coordinator assigned to the medical team has no medical certification but through training functions at the level a Medical Assistant would in the USA. She was energetic, engaged and highly competent. I would hire her in a minute for my own clinic!
The accommodations are very basic but clean. Shared room if there are many people and shared bathroom. The guest house is near some conveniences and a short tuktuk ride away from the center of town.
The clinical activities take place in several small villages surrounding Ban Ta Kook northeast of Surin. There is a very high-functioning team of NPs and volunteers deployed to this clinic and they provide many types of screening, diagnostic and treatment activities that the volunteers support. Transportation to the Ban Ta Kook clinic and surrounding areas occurs in the bed of a pick up truck outfitted with benches and a cover. Activities include basic wound care/dressing changes, dental fluoride sealant application, blood pressure and diabetes screening, and home visits for their immobile patients.
The volunteer activity is meaningful to the local clinic I think mainly by way of providing enough manpower to efficiently do a lot of screening and to free them up from mundane wound care tasks to do other things.
The food is out of this world if you like Northern Isan-style Thai food.
Weekends are free to explore Surin or any part of Thailand (islands, Bangkok or National Parks) or Cambodia (Angkor Wat complex for example) and the staff will set up the transportation for any of these excursions including transport to Siem Reap.
If you're a physician or an NP/PA or Registered Nurse, if you don't have a Thai license you can't really be left alone to do diagnosis or treatment but their NPs are certainly happy to hear what you would do in the same situation in your country. And unless you speak fluent Thai it would be difficult anyways. Just figuring out the medical system for the remote villages, the organization and application of practice protocols and how the community cares for its members is really interesting.
I had a blast in my 2 weeks and would do it again!

I had an amazing experience during my volunteering project in Cusco, Peru. My host family was great. Maria cooked great meals and was always friendly and ready for a chat. Roger, my coordinator, was the best he gave me a great background on the orphanage with teen mamas and their children. He really tries to help them in any way he can. On a Sunday Roger showed me around the ruins in Cusco, with some history lessons and we went to a local restaurant to try the best local Ceviche. The work at the orphanage was an incredible experience - helping the moms at their daily work and taking care of the kids was very rewarding! In my free time I was able to visit the Inka ruins in the Cusco region, culminating with the Machu Picchu visit, which is hard to describe in words - it was breathtaking! In Cusco you have everything you want - great Peruvian food, good pubs, a lot of friendly foreign travelers and the best night life in Peru! You your looking for an amazing experience, I can only recommend Cusco! Thank you!

Had a really nice time at Latin American Sea Turtle Project. The staff and service was excellent. I learnd a lot more about those lovely animals and about nature in general. I can‘t say that mich because I only had time to stay for 5 days. So I tecommend you should definitely stay a longer time. I was there in October so it’s the rain season. But the weather was actually very good always sunny in the morning and later on it rained or sometimes also just a little so really perfect, because it wasn’t to crazy hot. The cabin I stayed in was also good and the food they served me everyday. The host family was super cute and friendly and tried to communicate with me as good as possible, because I couldn’t speak Spanish at all. All in one, an amazing experience.

These children need help.
They have very little english, math, basic life skills. They need an education.

I understand the logistic difficulties finding full time volunteers to teach wich makes a teaching programme difficult to organise.

My host family was so dirty, the father asked me for a few loans and feeling horribly sorry for him and his family, igave him some money to help him out.
He still owes me alot of money and i have since found out his ridiculous gambling problem, alcoholism. A family of 3 with no jobs taking money from volunteers when it could be helping the kids, insted the money we pay goes to roulette at the 2 local casino's. (People are free to do as they please but im not happy about funding a casino.)

My host family was extremely controlling and i felt pressured into doing things they wanted to do... then paying for it.

The organisation had no direct contact with the monestary and had no idea of schedule, skill level of the kids or anything. My host family knew 1 monk and that was the only connection.

