I did not enjoy my experience in with Emerging Voices

If you are looking for freedom, this is not the program for you. At 19 years old I have honestly never felt so over-parented in my life. The woman who runs the place, named Monica, lives in the apartment with the volunteers and holds the only key to the front door. Prospective volunteers should be aware of the cultural differences in colombia which seemingly dictated her ridiculously over-protective actions. We were told that in Colombia you are a child until you get married and have children, which was evident in the way we were treated like children.

Volunteers are not allowed to drink inside the apartment, and there is a curfew 7 nights a week. We were also not allowed to hang out in a room together with someone of the opposite sex, be it watching a film or anything, it was reason to be kicked out. Volunteers are rarely allowed to go out alone and must inform Monica where you are going, how long you will be gone for etc every time you leave the house.

A few days after I arrived I had the immovable feeling that Monica hated me. I found her incredibly intimidating and unreasonable and when we had continuing problems with communication at our placement she always assumed it was the volunteers who were at fault. She would organise expensive trips and outings that many of us could not afford and then get angry when we said we couldn't go. There was often not enough food for breakfast and dinner and she constantly made us aware that she was having financial problems in an effort to guilt trip us or something. She treated the volunteers very personally, if she liked you, she would be your best friend but if she didn't, she would make it known.

This experience would be great for someone who does not have a rebellious spirit like mine. Admittedly i have never been great with authority figures, and some of the other volunteers would say that they had a great experience. It is my view that if you work hard all week you should be able to party hard on the weekends. I hated being treated like i was 14, but a positive minded person who is well disciplined would still gain a good experience out of this.