While I loved teaching it proved challenging at times because of the language barrier. The books and materials were not in English and I had to work with 8 to 25 children everyday. The children were so sweet and appreciative that no matter how hard or difficult a day was I couldn’t help, but smile and think of their darling faces.

From day one there were always free smiles and hugs on hand...Prior to travelling I did not know what exactly to expect from the program, but it was an absolute positive surprise. I recommend this program to any person that seeks to give love and receive a hundred times more in return.

Overall, one cannot but be impressed and humbled by the whole experience and you will come away (with difficulty and a heavy heart because of the love and lessons those children with so very little have taught you in such a short time) inspired to take back home some of those simple “rules” and customs of teaching, so often lost or forgotten in our modern obsession for league tables and political correctness.

Friday’s are a bit different because that’s test day, the children LOVE this though, as they get to see what they’ve learnt through the week and after an hour or so of tests are free to play. One Friday it was so hot we all ran through a fence at the back of the school and jumped in to a huge pond to cool off. All the kids who could swim were jumping in with us and the ones who couldn’t we were hugging and splashing.

Any amount of time spent helping these kids is great of course, but the longer you stay the more meaningful and purposeful your efforts become. Most volunteers were very sad to leave and wanted to stay longer, so I would advise to plan for a longer stay if you can.

The Costa Rica volunteer experience was nothing like I expected, and I had an amazing time. I met friends and worked with people

The second place that I volunteered was at the Escuela Granadilla Norte. At this school, I volunteered as aid in a kindergarten classroom. I felt incredibly welcome and at home as I volunteered at the school. The teachers there were very sweet and willing to speak slowly to me in Spanish to help me understand things. I learned a lot about the culture and language in Costa Rica from the teachers at the school as I helped out in the classroom.

There were people from all over the world. We had an orientation, took an oral exam and then were assigned our class.The classes had 4-5 people in them for a better learning experience. In addition, the school offered dance class, cooking class, and extra conversation classes.

This summer I spent six weeks volunteering in Fiji teaching the students of Dawasamu Primary School. My responsibilities included improving literacy and numeracy comprehension as well as providing lessons in P.E., music, and art. I’ve never had any experience teaching, but my time spent in Dawasamu Primary School made me open my eyes to the importance of education-- and how taken for granted it is back in my own country.

I learned how to stop worrying about unimportant things that take up most of my time, I met amazing people, I saved over 400 turtle eggs and released over 150 baby ones, and I had the time of my life.

During my time at project I made lifelong new friendships with other volunteers, shared so much laughter with the amazing kids who we took care of, and learned A LOT about the diverse culture and life in Cape Town, South Africa.

The orphanage was also grateful to have the international volunteers bring lots of donations from abroad, including balloons, stationary, soccer balls, story books, candies and toys. We loved getting to help distribute these donations to the kids.

In the Deaf and Mute school, I learned basic Indian Sign language and taught English and vocabulary, and did arts and crafts.When I went to the Community Center, the children were split up into 4-5 different classes based on their age. I spent time with the toddlers and 6-10 year olds. We had so much fun reading, spelling, writing, and counting.

I was greeted by a young Indian boy in a shirt donned in peace signs and blue waves, we took my luggage to the car and off we went! The drive was only 45 minutes but oh did I wish it went for longer. Driving along to the familiar sounds of Bob Marley and all the new pop queens, I was glued to the window bounded by tall, sky scrapping coconut trees, big blue water, floating casino cruises and fresh fruit markets sprawled along the side of the road. Boy was I happy to call this place home for next two weeks.

To be honest, I was a bit scared when I first left my country to volunteer in India, but the minute I got picked up from the airport by one of the coordinators it was amazing. I have nothing but positive things to say about this program and volunteering in India and recommend it to anyone. It is a wonderful program and a beautiful country.

I am so glad that I went on this trip, and I highly recommend a volunteer trip of some sort to everyone. I also highly recommend doing it alone. Even though I had wished I had someone with me during the first few days, I’m glad I didn’t now because I got to meet so many amazing people and I got to make new friends that I probably wouldn’t have made if I had gone with a friend or family member.

A volunteer who taught at the other school came back one day saying that she this was the happiest she felt this year. I never thought about it before she said anything, but as soon as her words were spoken I knew it was true. It truly is a magical experience.

