How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
Very Helpful and complete. No complaints at all.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I absolutely loved it. It was a life changing experience even over such a brief period of time.

Accommodation and meals
Excellent we were extremely lucky. We were comfortable and ate well.

Coordinator
Awesome experience good food Rajiv knew everything we needed to know. The travel was great it was nice to see the country side. No complaints at all.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The satisfaction of seeing the children happy and learning also to know that they loved us.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes. Thanks for helping us!

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
I found the staff extremely helpful pre departure. All my emails were answered in a timely manner and any extra help I needed was provided. For example I needed help with my visa forms and all my questions were answered making it much easier to deal with the visa process. I really liked the section in the pre-departure guide about India customs. I learned a lot of things about social interactions that I wouldn&rsquo t otherwise have known. It would have been more helpful to have the packing section more season specific. Jeans and t-shirts were recommended

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I really loved working at the Children&rsquo s Centre in Palampur. I learned a lot about how to work with people despite language barriers both from directing the kids activities and working in tandem with the teacher and assistant. At times I felt like a circus ringmaster but it was really rewarding when the kids demonstrated that they had learned something I taught them.

Accommodation and meals
The accommodation was really great! Bobby and his family were very friendly and willing to accommodate us. The meals were okay

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
I really loved working with the children especially when they started to respond to the games and activities I was teaching them. It was amazing to see how much the kids would pick up on! I also really enjoyed all the weekend trips we took especially when Bobby and Amit took the time to take us to Manali for the weekend

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
I would definitely recommend this program to other potential volunteers. I really learned a lot about how to communicate with people who do not speak my language and I do not think this is something I could have experienced without leaving home. The staff was also fantastic and very dedicated. I really liked every aspect of the program.

What areas did you like about our website?
The website was easy to navigate and had a nice simple layout. Programs were explained well enough.

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
Pre departure booklet was informative and helped in clarifying a lot of my questions. Sahil was very quick at answering my questions and none went unanswered.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
The placement was really good. The kids were great! I had a lot of fun and it wasn' t too hard since there were other volunteers and teachers there.

Accommodation and meals
No problems with the accommodations and meals. Everything we needed was here. Meals were healthy and efforts were made to keep the volunteers comfortable.

Coordinator
Rajiv was great. Always had a smile on his face and willing to help. Very approachable and accommodating.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Highlight of my trip was meeting really wonderful people from all over the world.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES. As my first international volunteering experience i thought it was great.

Golden Triangle Tour
Great Fun. Learnt and saw a lot. Air conditioned hotels were also a nice bonus. Itinerary was good not too tiring.

What areas did you like about our website?
I liked the posting of personal experiences from other volunteers.

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
It was very informative. I read it several times to make sure I did not miss anything.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes I have enjoyed it very much. Working in the day care was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Accommodation and meals
I was extremely happy with both our accommodation and meals. We were treated wonderfully. Jenny and her family always made us feel at home. I feel privileged to have been able to spend time with Jenny and her family. Luisa our host mother will always have a special place in my heart. She made sure we had great meals and shared very good information with us. Spending time in the kitchen with her was my favorite. She is one of the best persons I&rsquo ve met. I am going to miss her as well as the rest of the family.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlight of my volunteering experience was playing with the kids and watching them enjoy the materials we brought. The highlights of the entire trip were spending time with Luisa our host mother. She is wonderful.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes!

What areas did you like about our website?
I thought the website was very well organized. It was easy to find the programs by the country of choice along with specific information about the programs. I liked the easy breakdown of fees and contact information was easily available.

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
I think the Pre - departure booklet was very very helpful. It provided all the necessary information and all the little details were very helpful. The contact people in both Kenya and the main Volunteering Solutions Office in India were extremely helpful in answering questions in a timely manner.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I worked in a few different projects in both Mombasa and Nairobi.

Mombasa: I worked with a few orphanages and schools. The projects were amazing.
Nairobi: The projects were very nice in the city and the orphanage and the schools

Accommodation and meals
Nairobi: The volunteer house was AMAZING!! The food was really good as well. It was nice to live amongst other volunteers and share stories. Very good experience.

Mombasa: The house was comfortable but there are a few improvements needed.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlight was working with the kids at the orphanage and&ldquo it was a remarkable experience.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes definitely. I think overall it was a great experience and I LOVED IT and would definitely go back one day.

