Not a good program

This program was very rough. Overall, there was an overwhelming lack of support from the program and not many experiences to engage in the culture outside of your host families resources. I did not have a horrible time, I still made friends and learned the language alright, but my experience was pretty limited in comparison to the amount I payed for this program. The only part of my program that went really well was the time at the high school I was placed in. However, the high school was an entirely different entity than Greenheart Travel, so Greenheart earns no points there.

The biggest problem was the huge variability in the quality of host families paired with the lack of in country support. While I did not expect to be placed with a very rich family, I did expect my family to be financially stable and to have the time and resources to care for me. This was not the case. My host family had barely enough money to get by, especially with me added to the family. They often asked to borrow money from me or to borrow my credit card. I found this highly inappropriate. In addition, most of the time I was on my own or only with my host sister (who was younger than me). Food situations were often tricky too, it was always awkward to ask for food. A lot of the time I did not get breakfast. The only method of transport in the host family was a motorcycle, so they were not even able to take me to and from the airport. I had to do most public transit on my own. I understand some people live this way and that is fine, I don’t mean to be disrespectful. However, the program did promise regular meals a day and a stable host family situation.

On top of the unstable family situations, the lack of in country support also made my experience very difficult. The staff in country knew nothing about exchanging money in Argentina and often recommended illegal methods. This is unacceptable. The staff tasked with selecting, interacting, and monitoring host families did not meant standard.They did not provide a lot of resources to me when my host family situation became volatile. The opportunity to swap families was mentioned but never presented as a real option. In addition, I found that the host families were not well prepared to accept exchange students. EduQuality staff members had not done a good job communicating with host families about expectations on meals, help with the language, etc.

The Greenheart program’s support back at home when I applied and when I returned were not admirable either. They often took weeks to respond to my emails and several mistakes were made during my payment process including pushed up deadlines and extra charges. While all of these problems were resolved it was troublesome. In addition, after returning in country I was not awarded my scholarship for several months. I was supposed to receive it while in Argentina or shortly after, however I took several emails, many phone calls, and the help of my parents to obtain the money. I was very disappointed in this.

The last thing I would like to say is that these problems did not only happen to me. The cohort I went with faced similar problems with food, housing, and completely unaccepting host families. They also experienced Greenheart and their companion company in Argentina take away in country support from them while they faced significant problems.

I sincerely hope you will think twice before sending yourself or your child with this program. I was not impressed and it was quite expensive. You could have a much better experience with another company. A better option might be the rotary program.