Pre Departure Information and Contact
Most of my questions about going to Nepal were answered in a timely fashion. Volunteering Solutions provided with a good packing list and things to keep in mind while in Nepal.

Arrival/ Airport Pickup
Besides loosing one of my bags initially at the airport the pickup went very well. It was very easy to find my host contact.

Placement and Volunteer Project
I did my volunteer work at the children\' s home in Ksibu and it was a wonderful experience. I was able to interact with children aged 4-9 years .I helped them with their school work and taught them fun filled games.

Accommodation and meals
I always had more than enough food. Meals were tasty and provided three times a day. I enjoyed staying with my host family because we were able to do many activities and I still had a lot of time for myself. I had my own room which was also very nice.

Coordinator
Kept me well informed and prepared me for all parts of my volunteer & travel trip.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
YES I would recommend anyone interested in the lives of young children to embark in a volunteering experience like this one please feel free to contact me for any questions about my trip.

You can e-mail Monica at monica.colts@us.army.mil

Pre Departure Information and Contact
My decision to come and volunteer in India was very last-minute and my contact at Volunteering Solutions - Anurag was very helpful answering questions and processing my paper work quickly. I received fast responses to all of my inquiries.

Arrival/ Airport Pickup
My airport pickup was waiting for me with a sign and was very easy to find. He drove me directly to my home stay and was very helpful.

Placement / Volunteer Project
I am very happy with the organization I am placed in. I am gaining valuable experience in the office as well as in the orphanage with the children.

Accommodation and meals
The family I am staying with is very nice. They speak very good English and have been very helpful with all my questions I have so far. Food is always available as well as filtered water. They have also helped with travel arrangements information about India and have made me very welcome.

Coordinator
Rajiv has been very helpful as a coordinator. I had some adjustments I wanted made to my placement to be aware of. He made sure to call the organization and support my wishes.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
I would certainly recommend this experience. It is has been rewarding work and a great place to visit. The first day I arrived I was hesitant but after adjusting everything has been fantastic.

Pre Departure Information and Contact
I found it very easy to prepare for this program as Volunteering Solutions gave useful information on things like what to pack which vaccinations to get etc. Any worries or questions I had were quickly answered via e-mail.

Arrival/Airport Pick up
Pick up was very eventful as there was a strike on that day... however the coordinator looked after us very well and felt very safe with her.

Placement / Volunteer Project
Placement was at the Suhrav Hospital for infections and typical diseases. This was a fantastic placement to have as it was such a contrast to hospitals in the UK in terms of disease prevention and facilities available. There were plenty of opportunities to interact with the doctors and the patients and we were never left feeling out of our depth or at risk.

Accommodation and meals
Host family were amazing and definitely made my experience of Nepal a memorable one. It was comforting to have a home to come back to after a long day at the hospital. It was also fantastic to learn in-depth about the culture and traditions of Nepal. A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR HOST FAMILY.

Coordinator
We stayed at our coordinators house the mummy made sure we never went hungry. Dinner time was flexible and you were free to eat as much or as little as you like.

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

The Pre departure booklet given to me by Volunteering Solutions was very useful and came in handy. The service of the staff was phenomenal as I happened to change my dates twice.The response was to the tee.

I really loved working at my project placement. It was very exhilarating and much more exciting than I had imagined it to be.

The accommodation and meals were absolutely superb !

The highlight of my trip was the day children and I went to the Fun Park and the kids had an amazing time. The smiles on their faces cheered me up and made me feel like as though I gave the world to them.

I would DEFINITELY recommend this program to my family and friends.

Keep up the good work by helping the less fortunate and hope to come back soon.

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 informative. I might not have prepared as much as I would have liked to but that may be due to my irresponsibility.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I loved working with the kids. I felt like I made an impact with them and then definitely made an impact on me. I also feel like the project makes a positive impact on the culture here.

Accommodation and meals
The accommodations were great! Meals were plentiful and helped us experience a more enriching perspective of Peru & Cusco. The family has been great. Dinner/meal conversations helped me understand Cusco and Peru a lot more than if I had only visited

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlights were working with the kids and spending time with the family. I understand the culture better-being outside of a tourist area and with people in a more nature setting was very enriching.

Any comments and suggestions
I wish I was told that 1 week is not enough when experiencing Peru. I would have loved to stay for longer had I known how much the people I had met would impact me.

What areas did you like about our website?
I like the areas where I can be informed about places where we can do programs and about the volunteers experience.

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 information I got with the pre departure booklet was good.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Only good words about the projects and the placement.