Our way of living in the West differs drastically from the way people live in India. As volunteers we saw incredible things we would have never imagined during our stay, such as how people really live in the slums. This was thanks to coming as a volunteer rather than as a tourist, which allowed us to immerse ourselves into the culture in a special way. We were able to see this unbelievably chaotic borough from the inside (even the inside of the houses!) thanks to the children (students from the school) who guided us through.

I volunteered with ‘street children’ at a local school. The volunteers and I were welcomed with lays, blessed with bracelets, and milk tea. I spent my time teaching English, mathematics, playing, singing, dancing, and learning from the children themselves, as they taught me even more than I could ever teach them. After volunteering, we would head off to some more tourist activities such as, visiting the Akshardham Temple and watching their magnificent water show.

The final week consisted of teaching. We volunteers were paired up and sent to classes from various schools around Ubud. The teaching days were fun, exciting, tough, confusing at times, but incredibly rewarding for me. As an ESL teacher, I was able to try different approaches of teaching towards non-English speakers. The children love you from the minute they see you, and they are always trying to show it! I will say that teaching was my favorite part of the whole trip.

The look on my students\' faces when they got the hang of a new English word was priceless. While the sights and sounds of Bali are intoxicating, the real treat is rolling up your sleeves and doing some good in the world. This project has a real positive impact – namely, giving kids a leg up in getting a job later in Indonesia\'s growing tourism industry. If they can speak English, it will be easier for them to make money for themselves. On my last day, I told my students to study hard so that some day I might come back and speak to them in English fluently.

The project I chose to do was teaching English, and me and my partner were assigned 6th grade (10-11 year olds). This proved to be more challenging than I had expected, and the kids made us work hard to gain their attention and trust. Teaching on your own with so little structure taught me patience, the value of effort, and how important it is to work with what you have. It was incredible to see the children grow in their knowledge after just a few short weeks.

It was an amazing week in which we had the chance to meet people from all around the world, plus we were immersing ourselves in a totally new different culture. The purpose of this week was to help us understand and learn about the Balinese culture in preparation to the volunteer project. The Bahasa language and cultural classes were very helpful for the teaching English project.

This first week was an introduction week which was a great way to meet new people and familiarize oneself with the surroundings that I would be living in for a month. During this week we visited the Monkey forest, had a tour around Ubud, went to some rice fields, learnt some Balinese language and cooking and went to the Holy Water temple. It was a jam packed first week but a great way to really embrace the Balinese lifestyle. We also went and watched a Balinese dance show and had a Balinese offering and painting class. All of which contributed to a great first week.

Volunteering in Indonesia was more than a simple experience, it was an opportunity I had to challenge myself as I have never done before. I have met some of the most interesting and passionate people on the planet and shared with them my life, my interests, my pictures and my dreams. Together we had the unique opportunity to discover the country, its people and its amazing environment from the privileged viewpoint of a volunteer.

In addition to the teaching, I got to work at an orphanage in Kathmandu. I cannot explain the affect of those astoundingly beautiful children. Just to hold a child in need of a hug. To feel a hand slip so readily into yours simply to feel love and affection freely given. To feel special to someone. It bursts your heart. Their delight in each other and what little they have is truly inspiring and I will never forget them.

Volunteering in one of the local daycare centers was quite the experience as I was able to see firsthand how important it is to learn English at such an early age, especially in a poverty stricken country, such as the Philippines. I didn’t spend my time simply teaching English, however, I also taught simple things such as shapes, colors, songs, using manners, and how to show respect.

I feel that I gained as much as the children did from my experience that month. I really learned a lot of life lessons from the children and people of the town. One thing that I really enjoyed was getting to teach them new things and see their faces light up with their new found knowledge. I even got to learn a little of the Xhosa language throughout my stay from the children who were not afraid to share. I really enjoyed watching the children progress with the new things that I had taught them throughout my stay. All in all it was a surreal experience that I hope to soon experience again.

Those kids taught me that its a choice to be happy every single day and that no matter how bad you think something is, you’re completely wrong. They taught me how to have fun playing patty cake and singing songs. They taught me how to dance and poke fun. And most importantly they taught me how to love something unconditionally and never look back; those kids taught me how to love. And for that, I am forever grateful.

The most memorable moment of my whole time was seeing the children for the first time. They were waiting at the fence of the school, HUGE smiles on their faces, cheering and screaming for all of us. I could feel their love just by looking at their faces.

