Bamboo Alumni

I volunteered at a children's home in a village that lies in the Kathmandu Valley. I was there for the months of October and November. 24 children ages 10 years to 18 years reside in the home. The children and the house manager speak English. The children are a delight and their functioning speaks to the high level of care delivered to them over the many years they've been in the care of the charity. . I keep a travel blog. My entries about Nepal describes the activities I undertook with the children and other aspects of my stay can be found there --. annewlindsay.com TRAVEL DIARIES. I use the opportunity this site provides for a review of Global Volunteer Network.

The most unfortunate part of my experience was with the administrators of the children's home both westerners who now live in Kathmandu. The stated role of one of these staff was to provide 'volunteer support' and the stated role of the other was 'fund-raising'. Both visited the home and provided a case-management service for the children. I won't go into much detail about this other than to say that during my stay, I, and another volunteer questioned, not only the level of volunteer support delivered, but also how well the children's basic needs -- ie for food and clothing, supplies for hygiene, medical care, were met. My fellow volunteer, a forth year medical student, photographed the children's height and weight charts also their footwear (because of the state of disrepair). My attempt to communicate my concerns to one of the Nepal based staff was brushed off. Upon my return to Scotland I took up the concern with GVN. Three months later I await a response that leaves me feeling reassured that the standard of basic care provided to the children has improved or will improve. (I'm speaking of basic, basic, basic -- eg more lentils, more eggs, maybe feminine hygiene products for some of the girls). Through my church I was able to bring on board a nurse/academic and a pediatrician, both with substantial experience in foreign aid work and with the effects of poor nutrition on the growth and development of children. More recently a dietitian has joined with us in an effort to help GVN understand the issues, and the importance of taking this kind of feedback seriously. I feel sad that the hours spent analyzing the data (professional people volunteering hours of time) has not been suitably acknowledged by GVN, indeed I regret to say that the GVN staff respond with some defensiveness. I fear our concerns will be brushed under the rug.

I paid a large volunteer program fee to GVN believing that my money would help impoverished children and local communities. It saddens me that this apparently is not so. I still don't know how volunteer program fees are put to use.

I'm not prepared to write GVN off at this point. I'm hoping (three months into the process!) that our concerns for the children's well-being will be addressed sooner rather than later.

I do not wish to discourage people from volunteering. I found the work with the children and the staff at the home enormously rewarding and I loved being in Nepal and experiencing life in the village.

My volunteering experience in Ecuador was simply PERFECT. I spent four weeks on the Amazon station and two weeks on the San Cristobal, Galapagos station. The whole process was smooth, safe and comforting. The amazon station is beautiful, the volunteer cabins are double cabins with basic beds and amenities and they are surprisingly very comfortable, you fall asleep every night to the sounds of the rain forest creatures. The work is amazing and so fulfilling, Monday mornings consisted of five hour hikes in primary and secondary forests, some of them were medicinal hikes (learning about the different plants and trees and their benefits), other were bird watching hikes or just informational hikes about the forest. The afternoons were always spent in the botanical garden that belongs to Jatun Sasha, planting seeds, cutting down invasive plants, replanting endemic plants, raking leaves, learning about the different plants and their benefits in the classroom, building bridges, collecting fruits and vegetables in the organic garden and planting new ones, the botanical and organic gardens are huge forests on their own. Simply surreal.
Wednesday afternoons were social afternoons, we would walk through he forest to reach a huge clearing where the river napo would greet us, we would swim, play soccer relax and then head to town in Tena for a fun night out. The work is hard and tedious at times but extremely fulfilling. Breakfast was served at 6:30, lunch at noon and dinner at 6. Work hours: 7:30 to 11:30, 1:30 to 3:30. Hammock time after a cold well deserved shower was the best thing ever, the food is simple but satisfying and the cooks are wonderful jolly people who become your friends. Weekends were amazing, there is no shortage of things to do, from rafting trips, to 3 days in banos town, to visits to the indigenous communities and waterfalls, simply amazing!! I was so sad to leave the amazon it was the most fulfilling, fun, rewarding time of my life, I cannot wait to go back.
The volunteering in the galapagos was just as amazing. The reserve is different, it's a 40 min cab ride from the san cristobal airport and you reach this gorgeous isolated reserve, the volunteers are either housed in the new house or old house, and share rooms with 1 to 5 people. The morring view is simply gorgeous, the balcony looks onto the ocean in the horizon, pure bliss. The work hours were similar to the amazon except the volunteers are expected to help in the kitchen for either the morning, afternoon or dinner shift, which is actually very fun if you like to cook or just want to learn (like me! i learned knife skills...). The work involves a lot of machete and hand work, it's tough at time but simply amazing. Tuesday and thursday afternoons consist of a trip to the Gualapaguera, a gorgeous tortoise reserve where you get to see huge turtles in their habitat, help maintain the reserve and work in the nearby greenhouse planting coffee and chocolate, SO MUCH FUN. Friday mornings consisted of hikes or wonderful trips to beaches where you tan next to sea lions and blue footed boobies, what a dream! Most weekend are spent outside of the reserve in San Cristobal town where you can go eat drink and island hop to all the nearby islands, which is simply surreal. The staff and coordinators on both the reserves are so caring, friendly and wonderful people who watch over you day and night and respect your needs and likes. GVN was wonderful at facilitating my entry into this program and I could not recommend going to Ecuador enough, it will change your life forever!

