6 Week Maternity Placement

I spent 6 weeks volunteering in the maternity unit of a public hospital in Togo's capital city Lome in 2018. The overall experience from start to finish was very smooth, with staff communicating with me from pre-departure to after my return. The staff at Projects Abroad Togo are extremely helpful and are always available to answer questions. The success of your work placements is really individual to each volunteer, and its really up to the individual to assert themselves in the workplace or else they may not have lots of work to do. I personally had an excellent placement, although due to the significant culture difference there were tasks I didn't feel comfortable completing as they didn't align with my personal training (this is not at all the fault of Projects Abroad of course). Projects Abroad organized weekly events for the volunteers to participate in- some with an "outreach" purpose and others simply for socializing among the volunteers. The only downfall would be that at times it did feel a bit overbearing as Projects Abroad closely monitors their volunteers (enforcing curfews, chaperoning trips and outings, etc) although of course this may be a very desirable quality for someone who is traveling for the first time. Overall, I would recommend the organization and feel that the price was reasonable and mainly fair for the experience you get (travel insurance, food, accommodations, airport transfers, 24/7 support). It is clear the the experience is very much what you make it, but as far as the staffs' willingness to help and always be available, this they succeeded at 100%!