Program Reviews

I had a great time working in a clinic in Cusco Peru. It was fascinating to see how the health-care system runs there, and help out. Having worked for almost 2 years in clinics and hospitals elsewhere, I can honeatly say that the ministry of health in Peru does life-saving work with limited resources. From vaccinating highschoolers against measles, mumps, and rubella, to stitching up lacerations, I appreciated the opportunity to practice my skills. The people in the clinic were warm and appreciative. My host, Maria was welcoming and lovely. She took excellent care of me in her beautiful home. My country coordinator, Roger, we above and beyond to help me enjoy the city and feel safe. He honestly cares about the work he does and wants the volunteers to, as well. I loved staying in the house with the other volunteers, sharing meals together, exploring the markets, and playing cards at night. Great experience!

Volunteering in Sri Lanka was a lovely experience! There would not have been a better way to spend my holiday than volunteering in Sri Lanka. I enjoyed living with a host family as they were able to assist me in adapting to life in Sri Lanka. I do feel that the program could use more supervision, and I would have enjoyed the opportunity to volunteer more. I taught English to the monks and value every moment that I spent with them. I would love to have this opportunity again!
The host family was a pleasure to stay with. They were very kind, open to the various cultures of the volunteers and also explained their culture. Being amidst the culture and to become a part of it was lovely.
I would highly recommend that others take advantage of this program. The price was very reasonable and the experience was priceless!

The Staff from the beginning to the end were wonderful. Hom the country coordinator was so wonderful, he made sure that every question we had was answered, we were comfortable and all our needs were met. Hom has a great staff, the driver Gen was always on time and came when he said he would be there at the exact location he said he would be. When he put us on a bus to our safari he made sure there was someone on the other end to pick us up. If you get a chance to go to Chitwan to see the safari go and meet Rajandra he is such a nice man, so proud of his culture and loves to share it. Also the language and culture person was so good and very informative. We were taken around to the various temples and he knew so much about all of them. I can’t say enough about the host family, Raj and his family opened there home to us treated us like family always made sure we were well treated. I was walking home from the medical clinic one day and Raj's brother saw me and he gave me a ride to his brothers home. Everyone was so kind and warm-hearted. I would recommend anyone to go to Nepal. Thank you for the experience.

The trip was very fun and gave me a really good opportunity to experience medical care in a country different to Australia. The hosts Michael and Berny were incredibly friendly and welcoming, along with their families as well. We were very well looked after and the house was very clean. The hospital was very eventful and I got to experience several departments like surgery, and internal medicine. One of my favourite memories is visiting galle fort, it was very beautiful and the food was also nice there. Another really nice destination was unawatuna beach and I think we should have gone there earlier in the trip because everyone liked it a lot. Also had a lot of touristy attractions and food places that we could have explored earlier. One recommendation is that we should be offered the chance to go to get SIM carda earlier in the trip as well as I did not realise how cheap the phone plans here were

Michael, Berny and their families were amazing hosts. They were all lovely people, easy to talk to and happy to help whenever we needed something. They really made us feel at home. The accommodation provided all basic necessities. The hospital placement was a great opportunity for overseas medical students to learn a lot of things we would have seen otherwise. Some of the doctors were really happy to teach and if we were lucky to follow one of them, there was so much to learn! A variety of extra activities and excursions were also organised which was a great way to bond with the group and explore the country. Transport was provided for all the organised activities and it was pretty flexible if you wanted to stay back or go exploring outside the organised activities. Overall a great experience!

Overall trip was great. Berny was an amazing host and Michael was incredibly helpful. No really significant improvements needed besides having more organised activities - some community days had a balance between clinical teaching and interactions with locals, whereas other days were all clinical and no interactions.

The trip provided me with an eye-opening experience of a unique culture and country so extraordinarily different from Australia. From the food to the temples and beaches, the colourful vibrant atmosphere of Sri Lanka was emphasised through the smiles of its locals and individuality of its culture, despite being a developing nation with potential for positive growth.

Being exposed to a clinical environment that’s of a different standard to Australian healthcare and as well as learning about the country’s less fortunate youths has put into perspective two different worlds.

Michael, Berny and their families were great hosts and lovely people, they were easy to talk to and always ready to help whenever we needed something. They really made us feel at home. The accommodation was good, all basic necessities were supplied, the rooms could get quite hot sometimes and sometimes there were power outages, but this wasn't a big issue. Transport was provided for all organised activities and was quite flexible. We could even organise transport for extra things we wanted to do through Michael which was very helpful. The hospital placements were a great learning opportunity for medical students, the doctors were aware of our position and purpose in the hospital and were usually happy to help, although this depended on their character and how busy they were. Most of us ended up rotating departments by the end of the week although we were initially told we couldn't do this. This could have been better organised to facilitate everyones interests and equal number of students in each group.

The programme was inspiring and eventful. Our host, Michael was supportive and very helpful. The hospital segment was useful in certain aspects. I was posted to surgery and while it was interesting to watch the surgeons, there was a language barrier and the surgeons are focused on their patients, making our learning harder. This opened my eyes to the different healthcare system in Sri Lanka and the limited resources that the public hospitals have. It was rather hard to communicate with the Sri Lankan’s as there was a language barrier. It was also interesting to see the contrast between the state of the hospital in Galle and the hospitals we have back in Sydney.

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My week at the hospital has been very wholesome. I got a great insight on the medical systems in Sri Lanka. I listened to at least 7 heart murmurs in 5 days, that’s more than I’ve ever listened to in two years of medical school. Most of what I got through hospital was self directed. The doctors can be very busy but, are quite willing to teach. However, whether you ask the doctors to teach you and seem interested in it is only up to you. Micheal was a great host. He was very friendly and approachable, and his family made me feel like I was at home. The facilities met the standards band I really appreciate their hospitality! The driving was quite fast and felt a bit dangerous, however looks like most driving in Sri Lanka is quite fast. I was afraid of mosquitos but there were insecticides being sprayed. Looks like there was a solution for every problem. Overall I really enjoyed this trip so far!

Michael and Bernie were lovely hosts, opening their homes with great food and hospitality. They really went above and beyond to make sure our stay was comfortable and safe such as organising Tuk tuks. However, I would’ve liked to know where the money from this trip was going towards as 1200 AUD in Sri Lanka is a surmountable amount. Moreover community activities needed to be better organised as we were left not knowing what or daily activities were.

Michael and Bernie were lovely hosts, opening their homes with great food and hospitality. They really went above and beyond to make sure our stay was comfortable and safe such as organising Tuk tuks. However, I would’ve liked to know where the money from this trip was going towards as 1200 AUD in Sri Lanka is a surmountable amount. Moreover community activities needed to be better organised as we were left not knowing what or daily activities were.