Pre Departure
Volunteering Solutions was very helpful and sent us all the relevant information quickly and promptly. The staff at Volunteering Solutions were always ready to help and were always happy to answer any of our questions.

Arrival/Airport Pickup
The local coordinator Martha and Jess an English girl who came to translate for us were waiting for us at Cusco airport when our plane arrived. They were holding a big sign with our names on it so there was no confusion as to where we were supposed to go or who we were supposed to meet.

Placement/Volunteer Project
Our placement was very rewarding and we really enjoyed getting involved with the kids. We are sad to leave them.

Accommodation and meals
Our host family is so friendly and welcoming and we have really enjoyed staying with them and spending time with them. Our family has really gone out of their way to provide a new and interesting food to us every meal time and they have been delicious!

Coordinator
Jenny our country coordinator has been really helpful and is always calling us and checking up on everything. She has made us feel very safe!

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
Very expedient about answering questions- Overall good. The pre-departure booklet was sufficient.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes very much. Even thought it wasn&rsquo t what I signed up for. I loved all the programs-each was welcoming from the Care givers and teachers. Kids are very lovely.

Accommodation and meals
Amazing! I ate better than at home. Meals were filling and the house was very nice. Jenny`s house is pretty and big. Melissa Shayna and me were very well cared.

Coordinator
Jenny was great she is the best coordinator ever. She was very helpful & answering my questions giving me advice and she always made the extra time in her very busy schedule.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Many highlights. The home stay family was absolutely wonderful.
AT kindergarten the day when the man teacher didn' t show up so I just got to play with the kids.

AT day care when the stand-offish girl & guy warmed up to me and of course meeting the other volunteers

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES!

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
The booklet was very useful. I read through all of it before I left and would say it really helped me be prepared for my trip. The staff was very quick in answering all my e-mails and questions. I really appreciate it!

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I really enjoyed the Kindergarten placement! I loved working with the teacher and kids and felt productive and as if my help was greatly appreciated. I also worked at an orphanage and the kids were great but I didn&rsquo t feel as productive. Both placements were close to my host house and in safe areas.

Accommodation and meals
My host family and house was great! They helped make my experience memorable and I felt like a part of their family. The mother is such a great cook! Although she didn&rsquo t cook all time and her kids sometimes took over. Overall I enjoyed trying all the new foods. My house was very clean and welcoming. I had warm water.

Coordinator
program. She was quick in returning my messages and calls. Jenny also gave good advice and knows Cusco well. I really appreciate the dinners that she held for all the volunteers. Without them I would not have met many of the people that I hung out with in Peru.


What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlight of my trip was simply spending time with my host family and getting accustomed to their way of living and culture. It was such a great learning experience and I was excited to finally put all my years of Spanish classes to use! Of course the other highlight was Machu Picchu!

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes definitely!!

I had the experience of a lifetime in Peru through the goods bads ups and downs! I learned about Peru and also more about myself. I recommend this organized program to anyone wanting to volunteer. I felt very safe and did not feel alone throughout the whole process.

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
I came at extremely short notice. Sahil was quick to respond honest & detailed. I felt just fine about everything

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I was at an orphanage that I loved. It was quick to get to and fun and very rewarding. I loved it- the program coordinator - Joe really looked for something that would suit what I wanted to do in my comfort level. Thank You!

Accommodation and meals
Exceeded my expectations tremendously. Accommodation has solid beds hot water for showering very generous rooms. Mercy the host mother is a fantastic cook very helpful. Her daughter is hilarious. I had the most enjoyable experience.

Coordinator
Joe is great. A wealth of info he was able to give to give us directions anywhere. He was flexible with our placement and was available 24/7 for any situation. But he also allowed us to experience Kenya which was quite empowering

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES Absolutely! without any doubt! Kenya is a fantastic place to volunteer!

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
The Pre Departure Booklet was very good - it covered so much. Sahil was excellent he answered all of my questions and in a very fast manner.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes! I loved working at the orphanage. The staff were very friendly and the kids were adorable. I loved working at the school too. The teachers and students were both great.