Although living conditions were unimaginable, the children greeted us with endless smiles and laughter. They were so happy and appreciative of our attention and interactions. I spent the next 4 weeks at Skandaalkamp helping improve the education and lives of the beautiful children of Skandaalkamp.

I sort of became the head teacher there quickly. And the kids listen to me and trust me – and I learned a little Xhosa (pronounced kosa) too. I’m such a mess right now because I love them and I feel awful leaving them. In a perfect world I would stay and make sure I saw them all graduate from high school.

I couldn’t imagine how those township kids’ childhood would be until I participated in their life. We had a totally different life with them. Finally I realized how happy and lucky I am and I’ve never felt regret to join this volunteer experience. I could deeply felt the happiness during my trip and I felt that it’s more blessed to give than to receive. I did learn a lot and also received a lot during the volunteering trip.

I have never felt as upset as I felt leaving Cape Town, the city where I spent the 16 best days of my life. I don’t exaggerate. At all.Sometimes we just sat at the playground and hug each other. It seems they don’t have enough attention and care and it upset me so much. They don’t need MP3-players, bicycles and PlayStations – they just need to feel they are loved and cared about. And a football, of course!

The children I worked with were between five and six years old and were great. Even though they lived in impoverished homes and sometimes did not even have a real house, they were always smiling and laughing, just like children from back home. Some days were really tough, but I would see these eyes looking back at me and I knew I had to stay and help them.

One Saturday the manager of this project, Nikki, had her birthday. Instead of celebrating it herself she threw a party for the kids with games, jump house, scooters, facepaint, birthday cake, hot dogs etc…She dedicated her birthday to the kids because she thinks that every child deserves a birthday party, but she can’t throw one for each child so her birthday is the celebration of all the kids birthdays together – what a great, inspiring idea! The kids had a blast and so did we.

The school we taught at was called Wings of Hope. We were with these kids for two weeks and I can’t even describe how much I miss them! They were the sweetest and most caring children I’ve ever met. I’m so happy that I took advantage of this opportunity to volunteer in South Africa because it really helped me grow. I have made friends from all over the world, saw beautiful sights, and got to make my mark within their community. I cannot wait to go on another volunteer trip with the help of Gnarly Troop!

Just to offer a few hugs, kisses and a little bit of attention made all the difference in the world to these kids and it warmed my heart. At the conclusion of my trip, the principal of the pre-school I was working in, Babes Educare, complimented my attitude while working in the classroom and recognized my admiration for the students.

My time with the project focused more on rebuilding this site and supporting the community in their new home of Wolwe-rivier, Cape Town. We rebuilt the playground, developed a sustainable vegetable garden, and prepared the grounds for school to resume. Quite often the children would grab shovels or rakes and help us with this project!

Our afternoons consisted of 1.5 hours of personal surf time including instruction from an awesome surf instructor if you needed it. Once we were done with our surf session, 13-15 year old students would arrive and we would spend another 1.5 hours with them doing exercises and playing games on the beach to warm up. We then hoped in the water and assisted them with their surfing. You did not have to be a professional instructor, but rather needed to stay out in the water with them to make sure they stayed safe, and give them the occasional power boost through the water!

Since I was on the surf club, in the evenings after coming back from Zusakhe, I joined the other surf club volunteers and helped give surf, skate and swim lessons to kids from Dunoon who were around 8-14 years old. Often, this was time for us to try to get closer to the kids and learn about their life stories. On days when the weather was too bad for surf club activities, we played board games and even had a pizza cook-off between different teams.

When I arrived in Cape Town, I was positively surprised by how welcoming not only the staff but also the volunteers were. I had no problems at all finding new friends and engaging with everybody around. The average age was about 21, even though there were exceptions with ages ranging up to 65! I was immediately briefed on the project and on what to expect from it and never felt lost at all.

Days started with a 40-minute spiritual session with one of the sisters, and after discovering the meaning of life, we jumped straight into lending a hand. From putting on nail polish and washing their faces and hands to coloring and building with blocks, it was an eye opening experience.

The most rewarding feeling was when the kids homework was 100% correct, and they would get a sticker for writing three good characteristics, or correctly solving a math problem. Every day volunteering in Sri Lanka was a new adventure, and every night as I lay in bed wrapped tightly in a mosquito net and doused in mosquito repellent, I felt that I had made a difference; and alongside me was my friends from numerous other countries, relishing with me in the same feeling of and overwhelming joy.