I highly recommend the kili trek! It was an amazing experience and a great physical challenge to overcome

Visiting kibera and the orphanages was a very emotional and eye opening experience. It was a good feeling seeing exactly where and how the funds raised would benefit the communities

The GVN group did a great job helping ensure I was prepared for the trek and fellow Trekkers offered great support, helping each other make it to summit!

I have made some forever friends through GVN and am excited to participate in another GVN project in the future!

GVN's Mt. Kilimanjaro Fundraising Trek was without a doubt, an Adventure of a lifetime! I did the trek in 2010; and, then the Machu Picchu Trek in 2011. I am currently training for the South Africa Cycle Challenge. GVN does an amazing job at offering a Physical challenge with a reason: to help people! I know that you will never regret a decision to take on any of GVN's fundraising opportunities. You will never regret it; and, you will never forget it!

Our program began with meeting in Nairobi with a collection of inspiring and motivated people from around the world, who had all worked hard to fund raise and train for this trip. Meeting these people was one of the great benefits of the trip.
Our accommodation and food was excellent, and we were transported by bus all together to the mountain, and to the organizations we visited afterwards. There was no stress in having to organize these things individually.
The guides and porters who took our group up the mountain were professional and attentive to us. They spoke English well, and not only made sure that we were safe and well, but were also ready to tell us about the changing scenery and wildlife on the six days we spent ascending and descending Kilimanjaro. Between them they cooked our meals, put up tents, carried most of our gear, and even warmed up water for us to wash when we got to our evening campsites!
The mountain was amazing. I can't describe it well enough - you have to see it.
The walk up was taken extremely slowly, in order to reduce altitude sickness, and was not steep until the last day. As a result most climbers in the group made it to the top.
After climbing Kilimanjaro we were taken to visit a clinic at Kibera, and also to various children's' homes to hear from those who ran them what the needs were, and where the money we had raised would be going. It also showed us what more needed to be done, and gave food for thought about how to contribute further.
I felt well looked after while with the group, and much safer than the few days I spent after the trip making my way around Nairobi without them. I had an amazing time!

The one week distribution trip to Uganda was packed with excitement, inspiring people and whole lot of fun with similar minded people.

We visited three local projects funded by GVN's Eat So They Can campaign. It was very cool meeting the local people invested in their community projects. The greatest impact for me was when we met the women of Kitoola. As soon as we got off the bus they were dancing, singing and giving us great big hugs and just full of smiles. These women received cows from the ESTC campaign, and the reception we got made me understand the value of the cows to these women. Their gratitude was written all over their faces.

The accommodation and living conditions were standard and comfortable. The trip was really well organised, GVN and their local partner organization did a fantastic job. I felt comfortable and safe within a trusted group of strangers.

I would recommend this trip to anyone.

If you've got a great idea for a worthwhile project, but you don't know what your next step should be, this is the program for you! At "Be The Change," you are taught effective ways to get your message across and gather support for your project -- and at the same time you get to meet wonderful people, all with great ideas of their own. I attended the program in Tuscany, and not only was the company superb -- there were fabulous meals served in a beautiful setting in the Tuscan hills outside of Florence. I came away from the meeting with inspiration and a plan which is now bearing fruit -- and, most important, with so many new supportive friends, all of whom are dear to me to this day!

From the very beginning, my communications and concerns with the facilitators via email, from questions about the program itself, to finance and travel information, were handled promptly, efficiently and in a very warm and friendly manner, and this treatment carried well into the program and beyond. I was given a truly welcome and open environment to explore what was important to me, what change I wanted to see in the world, with constant feedback that was critical and constructive, understanding and encouraging.
Upon arriving, while I felt like I was partly on vacation, because of how removed I was from my day to day life, the Be The Change staff was quick to rein in the focus, still providing a wonderful and relaxing environment, but also emphasizing a definite plan and curriculum. They asked us to trust in their plan and they made it wonderfully easy to do so. For the next 6 days, we made time for work, developing our own plans of change and really diving into the core of what we wanted out of the program and how we should best approach our own personal goals, from the general to the more specific. I always felt included in the teachings, like they were fine tuned for me as much as anyone else.
The evenings were for relaxation and recreation, from small hikes to wonderful meals cooked in groups, creating a comfortable environment where we could take the needed time to let the workshops really sink in so as not to feel overwhelmed, and to be honest, the program was at times overwhelming, but never in a negative way. If I was ever overwhelmed, it was at the realizations of my own potential. That a simple, everyday kind of normal guy like me has what it takes to start something bigger than myself and make a change I want to see. To be surrounded by so many like minded people, all of whom are now friends, made it so much easier, the experience was very humbling. Real people making real change, it's that simple, and the Be The Change program and staff helped me build the skills, focus and confidence to BE one of those real people, for real change.
If it sounds like I'm gushing, it's because, well, I am. I have nothing but praise for a program that took a guy like me, struggling with a vision, and helped guide me into someone with a plan, who KNOWS he can make a difference. While I can't speak for everyone, I can say confidently that the Be The Change Program has been, and likely will be, one of the defining experiences of my life, I couldn't be more thankful, and if anyone is looking into the world of creating change, regardless of scope or direction, I couldn't recommend this program enough, it was simply amazing.