Program Reviews

I strongly advise against this program for several reasons. Firstly, be aware that many recent positive comments were intentionally added to drown out severe critiques highlighting the mistreatment endured this year. Initially, there were 20 of us, including 12 international students (2 boys and 9 girls) and 8 local boys; however, ALL the girls left before the program ended. I strongly encourage you to read my colleagues' negative comments.

Several aspects of this school are problematic: the quality of teaching, corruption, staff behavior, living conditions, safety issues, and challenges faced by some students. Aside from hygiene problems and food shortages, I particularly want to address the conduct of the organization, which deserves firm condemnation.

The teaching was poor; the teachers lacked qualifications for subjects related to climate change like natural sciences. Often, we had to prepare our own lessons, and poor organization significantly disrupted activities. The initial activities overly focused on school and maintenance.

The lack of professionalism among the teachers was severe. From the outset, they sought inappropriate relationships with female students. Alc***, substance use, and inappropriate relationships were widespread at RVA, contributing to an unhealthy atmosphere that led to a female teacher leaving in January along with many students.

Teachers displayed mean and authoritarian behavior without justification, targeting girls who reported misconduct. Reports of abuse were disregarded under the guise of "cultural differences," leaving students unprotected from predatory behaviors, even when violating zero-tolerance policies on alcoh** and substances.

Furthermore, during our move to the communities, due to lack of organization and communication, we spent two weeks without money to buy groceries. We had very little food and were very weak. Indeed, the organization refused to give us money, claiming that we needed to submit a "request" that takes 1 to 2 weeks to process. A teacher, Elizabeth, had to give us money out of her own pocket so that we could eat, a situation that is unacceptable on top of the physical work we were doing.

The program's neglect of safety, prioritizing local interests over student well-being, became unbearable. The aggressive and disdainful behavior of teachers, including individuals like Nemron and Calvert, epitomized organizational failure.

Here are a few relevant points: unfortunately, other negative events have occurred. Please do not attempt to respond to my comment dishonestly, as you have done in the past.
Go check out the "Richmond Vale Academy Alert Group" on Facebook.
Despite these challenges, I appreciate the warm welcome from the island's inhabitants. It's a beautiful archipelago, and I hope to return someday.

It was a period in my life where I had the most fun, laughed the most, and gained a lot of experience in many ways. I improved my language skills, made friends from many different countries, and learned to cook various dishes. When I returned to Turkey, I tried to make these dishes as much as possible. I learned through my school classes that I actually knew nothing about global warming. The sincerity and helpfulness of the local people touched my heart. Being able to swim with the ocean on one side and the forest on the other was wonderful. Swimming with plankton at night was indescribable. It was a very different experience in my life. I am very grateful to everyone there for contributing to this valuable experience.

I started the 6 months program at RVA when I was 19 and I experienced a lot here and I met a lot of amazing people whom I still have contact with today. They came from all over the world. I started to see the world in a different perspective because everyone comes here with a different background and story to tell about their country and themselves and that made me realize that the world is not always what you seem to think watching the news.
I learned about climate change and how it affects the world and everything around us, I am happy that I learned this because I didnt know nothing about it when I first came here.
I was actually surprised that climate was a crisis and it caught my attention cause when I made research and put one and one together it all made sense thinking of all the floodings we have had in St Vincent.
I learned how to make home gardens with my team - we were spread into 3 groups. My group made 2 big home gardens in Chato and Troumaca. It was a challenging and interesting period because we built the gardens from scratch. We learned about permaculture and implementing the design principles at the same time.
After the program I left for a couple of years and then returned to become Coral Reef gardener. I got certified padi open water and advanced and I learned about the corals that they alive and they are endangered because the oceans are acidifying and pollution. So we are working on restoring them back to life and populate the coastal areas that were lost.
I came to RVA as a young man of 19. I am now 25 and I have learned a lot working with RVA and I am very grateful for what I have learned and I want to do more in the future.

From November 2021 until April 2022, I spent six months learning about the challenges of climate change, building ecological home gardens and, most importantly, getting to know people from many different cultures and myself a bit better.

When I decided to join the Climate Compliance Program, I had a lot of expectations of how I wanted to explore this paradisic Island, learn about the effects of contemporary environmental issues and have a positive impact myself. In truth, many things weren't as expected. Especially, at the beginning it was hard to realize that in the project thing don't always go as planned. But I like to think that all the experiences I‘ve made, whether they were good or bad had a lesson to teach me.