Accommodation and meals
The accommodations were very very nice. I had hot showers and a comfortable room. Mercy (my house mother) is an excellent cook and her daughter is hilarious.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlight of my volunteering experience was working at the orphanage. I miss those kids so very much. I loved going there everyday.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES Definitely!

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
Very helpful.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes it was a life-changing experience for me.

Accommodation and meals
It was not difficult adjusting to not big meals at breakfast and dinner but my family always offered us more food for lunch if we were still hungry

Coordinator
Jenny was amazing in answering all my questions and helping me find the place that I would be able to help out despite my Spanish deficiencies. She was always easy to speak to and coordinated dinners to bring the volunteer group together

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Working with children at the special needs school definitely re-ignited my passion for children. Through this experience I remembered why I wanted to become a doctor in the first place. Working with kids was definitely a great experience that I would recommend to all new volunteers.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Definitely Yes!

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
One of the reasons why my friend and I choose Volunteering Solutions was because of their prompt responses to our queries. Though we applied just a month before our start date everything was taken care of with time to spare and the Pre Departure guide was helpful as well.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
The kids were amazing. I have never seen such well behaved and thoughtful children completely opposite form the brats back home. They were extremely warm and friendly right from the start and incredibly appreciative of every little thing we gave them. The kids spoke English very well and were always eager to read and learn they even attempted to teach us some Nepalese though most of the time they ended up laughing at us. It\' s been a great experience the only hard part being - trying to keep up with their energy.

Accommodation and meals
The food was good and they always made sure we had plenty to eat the care taker was incredible she took care of the kids and us at the same time without breaking a sweat. We had a nice spacious room.

Coordinator
The coordinator gave us a map on the first day along with orientation on the sights and culture which proved to be very helpful. A warm motherly lady she certainly made us feel at home during our stay.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others?
YES!

About the Trip in General
This is Logan Mims in Cusco peru. I have really enjoyed my time here so far and look forward to more amazing weeks. I am 100% ecstatic to live with this new host family. I feel much more positive about the time i have left here. I have met a few of the volunteers but would love to have more social gatherings--maybe a weekly dinner or a night to all go out together or Sunday lunch?

I have absolutely loved working at the health clinic. Jaime was so kind and generous and really made my Santa Rosa health clinic experience exceptional.

Coordinator
I enjoyed my stay in Cusco and am glad to have the experience of volunteering. Jenny ensured I felt comfortable in the new environment and city. She welcomed us in her home and advised on how to make this experience the best possible. I thank her for all her help.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
There were so many great times ! Volunteering with the sick and injured in my clinic meeting other caring volunteers doing the Salankatay hike up to Macchu Picchu.. Cant pick one !

My Spanish improved significantly. I learned a lot about myself and the dreams i wish to achieve and how to work well and socialize with people of different cultures.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES!

What areas did you like about our website?
Choice of programs in various countries and areas. Photos of past volunteers. Quick feedback and clarity of prices.

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
Staff was excellent with quick responses. The booklet could be a bit more detailed as far as list of clothing acceptable..

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
My placement was fantastic. What a life changing experience ! The school was so welcoming and the students truly affected my heart. I hope i brought a small amount of joy to them as they did to me !

Accommodation and meals
My family Tom and Helen were AMAZING ! They welcomed me into their home and are truly part of my family. I learned so much about humanity generosity and love ! Meals were excellent too ! Helen' s chapatis rock..

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
My trip was made by living in a mud hut like a true Masai. I got to mil and herd cows and sheep' s before and after school. I earned a Masai name and became one of the tribe. I will miss this way of life dearly.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES Absolutely ! If one is not an outdoor person i would suggest volunteering in Nairobi and working there.

Any comments and suggestions
I love adventure and trying new things. This program allowed me to do so while making a small difference in the world. I met so many incredible people both Kenyan and volunteers it has renewed my faith in the goodness of humanity and strengthened my faith with god.

What areas did you like about our website?
Testimonials and FAQ\' s

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
The booklet gave a detailed list of Indian customs and the staff responded to emails quickly.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Very much.

Accommodation and meals
Accommodations were great and the food was tasty. A bit more variety needed.

