England

I did the business pogram

Going to Costa Rica for 4 weeks through Projects Abroad was without a doubt the best decision I have made thus far. I'm currently 21, still in college, and it was my first time traveling out of the country (and alone). As the day was approaching to leave home I was honestly getting really nervous. But the second I stepped into my home-stay and my house mom approached me I felt instantly at home. Costa Rica is in general a really relaxed and friendly country (the rumors are true), so everyone is always willing to lend a helping hand to foreigners; the Projects Abroad team is no exception. They really went above and beyond to make every volunteer feel comfortable and right at home. They would even put you at ease if you felt home sick or worried. From taking you out to breakfast on your first day, to giving you a map of the city, hosting volunteer events so everyone could get to know each other, and helping you plan out fun weekend trips. Within a week I genuinely felt like I had been friends with them for years. My only regret was not saving enough money to stay longer.

The families you stay with are complete angels. My house mom felt like a second mom considering how caring and generous she was. She introduced me to neighboring families and volunteers who I stay friends with till this day. She was also extremely accommodating to any volunteers she had who didn't speak spanish. She would talk really slow and make sure you learned spanish at a speed that was comfortable for you. I met a girl from Ohio who would only communicate through writing on a phone app, yet by her lat week she was speaking full sentences.

When working I helped out 2 local businesses in Heredia; a cool burger shack that doubled as an art gallery, and a man who was trying to kick-start his Jade jewelry business ( if you end up going the restaurant is called La Galleria and their burgers are to kill for). The work I did for both businesses was really interactive and not at all boring. I was helping them solve real life problems. I put all that I learned in my marketing classes to use and had a great time doing it. The businesses also really want for volunteers to help them grow and reach as many people. They want a different perspective so they graciously welcome opinions, advice, and all sorts of unique ideas.

I could honestly go on for hours on why Projects Abroad is so ideal and worthwhile. But long story short If you're looking for an affordable immersive volunteer program, with staff/families willing to support you 24/7, and the perk of meeting amazing young people from all over the world--- then this is your program.

ASA is a wonderful program. Living in London had always been a dream of mine and I got to live in central London, which was amazing. One of my favorite parts was how close I was to some of the best shopping in the world. I was only two tube stops away from Oxford Street which is filled with hundreds of stores and a great place to shop. I definitely recommend ASA to anyone wanting to study abroad! They are very helpful and take the time to help you out.

My experience in China has been an interesting one to say the least, it is a culture shock especially coming from England but within a week I was able to assimilate into the Chinese culture. Eating food with chopsticks and the whole bit. Gi2c were able to help me with that process giving me some tips of the dos and do nots in China. It has been a learning experience for me to get to know a different culture for the four weeks I was here. I look forward to returning to China and exploring other cities. Beijing has a lot to offer and I'm glad I was able to go on this experience. Perhaps for future a little bit more support could be given by Gi2c after orientation to check up and see how the interns are doing but I did enjoy the Great Wall trip. It would have been nice if more trips like this could have been offered. For the great aspects of the internship I would recommend it to other students.

Overall the InternLondon group was super supportive, friendly and caring and I felt somebody was there for me all the time. From the airport pick up to the social activities everything is done with great care for the interns and on their best interest, you can just tell by the smiles on the girls of the team's faces. And it's nice you can share that feeling, it doesn't feel you are just "a job" for them, on the contrary.

Also I would like to highlight the support I got previous to my travel; with VISA info, and other doubts, they were always in the best disposition, super helpful and quick in response.

I think what makes this program different and good is the people that work for it. They make you feel comfortable and at home.

I was very satisfied. To improve maybe organize a few small parties through the year? Haha but I think you did when I left so that's covered :)

October/November 2014 I had a two months stint in Nepal at one of the children's homes. The experience turned out to be rewarding thanks to the Nepali people especially the children. And I felt I was able to enrich their lives at least a tiny bit. My experiences are documented on my travel blog [redacted] TRAVEL DIARIES if you are interested in knowing some of the activities I undertook with the kids and what Nepal was like for me.

However, sad to say, I (a mother, grandmother, social worker and health care administrator) and another volunteer (a fourth year medical student) uncovered problems with the health of the children related to their receiving inadequate nutrition. These are kids who have been under the charities auspice for more than five years. The top administrators in Nepal are western women, rumored to be in charge of 'volunteer support', 'fund raising' and 'budgeting'. They visited the homes once a month and did their own version of 'case management' for the children. They both went into a tirade one day and advised me and another volunteer who'd had the nerve to suggest a change to their webpage, that volunteers were too much trouble. The only reason they entertained volunteers was because they brought in money!

