Argentina

I had a great time! The IVHQ staff were friendly, helpful, and made me feel right at home. Nati reached out to me via WhatsApp the day before and Lichi emailed me letting me know exactly how things would go at the airport. My stay was comfortable and affordable. The food was delicious and the house was clean and neat. The host family really made me feel like a visiting family member versus a guest. They even threw me a little going away dinner.

The staff at my placement were also very nice and helpful and seemed so happy to have me there. As a qualified healthcare professional, I wasn't able to utilize many of my skills so the placement is better suited to a student. Intermediate to advanced Spanish would have made my time easier but I loved the experience nonetheless.

This program was awesome and I had an amazing time. The educational opportunities were great. I loved the school and the location (Academia BsAs). The directors were amazing. They were always there if you needed anything, and they were so knowledgeable about the history of every place we visited on excursions which was super helpful whenever I had questions. They were always able to answer them. The excursions themselves were always well planned and amazing experiences, and we still had time to travel outside of the program by ourselves if we wanted to. The home-stay was awesome, and I absolutely loved the woman I stayed with. She was wonderful! Overall, it was an amazing experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who wishes to learn a new language.

This experience was one of the best I have ever had. I have always wanted to volunteer and see other parts of the world. I came across IVHQ just surfing the web for safe and affordable programs. I am starting graduate school this fall so I did not have too much extra money to spend on traveling. I did research on some of the countries I was interested in and Buenos Aires seemed to be one of the safer choices so I felt comfortable in my decision to travel there.

I traveled to Argentina alone, but when I arrived, I was never alone unless I chose to be which was comforting. All the volunteers would go out to eat together and explore Buenos Aires together! The volunteers who were in the same program would travel to their volunteer program together. Where the childcare program is located is not a good area, but again, you are never alone. I always felt safe because there would always be 6 to 9 of us going together and no-one was left behind. The kids in the program truly have a piece of my heart. It was hard for me to communicate with them since my Spanish skills are very minimal. So while I was there, I focused on playing different sports and activities with the kids such as soccer, jump rope, catch, skateboarding, using the scooter, drawing, and etc. Even though I couldn't speak the same language, some of the kids truly gravitated towards me because they could see I was smiling, laughing and trying to have fun with them. It truly amazed me how close I felt to some of them even though I could not have real conversation with them.

I am so glad I went out of my comfort zone to volunteer in Buenos Aires because the memories and friends I made on this trip I will cherish and hold close to my heart forever. The kids I met during this program I will miss forever and cherish the memories I have with them. This trip truly gave me another perspective on life and truly helped me grow as a person. I would highly recommend taking this journey to anyone.

Projects Abroad is a great organization that helps you to volunteer abroad. It is truly a unique experience to travel abroad and help a foreign community in some way! While I was working with Projects Abroad this I was in Argentina volunteering for Human Rights. It’s been a great time working with those who often times lack a voice in modern society, predominantly juvenile criminals and the homeless in my case, and seeing the meaningful impact you can have on a foreign community. Through my volunteer work I believe I made a meaningful impact on and contribution to the communities I visited, which is something rare for many travelers.

Besides having a great experience and wonderful selection of programs across the globe, Projects Abroad has an amazing staff. The Project coordinators and Advisers help you to get accustomed to the local culture and guide you throughout your experience. In addition, you are also placed with a host family. My host my in Argentina was amazing and extremely welcoming, having conversations with me about her life everyday and preparing meals. My world view has truly changed after this transformative experience!

My experience with Projects Abroad was really incredible. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is considering a career in medicine because it allowed me to figure out if I can handle it before I spent the thousands of dollars to attend a nursing program. It also gave me a taste of what I may want to specialize in because I experienced a variety of different environments inside the hospital. It is a very difficult process to view a surgery in the United States, so if you're interested in doing so, consider this alternative.

Essentially, each weekday morning, my roommate and I woke up, had breakfast, packed our lunches and supplies for the day, and waited to be picked up by one of the coordinators to be brought to one of the local hospitals. We would arrive, talk to the doctor who agreed to accept us for the day, and tell him or her where we wanted to go from the options given to us. In the two weeks I spent there, I was sent to pediatrics, nursing, the emergency room, and best of all, the operating room. I was able to watch three surgeries (as in, standing next to the patient, asking questions to the doctors), and it confirmed nursing as a career path for me.

If you're choosing between a medical camp at an American college or an opportunity abroad as I was, hands down choose the latter. It is not only a better experience since you are traveling the world, but it is unique and makes you stand out from the rest of the future med school applicants. This program in particular allows you to experience living with a host family, learning and practicing Spanish, traveling Argentina, and working in real hospitals with real patients. Everything that I was hoping to experience was checked off of my list before I left. I would highly recommend this program.