GVI: Alumni Network

Having travelled to the Seychelles on the terrestrial conservation program in 2013, I still think back to all the amazing times I had there with the group.

We were living on paradise. Tickling tortoises, watching baby turtles hatch and swimming through mangroves just to name a few of the surveys we did.

While we had to work hard in the week, we were allowed to leave Curiuse island on the weekends to explore the Seychelles further. This included trips to Mahe, Praslin and La Digue (Home to the second best beach in the world!!).

GVI is a well-organized and exciting organization to take part in. From snorkeling to trekking in the rainforest in Thailand, the staff created an adventurous and worthwhile volunteering opportunity that I would highly recommend!

Walking through Bombolulu Village, towards the school there are many friendly people along the way. The kind of people that if you fell over, would be very concerned. Coming to school each day was enlightening. The children were so happy to have the opportunity to learn and meet and play with volunteers. Teaching English and creative arts to the children was creative and fun. Assisting local adults in learning English, mathematics, creative arts and computer technology was equally rewarding.

In January of 2014 I went on GVI's Volunteer and Adventure Experience. During this trip I spent two weeks trekking to Everest Base Camp and another four weeks volunteering with children in Pokhara. I had an extraordinary time! Hiking to base camp at 17,598ft was one of the best things I had ever done. Originally I feared I wasn't going to capable of reaching such a high destination point -- but I didn't need to worry, the guides, porters, etc were beyond helpful. It was hands down two of the best weeks of my life. Volunteering with the children in Pokhara was also a remarkable experience. I have worked with a lot of children in my lifetime as a nanny and assistant teacher and I can honestly say some of the children I met in Nepal were some of the most wonderful kids I have ever met. It was a privilege working with them. I loved this trip so much I am looking into doing another GVI volunteer project!

I was only working with GVI phoenix in Guatemala for two weeks but I really felt I made a difference. I was volunteering in a school in an indigenous community outside Antigua. We went to the school each morning where we were warmly greeted by community leaders and I helped in a nursery class in the mornings and reinforcing reading and writing skills with some older children in the afternoons. The children and indigenous teachers were great; I worked hard and had great fun.
My Spanish improved a lot; I was using it at school having Spanish lessons in the evening and chatting with my host family in over an evening meal. Antigua, where I stayed, is a beautiful and unique city and I felt really at home there. All in all a great and really worthwhile experience.

I had an amazing time in Vanuatu. While there I was taught how to climb coconut trees, catch mudcrab, hand spear fish and make a fire with sticks. The locals are very friendly and are always willing to help. I also got to help baby turtles get out of the nest and hold on to an adult that had to be tagged. The other people on the project were really friendly too and since finishing the project I have kept in touch with them. Definantly recommend this trip.

When I left on my six-month journey in January 2010, I had no plans to attend the GVI TEFL program in Krabi, Thailand. I was wondering around Australia, feeling rather uninspired when I discovered that GVI had an office in Melbourne. I made an appointment with the intention of finding a new direction. We discussed what programs were starting imminently. As luck would have it, there as a TEFL program scheduled to begin in two weeks in Thailand, and as I was already planning on heading that way, I moved my itinerary up and bought a ticket to Bangkok. Thus I arrived at the GVI TEFL program in a rather serendipitous fashion.

In hindsight, I consider my three weeks spent at the TEFL program to have been a very fortunate occurrence, as it turned out to be the most rewarding experience of my whole trip. As I was under a time constraint, I only completed the shortest training session at 50 hours of teacher training and English teaching. Upon completion of, I received a TEFL Certification.

If your intention is to learn how to teach English to students that can’t speak any English, this program is fantastic. There were two instructors, both of which were experienced, knowledgeable and helpful. We had 2-3 hours of teacher training in the mornings, followed by lunch. In the afternoon we would do lesson planning and then teach in the early evenings. This is a hands-on program and you are in front of a class almost immediately. There a lot of support provided and the instructors are great at giving constructive feedback and providing you with great ideas and tips.

In addition to the awesome teaching program, the experience at the GVI base is great. You live dorms with the other volunteers. You have showers and electricity. There is a program manager and a base manager on-sight to help things run smoothly. You are divided up into chore groups with alternate on a daily basis, which are very efficient if everyone does their job. Additionally there is always a great weekend excursion organized by GVI or you and your fellow volunteers can go and explore the surrounding areas, which are fantastic.

I felt the point of going on a volunteer trip was to have a challenge whilst having some fun and this program certainly delivered.

I would definately recommend being in shape before going as the trek to the turtle beach is physically demanding and is probably about 8-10kms a night all up. We went approximately 5-6 nights a week. Even if you don't know much about turtles, as was the case for me, I still found it very interesting.

During the day there is alot of quiet time but at the beginning you get to coordinate with the group and project leader some activities you'd like to do such as weaving, canoeing, helping out at the primary school etc.

The village is very remote - no warm showers, internet etc but you get used to it very quickly and once a week you get to go to Port Vila to 'reconnect' with the outside world.

The village people are lovely and if the above appeals to you then I would definately recommend this trip!