Accommodation and meals
The accommodation was good and Mercy is a very good cook. I enjoyed her meals very much and I have to say that mercy and her daughter are very kind.

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

What areas did you like about our website?
Easy to navigate and very clear.

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 explained almost everything. Emails were answered quickly.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes

Accommodation and meals
Living space was sufficient and comfortable. Enjoyed eating the traditional meal of Nepal with the Kids every day.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Being able to learn so much about Nepal both about Kathmandu and villages directly from the children I stayed with.
The more you teach them about life outside if about life outside of Nepal. The more eager they are to tell you about culture in Nepal.

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

Any comments and suggestions
Because it was inexpensive I was able to stay for 2 months which has definitely impacted my life in a way I could not have imagined. Being able to live with the kids allows you to really connect with all of them and form life long hands. I will be returning to the orphanages I stayed in Nepal.

What areas did you like about our website?
Was very easy to look at the choices and destinations 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 feel the pre departure booklet was very helpful however I feel it could have included maybe some extra points such as prices etc when living in India. Also I would have maybe preferred some more contact with staff in regards to the project and what it may involved.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I thoroughly enjoyed the placement and feel it was a great experience and would defiantly consider revisiting the orphanage in the near future.

Accommodation and meals
The food provided at the orphanage was far greater than ever expected and allowed me to experience and taste different traditional Indian dishes all very enjoyable.

Coordinator
The coordinator &lsquo Prabir&rdquo could not have been better and was extremely helpful and very friendly by being more than happy to help when we need it inn regards to sightseeing and getting around.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Working and interacting with the children was an amazing and rewarding experience and is a shame to be leaving after such a short time of only a week.

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?
It was helpful however the booklet lacked some information and maybe could of gone into more detail.

The staff were helpful and replied to email queries within a reasonable time.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I really enjoyed my week in the orphanage and wish that I would have been able to stay longer! The children were lovely and all the people were really friendly and helpful I could not of asked for anything more.

Accommodation and meals
The accommodation and food was amazing! The rooms had a fan to keep you cool and there were mosquito nets on the beds which was a bonus. We were fed so much three times a day and the traditional Indian cooking was great.

Coordinator
Our coordinator Prabir was so lovely he was friendly helpful and would do anything to make our stay more comfortable. Everyone at the house was friendly too and more than happy to help which made our stay even better.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Working with the children they were very good and did their homework and really enjoyed playing games etc. They were the highlight of my trip and I shall miss them all a-lot!

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

Any comments and suggestions
None the trip was excellent!

What areas did you like about our website?
Everything was very easy to find and I always had someone I could contact if need be.

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?
Everything was perfect any question I had was answered as fast as I asked it and the departure kit was very useful when shopping for the things I needed.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Absolutely. This was the best experience I have ever gone through. The kids/people are the most respectful people I have ever met and Nepal is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been.

Accommodation and meals
My home in Nepal is much different from my home in USA. For being a third world country I was not expecting to be at all comfortable or accommodated but in everyway possible I was. The traditional meals really give you a feel of being in another country living/eating the way locals do so I enjoyed daal bhaat.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Becoming so attached to the children. They feel like my own and I am proud to of met them. It will be very hard to say goodbye. Nargikot was by far the most beautiful trip I had taken outside the Kathmandu valley and recommend the sunrise to anyone.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Definitely. This was an easy and fun way to travel and meeting other volunteers on the way was all possible due to this organization.

What areas did you like about our website?
Easy to follow and what you are looking for. Good info about the programs.

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 good. I had no problems with any of it.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I loved volunteering in Kenya. The orphanage program was amazing. The kids were wonderful and the staff was very helpful.

Accommodation and meals
Mercy and Ester were great to live with. The meals were lovely and the portions were great as well.


What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?

Working and getting to know all the kids. Safari was also great.

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?
Great!

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes enjoy working and playing with the children.

Accommodation and meals
Had great fun in the volunteer house. Mercy' s cooking was great and the meals were Fabulous.


What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?

I had a great experience in Kenya learnt so much here would love to come back again.

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

Any comments and suggestions
Going to miss everyone ins Kenya :(

What areas did you like about our website?
The program descriptions were very clear and thorough and all my questions were answered in the FAQ' s section.

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 useful. It answered almost all my questions and inquires by email were always responded very quickly.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I enjoyed every minute of the time I spent with the kids whether it was helping them cook playing card games with them or teaching them English.

Accommodation and meals
Accommodation is great and the meals provided by the staff are plentiful and delicious.

