Volunteering in india in the street childrens centre was an amazing experience. The staff who looked after us were amazing and they were a privilege to travel with. I felt very well looked after and will definitely be returning.

Volunteered in India for the street kids centre and the experience was amazing. The group guides were fab and i will definitely go on another trip through volunteer solutions

The experience was amazing. I felt very welcomed and the people at volunteering solutions are brilliant. Thank you so much

Sahil and his team made this the perfect trip and I want to thank them for such an amazing experience

I had the best experience being able to help the children and experience a new culture. The staff where amazing and really informative

Great staff who were very supportive, kind and informative throughout. Really enjoyed the experience and would 100% use Volunteering Solutions again in the future when booking. Thank you so much

The team have been fantastic and very supportive throughout the trip. The trip as a whole has been an amazing experience and volunteering with the children was very emotional but worth every minute. Thank you for everything!

Very polite and helpful staff. The trip was very well planned and the support from the staff was fantastic. Great variety of visitor attractions.

Everything was well thought out and prepared for. For example, our days were planned out, three meals, toilet stops, and tourist trips as well as volunteering hours. It was a nice mix of freedom and safety with some adjustments between us all and it worked because we were attentive of each other and communicated well. Ive enjoyed being looked after as a Vegan and experiencing different layers of India’s culture. Our leaders were generous and accommodating, answering any questions and making sure we were comfortable.

I couldn’t eat any Indian food and got sick on the last day :(

Just completed a week in Delhi, India helping with the street children. The experience was amazing from start to finish. While there Are helped to brighten up a small day care centre where Patients met lots of fantastic children and their caregivers. Volunteering Solutions organised an amazing itinerary which included time to see many of Delhi’s popular landmarks including the famous Taj Mahal. It was an excellent and truly incredible experience that I will treasure forever and I would certainly choose Volunteering Solutions for my next adventure which allows us to experience different cultures across the world in a truly immersive way.

Best experance ever

The experience in Zanzibar was truly unique. I had this journey with a group of friends / acquaintances and we rented a big house provided by the association which scheduled the entire experience. At first, we faced quite a few difficulties, our life and habits in Italy are totally different compared to theirs’. Something normal here, isn’t there, and viceversa. Living in a local house, eating local cuisine, using local buses made us fit into their daily life as much as possible. The first day at the hospital, it was really a surprise! Patient management in Africa is totally different from ours. Local doctors were very nice, and since they are used to have volunteers there, they weren’t so concerned about us, and they were also prone to teach.
Francis, our trip coordinator, was super available all time, and quckly solved all our problems.
So was Freedie, the tours coordinator for Zanzibar, who showed us all the most touristic places, proposing various itineraries, which involved hidden spots that only local people know.

My experience with Volunteering Solutions was great! I had an amazing time in Thailand teaching Buddhist monks English, travelling, and exploring Thai culture! The whole experience also felt safe and comfortable (if something completely out of one’s comfort zone can still be called that)! I really enjoyed everything that happened to me, and am really happy that I made a decision to go!
The Volunteering Solutions team was also responsive and welcoming during my experience, and was frequently checking up on me, so that I don’t have any issues!

I love the time I spend with the elephants. It was magic. If There’s something I can say is that I don’t feel that I learned a lot of them, the people in the camp didn’t share important information, they said the things I already knew by reading, and when I asked, the person in charge didn’t want to answer. Everything else was awesome.

Good morning,

After a while here I am writing the review for my volunteering trip in august. As you know I’ve been in Kathmandu for three weeks, 6-26 august, joining the medical program. In those weeks I had the opportunity to see different things, value them and think what could be done better.

First of all, the hospital (Sahid Memorial Hospital) is not a good place where to go: only few patients come in everyday, there were also some days where nobody came in. How is that possible in the ER?
Secondly, they have all the staff they need, for sure my presence (or the one of any other volunteer) is not helpful for them, we just overcrowd the room if/when there are patients. In your website you speak so highly about the program, as if the hospital could not go on without the help of volunteers; once we are there, so few things we did because the answer to the question “can in be of any help?” was always no.

