Terrible organization, and a program that doesn't care about laws or safety

I signed up for Angloville in summer 2021, when COVID is still a significant problem. The original program I signed up for was actually canceled because the country closed its borders due to rising numbers of COVID cases. I signed up for another program a few weeks later, and was promised they would follow local laws regarding COVID, including social distancing and masking inside.

Before leaving for the trip, I repeatedly encountered bad planning and lack of forethought on the part of the organizers. For example, I needed to get a negative COVID test in order to return to my home country after the program. I was going to fly out the day after the program ended, and the test needed to be taken 48 hours before flying out. So, I asked the organizers if COVID testing was going to be built into the itinerary on the second-last day of the program -- otherwise, I would have to leave during the day to go get the test, and I assumed other people would also need to take the test. The organizer was impressed that I had thought of that, because it had not occurred to the organizing team. For another example, I asked about transportation to the program location from the airport (an hour drive away), and they hadn't thought about that either. Only with prompting from me did they say they would look into it. Then, 4 days before the program started when I still hadn't heard anything, I looked into it myself and emailed them what I had found. They then thanked me for doing their job and forwarded that information to the other volunteers.

After flying across the Atlantic to get there, I discovered that not only were the program coordinators not following the laws, but they didn't care when I asked about it. I told them I was concerned about COVID, because I needed a negative test to get back to my country. They said, "Well, just don't worry about it," shrugged, and walked away. For reference, it was a group of about 60 people, who were mostly teenagers. I talked to the other program coordinator, who said, "They're teenagers, I can't tell them what to do." What a great attitude from someone who is in charge of a large group of teenagers.

The only positive experience I had was that the other volunteers I met were fun and friendly. Maybe Angloville should consider taking care of them better. I would not recommend this program to anyone.