The most important thing is that we did all these amazing things with a bunch of extraordinary people from all around the world and had unlimited support from the amazing staff...!

For me, the strongest experience was teaching in the school. Thai children are quiet and have a pleasant discourse, and are especially eager to learn. Each new person is an opportunity for them to learn something new about the world, every unfamiliar face is a teacher. It felt liberating and exciting to pass on every small bit of knowledge to the children..

Working in Thailand was one of the best experiences of my life. The children were so incredibly sweet and eager to learn. The younger children barely knew any English so we had to find ways to communicate with them through pictures and hand motions. After this experience, I really think anyone can learn to be a teacher!

And of course, my favorite project, teaching English. You don’t need any experience at all because it is very basic stuff – such as going through the alphabet, counting, pointing at objects and saying the words in English. They mostly just appreciate you being there. Spending time with them was amazing and something which I will never forget and always cherish!

I taught English and it was the best feeling ever being able to offer my services to the Thai people. My students were very sweet and I have made friends with a couple of them.

The weeks I spent with Gnarly Troop volunteering in Thailand were the most impactful for me. The reason is simple: NEED and IMPACT. Nowhere else in Asia and the Middle East did I feel that the place I was volunteering needed my help as much as this project in Thailand... As volunteers, our voices were heard by orphanage management. If we saw a need and could suggest a solution, it was implemented quickly. The impact we had on the children was real and measurable.

At the orphanage we could do many things: construction, painting, building, playing with the children in the afternoon, and teaching English to Thai people. I taught English and it was the best feeling ever. It was extremely rewarding and my students were very thankful. They were incredibly sweet and very eager to learn. I felt a really strong connection to them and looked forward each day to seeing them again. It may sound as a cliché but I gained so much more than I gave. Volunteering at the orphanage gave me insight into the culture in a way I could have never gotten as a tourist. It really is waging peace through justice worldwide.

During my time there, I was able to spend the night at one of the student’s villages and see how they live. To get to the student’s village it took about 45 minutes walking. The kids wash their clothes, body, and teeth all in the same river. At night they use a candle for light since they don’t have electricity. Meals consisted of rice, bamboo, and fish. The school is very limited on teachers, so when the students get the chance to learn they appreciate every second of it. Saying goodbye was so hard to say the least.

During my stay, I volunteered at an orphanage to work on light construction projects. Our main objective was to help maintain and fix the orphanage infrastructure and environment so that the children could benefit from a better learning atmosphere and have better living accommodations. I exchanged warm hugs and laughter with the charming little souls at the orphanage; they left me a lifetime full of cherished memories.

I was speaking to a kid with the name ‘ฝัน’ which literally translates to ‘Dream’. He is seventeen years old, has one brother, two loving parents, and two dogs, just like me. One of the English teachers helped me ask him the question, “what do you want to do with your life,” his response, ” I want to be happy, I want to help make a change in the world.” He has a dream, he has the light, he is human, he realizes that the world is a big place with not just him living in it.

We started off touring around the school, where we were greeted by smiling children who couldn’t stop waving at us. Then it was off to the classroom where we put together our own lesson plans (none were given to us). We taught about 2-4 classes a day, depending on the day. Throughout the 10 days of teaching, we played games with the students, taught them songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle or Hokie Pokie, and had conversations about our lives here and in America.

For grades 1 to 3, I was able to teach them colours, shapes, numbers, animals, fruits and often played a couple games of hangman with them. From grades 4 to 6 I taught them sentences about occupations and their dream jobs. I also taught them body parts, emotions and family members. I tried to make our classes as enjoyable as possible for the kids; I tried to put a fun spin of each of the things we were learning.

Throughout the program Gnarly Troop and the local Thai team ensured their volunteers fun by implementing social gatherings throughout the week. I enjoyed this because it kept everyone occupied when we weren’t volunteering and it was a great way to meet new people. This volunteering experience is like no other because you gain a first-hand perspective on Thai culture that you wouldn’t be able to absorb through a text book. Overall, this experience has been unforgettable and I am very grateful.

The Ho Chi Minh Community Involvement placement starts off with four days of Culture Week, a fantastic opportunity to get to know the other volunteers we would be living with for the next three weeks. This involved language and culture classes, a tour of the city and its major historical sites, cooking class and Vietnamese towel folding class (the last two of which caused a LOT of laughter!). Then we all started work.