I strongly believe in these volunteering programs, because for sure it has been a wonderful experience overall, but if I have to spend money, and if you have to pay the hospital (as Uma told me) to let volunteers go there, then look for another one, a place where you can be useful for real. I tell you this because during my stay I had the opportunity to visit Dhulikhel Hospital and in my two days there I did more things, learnt more stuff and helped way more than in 3 weeks at Sahid Memorial. Mostly because volunteers end up with an image of Nepali hospitals that is not true; every other doctor, taxi driver, person I met during my stay always asked me why I chose Sahid Memorial, telling me that is a really low rated hospital also for them.

This is what I think about the volunteering experience itself. It’s great, it opens your mind, but what I really think in the end is: do you only care about the money I pay you, and don’t care at all about the experience? If you actually care, change some things, be more honest and true on your website, because from my part you will not get a positive review, specially my colleagues who wanted to join will definitely not join your program.

Instead, for the remaining part of the travel I have few more things to add. Again, also for the house stay you have not been clear; the bathroom we were sharing was not only for the volunteers, but also for 6 daughters of Uma. Do you think this is ok? It was not nice sharing in 11 only one toilet and one shower. Furthermore, it took us ONE WHOLE WEEK to have a hot shower, because Uma did not trust us after we told her every day that it was not working. Again, how is it possible that we had to complain for so many days, with them also being annoyed when we told them that it was not working? This is the result of having the local coordinator and the assistant coordinator a mother-daughter figure. If we had to complain with the daughter, she would have never gone against her mother, so volunteers need two separate figures invested in those roles, they cannot be related.

The locals revealed being so kind, welcoming and smiling people. The exact opposite of what we had in the house; a curfew set at 10pm, no alcohol allowed in the house. Are we 12 years old that we need these rules? Since Uma’s answer was always “it’s the company rules” and still after we had shown her that in the pre departure booklet there were no such rules written, please write them down so people go there prepared and don’t have to fight every time they want to stay out a bit more. Are you afraid that no more volunteers will come if you write them down?

As the food goes, Nepali food is really good, but what I ate every day at lunch was always the same meal, no variation of vegetables or of taste, without saying that I had meat only 2 times in three weeks. Many dishes we had at night for dinner were tasteless. I personally asked to vary a bit my meal during lunch time, and with the other volunteers we also asked to change a bit in the evening, but in the end it was always the same sad thing.

In the end, if you organize some trips for some programs like the afternoon trip around the city, why do you do it only for a few people? Don’t other volunteers deserve the same thing?

Since I didn’t receive any answer to my first complaint email, would you be kind enough to at least answer this one, to know that you actually care about what volunteers think after their experience.

Overall the volunteering program was good, it opens your mind and helps you in so many different ways that it’s hard to describe, but after my experience, I will not do another one with you if the circumstances don’t change, and I will not recommend this association to colleagues/friends and family as far as the programs in Nepal go.

Thank you for your patience in reading this long email,
Best regards

Sabrina Chemello

It was a special experience, the dream of a lifetime. When I chose to go to Tanzania, I had this mindset: we can't help everyone, but each of us can help someone. It was the turning point, it is impossible to tell the joy of children, I miss them already. Thank you Volunteering Solutions for this experience and asante sana Tanzania, see you soon

This program was really nice. I love it. We did a lot of different things and we had fun. So I recommend it.

Fantastic experience with amazing people

I loved my time at karibu foundation. They always made sure we had a beautiful and clean place to stay, and that we had food to eat for each and every meal. They were all kind and made sure that our hostel was safe. They were also very accommodating in making sure we had transportation to and from our excursions, and took us on an amazing safari and camping tour! I loved my time here and am very grateful to the team