Overall, I had an amazing experience of discovering St Vincent and its beautiful, warm and loving culture. It is incredible how much I learned about nature, myself and the world we live in. Some of these things you will be taught by your teacher, some by the amazing people you will meet, and some you will just have to discover yourself. Whatever you expect when you decide to join Richmond Vale Academy, I promise you it will be different. You will have an amazing time with unexpected adventures, inspiring acquaintances as well as many challenges. But this is how you wil grow.

Absolutely delightful experience! From the warm ambiance to the impeccable service, every moment was a joy. Their dedication to community through their volunteer system left a lasting impression. Highly recommend for a good experience! I would like to express my gratitude for the wonderful opportunity to participate in this volunteer-based project. Joining this project has not only allowed me to meet new people but also provided me with a chance to develop myself. The energy and excitement I felt while working together were truly motivating. It was an honor for me to be involved in the project.

Richmond Vale Academy stands out as a unique educational institution, with a distinctive type of educators. Working alongside the Academy was a truly defining moment in my life, merging theory with practice in a way that deepens understanding of the society we inhabit was profoundly impactful.

The teaching council, comprised of individuals from various nationalities, fostered a rich multicultural environment that emphasized the value of dialogue and active participation in shaping our collective existence.

The Academy's pedagogical approach closely aligns with the philosophy of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, aiming to cultivate individuals who are community-minded and prepared to transform reality by tackling social and environmental challenges.

The school's infrastructure is exceptionally well-equipped, providing a safe and engaging environment for those seeking an international experience. The participatory methodologies employed here involve everyone in a collaborative and egalitarian manner, truly embodying the essence of cohesive and affectionate education.

When I started my Program in Canada on November 2021 I was in a really bad spot mentally. I just had broken up with my girlfriend of over two years. But this program gave me the chance to reinvent myself. I could be anyone because no one knew the old me, so I had this amazing opportunity to basically start over. And I did. Inspired from my teammates and my teacher I decided that I wanted to come back to Germany with the attitude to be the happiest person in the room. This was not a decision I made over night. It rather was something I started to want over time. Because it was thanks to my teacher and my amazing friends in the program I was forced to self reflect on the person I was so far and the life I had back in Germany. I never realized before that how good I had it. These 6 months were by far my most favorite 6 months of my life. I learned so much about me, about my life, people from different countries with different cultural backgrounds. I have changed and grown so much thanks to this opportunity and I have changed for the better.

First of all, Richmond Vale Academy in Saint Vincent and Grenadines offers you a unique experience that everyone must be a part of for some period of time in their lifetime. It also offers a great learning opportunity that combines education, community engagement, and environmental sustainability. The warm hearted staff both from local communities and different countries are very supportive, welcoming, knowledgeable and very friendly. I have learned a lot and had long lasting friendships all around the world along the way. I genuinely and highly recommend everyone who are looking for an impactful and engaging learning experience.

I was a teacher in the 6-month climate compliance program for almost 5 years.
During these years, I learned a lot, really a lot of things that changed my life and my perception of the world. Living in a community, accepting and embracing those around me, compassion, critical thinking and working hard for a better future are just some of the skills I developed during my time at RVA.
Here I met people from all over the world - people who want to do something useful for our planet and the life on it. I was constantly inspired, challenged and provoked by the members of the RVA community to become a better and stronger person.
The work with the local people and the improvement of their conditions is a strong and everlasting motivation for me to continue doing development work.

I did my voluntary service here in 2023, and very mixed feelings. I would have liked a comment like this in advance, because the alumni contacts you get didn't mention any of this. First of all, it is good to know how this school is structured: all teachers are in a suspicious association called Teacher Group or Tvind. (it's worth doing a Google search) The group is like a cult, and joining is a condition for becoming a teacher here.
Even if you don't notice much of the structures of the TeachersGroup apart from the "another kind of school" principle, the staff is conspicuously unprofessional. Nearly no teacher has much expertise, both in terms of content and pedagogy. The program is therefore weak in teaching and relies on an online learning platform with faulty and old files. Instead of being about the content, the focus of conferences and the typical day is not the actual project presented (on instagram very romantized) but the community life:

