Iceland

On May 3rd I began a journey from Halifax N.S. to Iceland through CADIP. I didn’t realize how life changing the experience would be. I always knew I wanted to visit the land of ice and fire and fortunately my experience through the volunteer organization helped me to realize my goal earlier than expected. At 18 I was new at travelling on my own. I had already visited many different countries throughout my lifetime but had always been part of a family or organized group with people I knew. CADIP helped me to feel at ease and answered any questions I had early on during the planning phase. They assured me I would be well looked after once I arrived at the planned destination and that I would enjoy my time. They were not mistaken. I left my home, alone and initially overwhelmed by the task at hand. I would transfer airports, arrive in Iceland knowing no-one, get money, make my way to Reykjavik, find my guest-house, spend a day and a night alone, completely alone, and then make my way to the meeting point where I would begin my two week volunteering experience alongside others I had never met. I didn’t know what to expect and it terrified me. I am an introvert by nature and I knew that this journey would be an important first step towards learning more about my strengths and abilities. I had to rely on myself and step outside my comfort zone. On the morning of the 5th of May I ordered a taxi and made my way to the meeting point. CADIP and the affiliated volunteer office in Iceland had organized several excursions for us to join and the first of three amazing tours was combined with making our way to the Hveragerdi where I would spend the next two weeks. It was a great introduction to a place that had already captivated me from landing. The landscape was exhilarating and more dramatic than I ever imagined. I arrived in Hveragerdi after a day that put me completely at ease in my new surroundings hoping that the workcamp would be a peaceful place where I could learn and explore and breathe after an exhausting first year of university. It was more. I was given my own basic room in a dorm or what I like to call cabin of sorts. I love my sleeping bag so I felt right at home and comfortable once I was settled in. Ours was a small group; Canadian, French, German, Latvian, Korean and Italian. I was the youngest and initially I was a little worried about how I would fit in. I shouldn’t have been. It was the best experience. I met the most wonderful, dynamic, interesting people who have inspired me to continue travelling, alone, discovering all the wonders that the world has to offer including unique friendships with strangers. The countryside was beautiful with every angle and view postcard perfect. I love the outdoors and Iceland is definitely the ultimate outdoor enthusiasts paradise. We hiked, we rested in the hot springs, we travelled to new places every weekend, we enjoyed the sights and tastes that our small town had to offer and oh yes, we worked and learned a great deal. Our primary role was to help in the greenhouses and on the NLFI grounds. I thoroughly enjoyed all the interesting and helpful information that was bestowed on us everyday. I have brought my new found knowledge home and use it for our family vegetable garden. I will never forget what I learned or the kindness and patience of the environment in which it was taught. I have to admit the very best part of the adventure, aside from the people, sights, excursions, pools, hot springs, bakery, glaciers, colours, sheep, horses, work, earth-quake and Icelandic air to name only a few, was the food. I am a foody. A vegetarian foody and I love to eat. I enjoyed, no I celebrated, every meal. I have never eaten as healthy or as well (sorry mom). I loved the food so much I would cut short any outings just so I could be back and sitting at the table for meal time. Thank you to the wonderful chefs who put together the meals that sustained me and brought me such joy. Initially I thought that my days in Iceland would drag, that I would be constantly wishing away the time until I was back with the familiar in Halifax. On May 3rd I left my family and home with tears and on May 19th I left new friends and Iceland with tears. I will never forget my journey or the life changing lessons I learned while overcoming my apprehension. Can I make it on my own? Yes I definitely can. Thank you CADIP for offering me the opportunity to realize this.

Volunteer experience in the East of Iceland.

I chose this volunteer project mainly because it involved many of my interests. I enjoy hiking, camping and being outdoors, and I get out of the city as often as possible. I am also environmentally-conscious and have been looking for a volunteer opportunity to allow me to clean up the earth in any way possible. In addition to all of this, I chose this project as I have always wanted to go to Iceland, and for me it was an extraordinary experience to explore the Icelandic nature and landscape.

Feedback is amazing. I loved the program and so did everyone else I was with. It's seriously an amazing opportunity and experience. Meeting all of these different people from all over the world and becoming friends was amazing. I really liked the laid back structure to the program, and the leaders were great.

Just came back from volunteering with CADIP in Iceland. I had a great time, experiencing two very different projects – farm renovation near Reykjavik and coastline cleanup in the Eastfjords. I made friends from all over the world. The organization was perfect and the entire staff was so helpful and friendly.
Looking forward to my next volunteer trip.

The photography workshop in Reykjavik (Iceland) that I went to was absolutely worth it. I'm not a professional photographer but was hoping to learn some more, and this required just the right experience level and gave me some great training. Really enjoyed meeting the people at the workcamp and even made some friends I keep in touch with. Nice way to get to know a country and had no issues with the organization. Pretty easy way to travel. Tickets to Iceland are a good deal, that's why I chose that destination.

Hi, I volunteered in Hveragerdi, Iceland in the greenhouses through July 2012 and wanted to leave a recommendation for those perusing Cadip because I had such a wonderful time. The organization is perfect for getting an international and enthusiastic crowd together; it was wonderful to grow vegetables and learn about so many cultures in such little time. I highly recommend Cadip to anyone wanting to travel and am planning my next trip for this July!