This is my first time going to Bali and doing overseas volunteer work. I always wanted to do so, but I cannot find an affordable one. On Aug30, I finally found IFRE and called them to see if it is possible to arrange 1week program at last minute and go to Bali on Sep 21. The staff was very helpful and immediately contacted the local coordinator (Komang) to see availability. I confirmed and did the payment same day. The documents are prepared immediately and I actually very impressed that IFRE has a local coordinator that I can contact during my stay.
Being a person who never teach children and looking after turtles, I am soooo fascinated about education in Bali. Every kids are very polite, and I actually learnt from them too - To be grateful in everything.
For sea turtle program, I am so lucky to see 2 turtle mothers laid their eggs! The person who is responsible for the turtle centre (Agung) is truly enjoy taking care of the turtle and love them. I can feel his passion and I did enjoy the whole week there! I didn’t expect a sea turtle can lag that many eggs and there are thousands of eggs waiting to hatched in the centre! The tourists love the idea of nurturing the baby turtles and release them. They really appreciate what the organisation did. I enjoyed to introduce them the sea turtle information too.
Komang is very supportive and he kept checking with me to see if I have any issue (so caring!). He helped to arrange driver to pick me up from the airport (again I am so impressed about it, I thought I need to go to the accommodation myself). The driver was very friendly and took me to a local restaurant (which is very tasty!). Komang has arranged a hotel for accommodation, I loveeeee the staff there, the meals are good too! They are very friendly and I like them!
The working hours are flexible and you can go to have other tours if you want to. Just tell Komang and Agung is fine.
I was so excited to finally step out of my comfort zone!! I even made a short story to introduce the process how sea turtle mother lay eggs :) I love Bali - good food, good weather, good people. This is a great experience and relaxing week and I definitely will come back next year and have a longer time staying in Bali.

My daughter and I volunteered for 2 weeks at the NATUWA Wildlife Sanctuary. We were looking for a true hands on experience that was affordable and educational. It was all that and more!
The staff were knowledgeable, extremely friendly and loved to joke around! They also took their work very seriously. We felt welcome for the moment we arrived and learned so much from them! The kitchen staff were very accommodating to vegetarian and gluten free diets. You will not go hungry!
The theme was, “work hard, play hard” while we were there. Every day was different. Besides preparing food and feeding the animals twice a day, we worked on many projects throughout the sanctuary. It was very satisfying work. At the end of the day there was time to relax in a hammock, play games or go into town. We often walked to the local store and hung out by the soccer field. We even joined in a soccer game with the locals... so fun!!! We felt welcome wherever we went.
We also got one day off a week to go on a day trip. We organized a trip with 8 of us and hired a tour company to take us snorkeling and go swimming on a beautiful island. Along the way, they took us to an island where we got to see spider monkeys swinging around. They also took us past a rocky area where there were may birds. Along the way we saw lots of dolphins and a whale! We ended the trip with a visit to the bioluminescent water, where we could go swimming!
Although I went with my 17 year old daughter, I didn’t see much of her during the work day. She was busy giving tours of the sanctuary and working on different projects. There were 4 feeding routes, too, that we rotated during our stay. This allowed us to get to know all the animals at the sanctuary. There were many young people volunteering, as well as a family and people of different ages. We all made new friends and are in touch through WhatsApp!
We will definitely volunteer through IFRE again!!!

I volunteered for 6 weeks in Chitwan doing forest conservation where I helped to build a small farm for which vegetables would be grown and given to the nearby orphanage. Through this I learned how to grow cucumber, okra, soybean and pumpkin and different conditions need to grow each one. Despite it being quite physically challenging i really enjoyed it in addition to the stunning views and great staff. I also appreciated how they listening to my ideas regarding plating trees where we ended up playing roughly 270 jackfruit and mango trees in the nursery. Thanks you also to my lovely homestay for their hospitality and amazing food! Overall I would definitely recommend this project as it really improves your tolerance, persistence and communication skills with the local people.

I was involved in two projects during my 3-month stay in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2009 - teaching English to young Buddhist monks in a monastery (they were actually very naughty the little ones!) and working in an orphanage, where the children were so upbeat and loving, it made me want to cry. Both projects left a huge impact on me, so much so that I want to return some day.

My host family made me feel like I was a member of their own family, and they even gave me a Nepalese name 'Nisha' which I became accustomed to. I'm so glad I didn't stay in a hostel or hotel whilst in Nepal as I believe the experience would not have been as enriching.

Then there's the other volunteers you meet which have the potential to become friends for life! I met people from Australia, Canada, Denmark, UK, Germany, Singapore - we're still in touch after 10 years!