Coordinator
The staff have been absolutely amazing. They were always there for us when we needed help and they are always so friendly and easy going.

What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlight of my trip was probably meeting all the other lovely volunteers and getting to know them so well within such a short time. Also the time I spent with the kids simply playing with them and helping them do their chores.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes I would recommend people to do this program for a long period of time so that they could get to know the kids more and the kids would also like to see someone familiar for a long time instead at having people come and go so quickly.

What areas did you like about our website?
The website was easy to navigate and had useful information. I like how you were able to ask questions from the website.

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 thought the booklet was helpful. The staff was very quick to answer any questions I had. I felt prepared as I could be before my trip began.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I enjoyed working at the Orphanage as the kids are fantastic. When at school I did not feel as useful as I thought I would be.

Accommodation and meals
Both were above and beyond what I expected. Uma is great and so helpful. The food was also always wonderful! You really feel like you are part of the family.


What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?

Getting to know the children experience the Nepalese culture and spending time with the other volunteers.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes The Nepal VS program has been a great experience and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Any comments and suggestions
Uma was wonderful and really helped with whatever we needed. I feel fortunate to have spent the time with the children but also take side trips to Chitwan and Pokhara.

What areas did you like about our website?
The amount of various programs available to volunteers as well as the flexibility with duration and timings of program.

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?
Quick response to the questions asked.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes it was a very enjoyable trip. The placement was comfortable and I had fun helping around the orphanage. The experience was great.

Accommodation and meals
Comfortable accommodation and good satisfying meals. The comfort was somewhat unexpected as I thought the conditions may have been worse.


What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?

The ability to help the kids out and play with them as well as the short trip to Chitwan with the other volunteers. The activities were great.

Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes. A very rewarding trip with many new experiences.

What areas did you like about our website?
Every details were really clear about program like how it is.

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?
Mr. Sahil always answered to my email within 24 hours. He guides me really well. The booklet was useful. I read it a lot to do my suitcase.

Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes I enjoyed working with orphans. I loved taking care of the children and it was a pleasure to help them every day.

Accommodation and meals
Being in a host family was a great experience of sharing and learning about the culture. The house was fine: - water electricity a nice family.


What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?

Ghanaian people are amazing! I enjoyed everyday of my trip. Ghanaians share everything about their culture very easily. I grew a lot with this experience.

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

The website was easy to navigate and I like the whole website. The staff was very helpful is all aspect. The pre departure booklet was very helpful too.

I really like the students. All the kids were very nice. They were eager to learn. There are many highlight from my volunteer trip. I feel glad and blessed to have met Uma. She have been so helpful and careful. So everything came so easily.

I loved staying at the orphanage. The kids are so sweet and Uma is so amazing. I slept on a nice bed and got very tasty food every time. There was always more than enough food for everyone of us.

I would surely recommend Volunteering Solutions. Thank you all for the best trip of my life.

Everything was easy to find on Volunteering Solutions website all the information was there which was needed before the trip. The pre departure booklet was pretty good and the communication of the staff through emails was good.

The orphanage placement was good. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the placement. The highlight must be the daily life at the orphanage to be around the kids in any given situation and be a part of their lives for three weeks.

The accommodation was perfect. We were three girls traveling together and we got a room together so that' s nice.

I would surely going to recommend this organization to my friends and family members.

The website is nice has secure login Pre - Departure information and guide to the destination. It was good that we had to provide flight arrival and departure details video testimonials. The pre departure booklet was very useful. The staff at Volunteering Solutions was helpful in answering our queries.

I thoroughly enjoyed my volunteer placement at the orphanage in Nepal. Uma her family the helpers and children are wonderful. I have learnt alot about the Nepalese culture traditions people and way of life from my time here. Everyday at the project was a highlight! We arrived just in time for the month long celebration of festivals in October so the town was buzzing with atmosphere. At home we witnessed our host family prepare for the festivities. We even had a chance to watch the children perform a traditional Nepalese dance show for us.

The accommodation was very good. I loved eating Nepalese food. Accommodation was comfortable. I enjoyed staying at the same place as the children. I will definitely recommend Volunteering Solutions.

The layout of the website was nice as well as the step by step information about program location and programs. I found pre departure booklet very helpful when preparing for the trip and we arrived Uma explained everything we needed to know which helped us feel at ease.

The program placement was wonderful. The kids were eager to learn new English sentence and appreciate our help. The day we brought balloons and bubble mix for the kids and watching them play with them for hours is the highlight of my stay in Nepal.

The accommodation was nice and meals were provided everyday for every meals. No complaints. I would surely recommend your organization.