Where did the money from our huge program fees go to? Not to the kids, nor to the 'host families'. I am back three months now and have been in dialogue with GVN. I've enlisted the help of a nurse/academic and a pediatrician (both with extensive experience in third world countries attending to the needs of children) , and a dietitian. They have analyzed the data on the children's height and weights (we photographed records) and have verified that some of the children show evidence of failure to thrive and the calories currently provided are not sufficient, especially for the older boys (15-18 years). You know those glowing reviews on the GVN site? Will you see a review from me? No. The organization doesn't want to hear 'bad news'. Give a bad review and you are obviously a disgruntled volunteer. Even with this kind of evidence their tack is to start a dialogue with the Nepali partners (the western women) to give them a chance to tell their side of the story ( the story of why the kids are underweight.) Evidently there is a good reason for this. I can't imagine any valid reason for not buying enough lentils to provide sufficient calories. Budgeting? The tens of thousands of money brought in through program fees is not used to support the children's homes! For support for the homes, extra donations are solicited. Who from? Well everyone. -- especially the hapless volunteer who sees the needs of the children up close -- the little scrap of soap shared between six girls. The tights so worn they're like cobwebs in places. . I was hoping that GVN would step up to the plate when made aware of this level of concern. I feel so sad tonight having received another email from GVN where I'm informed the Nepal administrators will be reporting back to GVN and in 'due course' I will hear 'their side of the story' (again). And GVN has no concerns about how the Nepal based administrators allocate funding. The pediatrician, nurse and dietitian have donated hours of time analyzing the data, and they have done additional research and presented this data to GVN. Not a word of thanks. I really fear this will be swept under the carpet. I feel so sorry for these children now approaching adulthood and with very little in the way planning done to help them adjust to life outside the home. I will not discourage anyone from volunteering with GVN. The children do benefit from good volunteers. Remember a good volunteer carries a note book, pencil and camera. If we see something offensive and don't report it we are as culpable as the persons who have caused the offence.

Winant Clayton was my first foray into volunteering abroad, and I couldn't have asked for a better program! They run a very small program, so I never felt like a number or a cash sign, but rather a person the program had a vested interest in.

We had volunteers from all across the US and we met in NYC the day before we flew to London. Each of us had a unique placement (sometimes 2 people per placement) in some sort of community centre or location for disadvantaged peoples. It was exciting to meet and finally talk with who grew to become my family over next 10 weeks.

When we landed in London, we were put on a bus and individually dropped off at our boarding locations. This was particularly helpful as it gave us all a chance to rest a bit and not immediately worry about conquering the transportation system.

The next day we had an all-day orientation that equipped us with information regarding our placements, meetings, and PLENTY of sight-seeing info. We also then learned of our mandatory day trip to Cambridge, which was a blast.

We had a coordinator on the US side who some people had strained relationships with, although this was primarily due to the complexity and frustrations of the Visa process. However, our London coordinator was absolutely FABULOUS! She was communicative and supportive.

At my placement, I worked at a community centre off of Brick Road (in the East End). I loved my placement and everything about it: the service users, the other volunteers, the employees, my duties, etc. Some of my fellow Winants were not as lucky with their placements (held office jobs, dealt with unruly service users, but the vast majority of us truly enjoyed our work and loved the experience.

While most of the Winants lived in dormitories, I was placed in a flat with an incredibly kind elderly Jamaican woman. For the most part I truly enjoyed my living conditions, but coming/going always felt a bit like 'checking in' due to her more subdued and conservative living ways.

On weekends and at nights, us Winants tried to coordinate a new outing that everyone was invited to attend. We had pub nights, museum tours, picnics and club outings. While we only had a handful of mandatory meetings/check-ins, we managed to stay in touch and see each other often.

Overall, I would highly recommend this program for any independent, highly motivated individuals who want a great way to experience England for the first time. You'll have nights and weekends free to travel, as well as 2 weeks of free time at the end of the term. If you can afford your ticket and save up a bit of spending money (you are given a meager travel/food stipend and your board is covered) then this is the program for you! Great for students, teachers and adventurers of all ages.

ASA was an excellent program to study abroad with. The staff is extremely friendly, accessible, and helpful, and having somebody to go to during my first weekend in London for on-site orientation was very helpful. The program makes all of the paperwork associated with study abroad much more straightforward, and the package deal approach meant that I had much less organizing to do. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about my semester abroad in London at Regents College thanks to the support of Academic Studies Abroad. I also got to do a lot of outside traveling on my own time. The only setback was the school itself. I highly recommend London for a semester abroad because there is such a diverse culture and so many things to see, but the academics at Regents College are not up to American standards, even if they are labeled "Regents American College London." While the campus, facilities, faculty and staff at Regents are nice, their curriculum is nowhere near challenging enough, and some of the tutors were extremely poor teachers. The school lacks unity, and in spite of its incredible diversity, I was unable to make many international friends-I had very few classes with students from anywhere but America. What's more, I found many of the international students to be unapproachable. If I was considering a semester abroad in London, I would definitely go with ASA, but perhaps consider their London Southbank University Program instead, although I don't know much about that school.

I will forever be grateful to ASA for the study abroad experience they provided for me. Any qualms I had about living in a foreign country were eased by their informative pre-departure packet and friendly staff, who were always a mere phone call or e-mail away to answer any questions I had. Being part of a smaller program allowed me to instantly bond with others from ASA right away, which made the transition that much easier. Also, ASA is great about introducing you to your new home and helping you learn the ropes. I would recommend ASA to anyone wanting to study abroad.

My home university did not have an affiliate for London, so I was uneasy with the whole process of studying abroad. I came across ASA and those feelings quickly changed. They helped with every detail regarding the whole process. They got me ready for my new home. I could email them a question, and I always got a response almost immediately. They were there every moment of the way. An ASA representative was even there to pick us up from the airport in London! It was a comforting feeling having them there, and showing us around our new city. Even while living in our new city, and attending our new host university, an ASA rep was always a quick email away. I highly recommend ASA to any prospective travelers! They helped make my amazing experience truly unforgettable.

This was the best experience of my life and I would recommend ASA to anyone that is thinking about a study abroad. Everyone with ASA is more than helpful and willing to talk you through the whole process. There is always someone there to make sure your time abroad is fun, safe, and educational.