Like everyone leaving the country with people you don't know I was afraid of what was going to happen. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that every person I met (even the natives on the street) were nice, patient, and overall really happy to see you! We travelled to Masaya in Nicaragua as well as a few cities in Costa Rica. I the poorest cities in America parents don't let their children leave the house, however in Central America the cities that VIDA takes you to are so safe the the kids are running around all over the place. And no we did not spend every day in a run down hotel with no hot water (just 2 or 3 ;)). My homestay family were super sweet people and the two sisters are on my facebook now. The only thing not so great about the trip for us Americans was that the Costa Rican's eat dinner around 7 or 8 at night, so we were always really hungry. They also don't have quite the same strictness with scheduling as we do, so when you go don't expect to follow the schedule exactly. But, you should definately go! I hope to go back again before my college experience is over!

As a trip coordinator I was in constant contact with the VIDA staff in Costa Rica and they are great people to work with! The planning of this trip went extremely smooth because of them. They helped make it possible for many students to have the experience of a life time! I would recommend participating in a trip with VIDA to anyone who is interested in traveling abroad to gain great medical and dental volunteer experience.

I went on spring break 2012 to costa rica. It was the most amazing trip I've ever been on. I loved our home stay family,friends we met,and medical knowledge I gained. If you have an opportunity to take a vida trip take it immediately.

Volunteering with VIDA was such a wonderful experience! I've volunteered with them twice (2 summers in a row). I got a lot of hands-on experience spaying/neutering dogs/cats. I learned a lot from their veterinarians. They were so helpful and so friendly! The housing was great. The families were stayed with were very hospitable. We also got to do fun activities, such as zip-lining and white water rafting, which were tons of fun! I would LOVE to go on another trip with VIDA!

This trip is a great opportunity to develop skills as a medical, veterinary, or dental student, as a Spanish speaker, and as a caregiver. The trip is set up to accommodate volunteers very nicely, and has many fun opportunities. I would say that it was easy to focus more on having fun than focusing on the volunteer and service we were actually doing. Because of my previous experiences on service trips, I was able to have more of a servant's mindset and heart, and was therefore able to experience a lot and get much more out of the trip. I met two friends while on the trip who will be my cross-country best friends for the rest of my life. Great time! :)

I attended a 2 weeks veterinary volunteer adventure last summer and am currently coordinating another trip this summer. The was the most rewarding experience in my entire life! It is amazing to be able to travel to Costa Rica and Nicaragua and be immersed into the culture while being able to provide invaluable veterinary, medical, and dental services to the communities that truly need our help. The hands on experience is second to none and is significantly more than I have received working in the veterinary field for 6 years in the states. The staff is amazing and helps you all along the way- I made many friends on my last trip and plan to again this year. It is extremely safe which I was initially worried about - we only go to safe areas and we all travel in a group at all times. There is a perfect balance of work and fun with 5 clinic days and ~7 day adventures including things like ziplining, national forest, shopping, sloth sanctuary, latin dancing, playing soccer, and many amazing restaurants. I researched other volunteer broad groups for months on end before I decided to go with VIDA and I am SO glad I did!

I had been to Costa Rica before on a Spanish language trip in high school so when I saw that my second VIDA trip option was to go to Costa Rica I was pretty excited. It surpassed expectations and although it was difficult work, it was intensely rewarding. The work itself was not the most difficult part though. I am conversational in Spanish but had quite the difficulty conversing with the children of my host family. Though this was a trivial complaint compared to how fun the trip as a whole was.

I was a little worried going into the program with such little experience since I thought it wasn't very likely that I could learn enough about medicine to apply it in just 2 weeks; I was definitelly wrong and can't believe how much I've gained! I was able to learn how to interact with patients to help them provide the right information in order to help us make an accurate diagnosis for their symptoms. The clinic days were tiring since we saw hundreds of patients every day, but it was well worth it to see the patients' smiling faces and know that we had made a positive impact on someone else's life.
The work was also perfectly balanced with the fun, and I even feel like they overlapped since the work itself became really fun. I was able to establish great relationships with all of the staff including the group leaders, the interpreters, the doctors and veteranarians, as well as nurses that helped with the vaccinations and pap smears. I felt happy and safe the entire time I was with them and can't wait to go back again for another trip.
My VIDA trip helped strengthen my love of medicine and allowed me to get a real glimpse at the type of work I will be doing in the future and how much I'll love it.