I learned a lot about the culture in Vietnam and was able to explore the famous places in Ho Chi Minh as well. Apart from the amazing time I had during the cultural week, I was more keen for my week of volunteering to come, as that was my main purpose of enrolling myself to this program. I’ve never been happier that I chose to work in a school as I; myself enjoy having children around me.

During the second week I volunteered at the school where I played with children aged from 2 to 5. The children there were happy to see you and wanted to play with you. A lot of them wanted to learn English so in order to achieve that they would point at different things and smiled when you told them what it was.

\"This is roughly how every day went, each one with little quirks and quiet achievements. I remember how amazing it felt to watch the kids learning and growing, even in such a short space of time while I was there – hearing them say my name, words I had taught them, singing songs I had sung to them or games I had taught them. I began to get to know and love the personalities of each of them, it was so gorgeous

Now, back home, the best memories that I keep in my head are my new friends, unique places, and kind people from Thailand. But the highlight memory is definitely the legacy that I gave to the kids, and even bigger was the legacy that they gave to me.

The melting pot of different perspectives and personalities that came with so many people from different places being together not only kept my stay in Goa interesting, but it was one of my favorite aspects of my entire trip. I now have friends in eight countries! 

This experience helped me see that I want to relocate to Cape Town, South Africa permanently to teach primary school. I can\'t wait to go back one day to work with the school again because this was the most amazing experience of my life. 

Memories like this...I believe they exist very rarely in peoples lives. Those moments where your mind captures another smile, where you feel caught up, happy, content with the world and everything around you. Everything exists but for a brief moment, but that moment is crystal, like diamond; beautiful, solid, but transparent. I feel I\'ve captured so many of these moments that my entire week has been composed of them. My heart goes to Thailand, and I believe I will follow my heart on its quest for what it desires.

I would encourage anyone to work with this program and I am forever thankful I made this decision. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime. 

I would go back in a heartbeat and certainly will the next chance I get. I will be recommending this project to everyone I know back home. It\'s not just for your regular volunteering, do good people, anyone can do this project and anyone can come here and make a difference.

It was an incredible experience that I highly recommend for all the people that want to travel, enjoy the landscape in an amazing place and help people who are really in need. 

Children there love singing and dancing, they performed traditional Hindus dance before we left. I can feel the passion of the children, from their eyes and their words. One week is too short for the teaching and I hope more and more volunteers can come and help these children.

Definitely this experience shaped my personality and I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to volunteer in such an amazing place.

This Teaching and Community Work in Goa project was a great experience that has provided me with lifelong memories.

The other volunteers that were on the trip were some of the most incredible people I have met. To hear their stories and learn about where they came from was extremely interesting. To see the interest to come help in South Africa from all over the world was heart warming and inspiring.

Our organized activities were a great way to relax and have fun with everyone in the program but my favorite memories were at the school, playing with the kids at the end of each day, or handing out ice cream after lunch...I cannot wait to not only return for more volunteering in Thailand, but to explore other opportunities provided by Gnarly Troop.

I know the friends I made will be in my life for a long time! Even though I was only in Thailand for a short period of time, I know I helped make a difference in the lives of the children I met.

When I visited there were 12 kids there and we played all morning on the playground, with sidewalk chalk, doing puzzles, etc. I think I had just as much fun playing as the kids did.

I will never forget the incredible time and 19th birthday I had in St. Lucia. This volunteering experience changed me for the better, and I can’t recommend it enough.

I have been fortunate to volunteer at projects around the world and this experience really stood out as one of the best!

I don\'t think I could have had a better experience volunteer-wise!

Being able to see the improvement of the steps week to week and getting help from two other volunteers was absolutely amazing and something I\'m very proud of.

I really enjoyed the time I had in Kenya, playing with the kids (their favorite game was that I lifted them as high as I can) as well as teaching them the letters of the alphabet or numbers...All in all, I had three of the best weeks ever. I met amazing people and enjoyed every day in kindergarten a lot!

I’m halfway into my second volunteer abroad adventure, this time as a Community Outreach volunteer on the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania. So far it has been an amazing experience!  Beautiful. Crazy. Exhausting. Heartwarming. Paradise.

Each and every day that I walked into the classrooms of the kindergarten or primary school, my heart was touched by the big brown eyes and smiling faces of the local children. At the first sight of our volunteers, the children shout in unison, “Bulaaaa”. Our participants respond to them in an instant, “Bulaaaa”.