VFP, sound choice for new and experienced volunteers!

This past summer I traveled with Volunteers For Peace to La Vallee de Jacmel for a week. I spent many months searching for the right program for me and after discussing with many sources, familiar with volunteer programs, I was encouraged to travel with VFP. I was equip with the tools to make my first journey to Haiti a memorable and productive one. With A mandatory pre-trip orientation with others I'd be traveling with, it was obvious Meg and others at VFP care about the safety of their volunteers and ensuring they get the most out of the abroad program.
VFP's demonstrations of care did not cease when we left the United States and arrived in Port at Prince. I was greeted at the airport by Meg and a fellow Haitian named Shelly whom she encourages to help lead volunteers in programs in other parts of Haiti. VFP provides work opportunities for locals which gives volunteers a direct link to the communities they will be helping. There is also a priceless chance to speak with these Haitian leaders and have ongoing cultural exchange every second of the trip.
In La Vallee our group stayed in clean accommodations and had the opportunity to be involved in the day to day ongoings with our hosts. VFP encouraged but never pushed that we be involved in the daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning. Being abroad meant learning about the lifestyle others lead and having opportunies to cook or assit with cooking or collecting water or going to the market was a priceless experience.
We also had great Haitian leaders in La Vallee, like Jean Raymond, a history teacher in a near by school. VFP appears to place a great deal of trust in their Haitian leaders teaching them sustainability and communication with the volunteers and allowing them the opportunity to develop planning and goal setting skills. Meg was always available to assist in keeping the projects on track, but allowed the Haitian leaders, like Jean Raymond, to learn how to lead others.
I was involved in projects like installing biosand water filters in an ongoing project to bring clean water to some 70 schools in La Vallee. VFP has made progress on nearly 35 in the region. We also shared songs and games with school children and were involved in a beautification project at a community center and local church. The week we were volunteering happened to also coincide with the visitation of the Cardinal of Haiti, Cardinal Chibly Langlois, who was born in La Vallee.
This was only my first trip to Haiti, yet I was ready to return back even before I left Port au Prince to head home. The preparations before the trip and guidance during have cemented in my mind that programs like Volunteers for Peace can make a change in communities and countries like Haiti. They lead their volunteers with years of experience and encourage locals to take leadership roles in the projects accomplished during the visits. All that being said, I am returning again this April 20-28 with other volunteers under the guidance and program placement of Volunteers for Peace. I am certainly a returning member of the VFP family!