In concrete terms, for the individual this means daily cleaning for the community, e.g. 45 minutes of dishwashing in the morning. Once a week you are assigned to a meal, or as a kitchen helper (you spend up to 2.5 hours in the kitchen for dinner duty or as a kitchen helper from 8:15 a.m. to 12 p.m). Every Wednesday you serve only physically intensive work to maintain the Academy, every 4th weekend a "Buildingweekend", where you also spend the entire weekend helping to maintain the Academy. This also includes very disgusting tasks, such as cleaning a freezer with frozen blood, emptying a compost with maggots inside or very exhausting things like digging out a big 6 ft deep hole to create a water well. The 2nd month is also only used to further expand the Academy campus. It's actually cool that there are no cleaning/maintenance employees except for the cooks in order not to create a hierarchy, but where is the limit to the exploitation of volunteers?

All of this voluntary maintaining and cleaning is adressed before, but talked down. New tasks always came up. Would have been no problem for me, If there was a spirit of apreciation for volunteers.

The rule concept is also questionable, as the rule against alcohol gets much more attention than the no discrimination policy, for example.
The staff drank and smoke themselves, sometimes with the students, who are then punished for it. Body shaming and sexism are common. Working was always closely connected to the girls being expected to can't work as hatd as the boys/ not being as skilled. Complete mysogony and sexism.
Instead of employees being rethought, people who criticize grievances are literally kicked out.

What has kept me here are the people from the different teams and the wonderful country. For me the better part began after 2 months, because you actually lived with the community and not in this commune bubble.
Even though you are isolated in the first 2 months and don't see much of the island on campus, it's great to have met so many warm international and local people

however, I wouldn't recommend coming here to any of my friends, for example. The importance of the gardening is questionable, only a third of the program is really about it. The program gives you the feeling that the individual is unimportant here, less important than the participation fee. We had a course on the economy in the third month and I questioned one thing about the numbers and the headmaster was already confused about her own numbers (that don't add up)
In my time here, some people have dropped out very unexpectedly, many have left voluntarily. We were a team of 20 people and after three months 11 were remaining. They didn't get money back enough that it would be all spent but only a share, for us it felt like people leaving actually profits them.

For me it's hard to believe, that the organisation is really non profit!!

Coming to the actual volunteering period starting in the second month:

1. there was one projectleader who is ultimately unskilled in communication and being on time as he says himself. He is likely to call you weak. The working hours were changed towards the end to the month from until 12 to until 4pm without including us in planning.

Remember: You paid alot of money to join the programme, whereas the rent for the school to pay is free for the campus, and the budget for the food is set for 5ec (about 1.6€) per meal eventhough its not that cheap to eat here.
That also explains the "quality food" we had( One time I wanted to make a salad I got badly critizised) There is no students kitchen, so you depend on the three meals a day (remember its super rural, the next supermarket is 40 min walk away)

Its ironic to do presentations about healthy eating at the schools around and at the same time have to eat plain rice and lentils because your budget ran out.

2. the concepts around the gardens that are build doesn't make sense:
the preperation period in advance is not preparing you in building those gardens. The concept of being "activists" that teach the farmers doesn't work out if you just learn about the tools/ materials/ methods in the moment you arrive in the garden.
all our work was about was building bamboo constructions, which is monotonous and at the same time not very sustainable. We don't build complete gardens, mostly the bed frames, whereas you have to know, that bamboo decomposes in a few months and the garden owner is expected themselves to replace it.(Something that is never taught to them. Also we build the gardens without the support of their owners, therefore it is not sustainable at all)

In the 2 months of the building time, we build 2 gardens. Later on we found out, that both of them were build without purpose. One garden didn't have a permission to be built and the other home garden owner is about to extend her house on the area we build her garden.
I feel like I wasted my time and energy in this place.

This place is run by unrealistic, idealistic principles that make sense in theory and are sold good. The reality looks completely different, there is no sense in professionality in any area. Both of the teacher we had as being the main responsibles for us left. Others were in holidays, headmaster changes randomly, everything is unpredictable and there is way too much drama in all areas. Apparently at some poing there were some skilled local teachers who were really passionate and knowledgeable about permaculture. All of them got kicked out/ left voluntarily.