Great learning experience, not so great development work

HELP International is a unique program, in that one of it's specific goals is to give volunteers the best experience possible. This means that they allow you to design and implement any project you can come up with.
You go out with two "country directors" who are usually college age, as well as all other college students.
Most people who decide to volunteer have little knowledge or understanding of development work. I saw many volunteer abroad programs doing very poor development work, and I saw a lot of failed projects. This organization is no exception. A bunch of college students, who have no idea what they are doing, and are in country for one to four months. This formula doesn't produce great sustainable development. While I think it is a great international and learning experience, I think the development work is very poor. I would probably say this about many organizations though.
If you are looking for an awesome experience in Africa and you aren't familiar with development work, this is awesome. If you really want to make an impact, do some research on development first, then research for good organizations, and that might be your best route.