I volunteered thorough IFRE for 14 weeks this past autumn and found the experience to be everything I had hoped for. I loved the flexibility of the organization and how they met my wishes and expectations. E.g. I did not feel satisfied with the orphanage I was originally placed with but Franklin introduced me to other places so I could work at the place I felt the best about.
I stayed at the IFRE home-base where our sweet two cooks, Franklin(the country coordinator) and Wisdom really made me feel at home, we could always turn to them for help and advice.
What I liked the best about the organization was that I was in charge of my stay but Franklin was always there to help me out if i needed anything. We could easily travel during the weekends and were ourselves in charge of our workaday, if however we were unhappy about anything going at the Orphanage Franklin was more than happy to help.
The only dissatisfaction I had was concerning the culture-program which lacked a lot of the things included on IFRE´s website but that is being improved and was already a lot better when a volunteer was doing it in December.
I definitely recommend the program for anyone who is openminded and wants to have fun and experience all the warmth Ghanians have to offer!

My experience with CADIP was actually last year, in July 2011 so I'm a little late with my review but it's always been in my mind to post it as a caution to others, because quite frankly if I'd read the reviews of CADIP before I volunteered with them myself I would have seriously reconsidered getting involved with them. First off, the volunteer program sounded exciting and do-able and when I contacted CADIP it was remarkable how quickly they took my enrolment fee - no small sum. An alarm bell did go off in my head when I was talking with the girl in the office in Canada especially when, conversationally, I asked her where she was from (she had an accent that i couldn't place), and she replied that she was "unable to divulge that information"! Retrospectively I wondered if she was the same 'robotic' woman referred to by another reviewer. Anyway, I carried on with the application, somewhat surprised at how expensive it was and then I booked my flight to Iceland and I duly received the small package of instructions. The information stated that volunteer accomodation would be simple but adequate and I had anticipated basic but clean dormitory-type accomodation. When I got to Reykjavik I was quite appalled to find that we were being accommodated in what looked like a derelict house, with beds shoved together just inches apart, some of which were bare bed-springs without a mattress, some mattress-type pads dumped on the floor, and ALL the mattresses looked filthy, and as if they might even be a health hazard. I didn't even want to sit down on the mattress never mind sleep on it! The beds were shoved so tightly together that there was barely space to move between them and there wasn't even the smallest closet or hanging space or even shelves to put personal effects or luggage on. There were no doors between the rooms, the heating in the bedrooms was broken (it was 45 oF outside and lashing rain) and there was one toilet and shower for approximately 12 or 14 people. When I asked about the shower/toilet situation I was told that the volunteers usually went to the swimming pool to wash, and that although CADIP had stated we would have free entry to the local steam pool, this was no longer the case and we would have to pay entry.There were no doors separating the bedrooms from the communal area and indeed all of the doors in the building looked broken and insecure. The furniture in the communal area looked as unhygenic as the mattresses - like filthy old chairs dragged in from the street, jammed together, and the kitchen had one small stove and very limited facilities. Our project 'leader' dumped some teabags in a saucepan of water and brought it to the table for our 'welcome meeting', and told us that we would be starting work at 7am and working all day on local projects. Another member of the welcome party then went off into a rage-filled rant about the 'bastards' in the Icelandic Government, and all the while there was another staff member taking each volunteer member aside and asking for money for food for the group. This happened within 30 minutes of arriving at the house, when nobody had had the chance to unpack, or dry off (it was pouring with rain outside), or even go to the bathroom. I've travelled and worked all over the world, sometimes in very basic circumstances, but I was quite shocked by the poor state of accomodation offered to the volunteers who had paid a lot of money to join the project.This, coupled with the prospect of working much longer work hours than was stated in the original description of the project, plus the fact that we would have limited time off and have to pay for any small excursion or activity that we undertook, additional to paying for all the food that we ate (which we also had to cook of course), made the project seem quite a lot different from what was suggested in the literature. And VERY expensive. I could see from the despondent faces around me that the other volunteers felt the same way, and a few were talking of leaving the project, but simply didn't have the means to do so having travelled quite long distances. I was in the fortunate position of being able to leave the project and change my flight home (expensive), and I felt sorry for the others left behind. I tried to contact CADIP on my return home but got no response from them until I posted a cautionary note on craigslist, next to their ads, after which I swiftly received a bile-filled and very derogatory email from 'Roy' at CADIP, lambasting my criticisms and contradicting himself - he said that the project thad been a great success, but then he went on to say that my leaving on the first day had significantly affected the morale of the group! I think that the poor morale of the group was more a result of the things I've described above! Anyway, based on my experience, I would never recommend anyone to travel and volunteer with CADIP. Hope this prevents someone else being disappointed, and wasting their precious time off and hard-earned money, as I did.

I just know that writing this review will prompt the company to resume constantly calling my family and I. Before my program started I sent them email asking about a potential problem. I received no answer. When I returned, I emailed them to receive certification of my volunteer hours, but they did not reply until I made a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Once my complaint was in, they sent me a document over email and began to make my life a living hell. They've called me around 5 times a day for days in a row leaving threatening voicemails saying that if I didn't retract my statement they would sue me. They've called my family multiple times, scaring my mother with their threats of legal action. They said "we can make the calls stop if you take your statement away". This is honestly one of the most horrific experiences I've ever had with a company. When they speak with me they just degrade me, interrupt me and actually yell at me. The whole situation is absurd. If you value your quality of life, please please stay away from this organization at all costs.