My experience with IVHQ

I used IVHQ when I was searching for opportunities to volunteer abroad this past year. For starters, IVHQ offers more destinations and projects than any other organization I could find. Their website is very comprehensive and provides all the information you need to decide where you want to volunteer. There are also various Facebook groups for individual projects where you can discuss with people who have been on the project before or who are planning for the future. IVHQ is also great with communication. They assign different people to organize each project, so you can be confident that the person you are contacting is both very knowledgable about the destination and committed to helping you. For example, I was supposed to travel to Sri Lanka last year about a week after the horrible terrorist attacks occurred. I expressed to them my discomfort in traveling there at that time and within a day they were able to switch me to a different project that I had requested in Victoria Falls.

I really enjoyed my time at the Nakavango Conservation Program in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The staff is incredibly knowledgable and helpful. I am an avid wildlife photographer, and I was blown away by the opportunities I had to photograph the ample wildlife in Victoria Falls. The accommodation was far beyond what I expected. Each volunteer had their own room with a fan, closet, desk, side table, and bed. Bathrooms were shared between three or four other volunteers of the same gender. The common areas were a great place for the volunteers to hang out, relax, and enjoy the area (There is also a pool to cool off in!) The food was delicious and plentiful, and the chef emphasized that dietary restrictions could be accommodated. On weekdays, we would wake up early to go out on the reserve to repair roads, remove invasive plant species, and survey wildlife, among other tasks. A lot of the work would be difficult or impossible for somebody in poor physical condition, but most able-bodied people should be perfectly fine. We were given weekends to spend however we liked. There were so many options for the weekends, I wish I had more time to fit them all in. One of my favorite weekend excursions was bungee jumping over Vic Falls!

Overall, my volunteering experience was incredible. The time I spent there and the experiences I had are something I will never forget. I would highly recommend both IVHQ and the Nakavango Conservation Project to anybody considering volunteering abroad.