Coordinator
Bobby and Amit are very enthusiastic. They are helpful friendly generous and genuinely care about the work we are doing. They are doing a great job.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Our weekend trip to Manali with the team was fun and everyday time spent with the kids was very rewarding.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES

The picture and video sections were very good on Volunteering Solutions website. The pre departure booklet was well put together and questions were answered promptly and accurately.

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement. It was an amazing experience where I was able to bond with the kids and learn from them. The highlight of my trip was getting to know the kids and learning about Nepal.

Both accommodation and meals were amazing. Three good meals a day and a comfortable place to sleep with a friendly environment.

I would recommend Volunteering Solutions as I think it was an amazing experience.

Pre Departure Information and Contact
The pre-departure information was quite helpful for me to have a better understanding regarding my accommodation in India Indian culture food and traditions and my duties while volunteering in this country. Besides it gave me a glimpse of how dedicated and professional the Volunteering Solutions Organization is making me more confident about the decision of coming to India as a volunteer.

Arrival and Airport Pick up
My flight got a bit delayed yet as soon as I picked up my luggage and went out there was Rajiv with his big smile waiting for me. He recognized me instantly and gave me a warm welcoming to India making me feel at home instantly.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I worked at the Day Care Center of Palampur where the kids received me with a huge smile. That let me know that they are happy and very well taken care of. They are very smart and eager to learn. The teachers are dedicated and seem to enjoy what they do. Always looking for new things to improve the project and to help the kids to learn their lessons. There is of course a lot more that need to be done to improve the facilities so the children can enjoy of a good education while being in a safe and clean space. Overall I can say I have had the time of my life working with these kids. I feel I made the right choice by coming up here. All I can say is that the long trip that took me up here was worth it. The kids laughter and the way they enjoy their lives has given me a new sense in life. I am already missing them.

Accommodation and meals
The house I stayed as well as the facilities are very comfortable. The family that inhabits the house have treated me as if I were part of the family making me feel at home all the time. I was a bit concerned about the spicy Indian food but I told them and they got it all fixed for me. So I have been eating excellent food during my staying here as well.

Coordinator
The coordinator of the program Bobby was always there to help me clear out any doubt as well as to listen to suggestions. Also he gave me free space to use my creativity to work with the kids and in the Center.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES Palampur is a magical place. The people are kind and very friendly. Plus the surroundings are beautiful and filled with peace.

What areas did you like about our website?
I liked that it was so easy to use and that it is simple and informative at the same time.

How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
The booklet was a good way to get to know about India and the details of the program. It would be nice if you could make a small section about weather and clothing.

The staff was very helpful when I had problems with my Visa before leaving Denmark they were very fast at sending whatever papers the embassy requested whenever they would come up with another request.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I worked at 3 different placements during my stay in Palampur Gyandeep school and the Daycare center.Since teaching at the school was my goal in going to India I enjoyed that the most.

Accommodation and meals
The accommodation at Bobby' s was way above expected very good! The food was awesome too.

Coordinator
Absolutely great and made the whole volunteer experience even better than it already was! Gonna miss them :)

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
I also enjoyed to teach at two different schools so I got to experience both a big and a small institution.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes I enjoyed my stay very much and I am sure others will as well.

The information on the website is pretty clear many pictures and the reviews from other volunteers. We knew some basic information about Thailand from pre departure booklet. and the Thai phrases are useful.

I like my program placement. We taught English in a primary school and all the children and teachers are nice. We really enjoyed the classes. The highlight of my trip would be the children we met in school and made friends with other volunteers. The volunteers are from different part of the world but we met here and get along with each other well.

I would recommend Volunteering Solutions to friends.

I think the website is very good and the information is clear enough. The pre departure booklet is very useful to me. It has many information there and helps us a lot. We always received quick replies to our queries through emails we would also like to thank you for that.

I really enjoy working at my placement. I haven' t been a teacher before and this experience is really very unforgettable. This school is beautiful and the teachers are very kind as well. The children we teach are smart and lovely. The highlight of my volunteering trip would be teaching the children and when they all said " I Love You Teacher" to me I felt very happy.

The accommodation and meals were wonderful. The place we live is very nice. And we have different kind of meals everyday. Thai food is really delicious. Our coordinator' s are very kind and helped me a lot. The family is really very friendly. I felt very happy to be able to live with them.

I would recommend Volunteering Solutions I will tell my friends because I think this experience is really nice.