Problems in Portugal

Our 18 year-old daughter went to Portugal for the 2-week experience in September 2019. It was one week in Lisbon, then one week in Porto. The week in Lisbon was outstanding, but her experience in Porto was an utter disappointment and potentially dangerous. After two days in Porto, we counseled her to leave the program.

In Lisbon, she stayed at an Impactrip hostel that was sex segregated and safe. In Porto, she stayed at a run-down hostel and was assigned to a room with a middle-aged male tourist—not a program participant. In Lisbon, she was with a cohort of other program participants her age. In Porto, she was alone. In Lisbon, she worked until 6 PM. In Porto, she was expected to work alone until midnight and travel alone back to the hostel. Perhaps you can see why she and her parents were so surprised and disappointed by the Porto experience.

We talked with a VolSol rep in Lisbon and told her that the situation was unacceptable. The rep offered to find another volunteer option, but by this point, all trust had been lost. At our own expense, we put our daughter up in a hotel and she finished out her remaining days in the city as a tourist. The clear reality is that VolSol has a strong program in Lisbon and a terrible, ineffective, and dangerous program in Porto.