Peru

There were two reasons why I wanted to volunteer abroad: 1. Gain valuable clinical experience 2. Practice my spanish. Both of these were fulfilled to an amazing extent. My clinical site was San Juan De Dios with the Physical Therapy department. The staff was welcoming and willing to teach me. Working with disabled children was an unbelievably rewarding experience. Practicing spanish was easy and Peru, specifically Cusco, is a wonderful place. The host family, like everyone else here, were wonderful. There wasn't a day where I felt like this wasn't home.

Volunteering in Cusco has been an awesome experience! I've been able to meet most of the host families and they are all great! My host mom, Maria, is amazing and cooks great food for all of us, and keeps a very neat apartment flat.
Volunteering in the clinics here has been awesome, and getting to know the local nurses, doctors, and med school students has allowed me to learn a lot from all of them, as well as have a really fun time while doing it.
The locals are great, and it's easy to make local friends if you put in the effort. There are free salsa lessons every night from 9 to 11 in the city center, making it really fun in the night as well.
I highly recommend this program, city and it's people to anyone who wants to have a great time!

I am volunteering with this programm for 8 weeks. I work in several clinics and earn a lot of experience. Altough Peru itsself is very unorganised, the programm tries to give you an organised feeling and they come up to all your wishes. I am happy to be part of this programm and to be able to make a change in the Peruvian helpcentres.

I highly recommend using this company to volunteer abroad. Their staff are really respectful and comprehensive. Since the first e-mail that I sent, until a year after of my experience, they seemed to care about me and were always there to help me.
All the family members of the house that I stayed where really nice; food, internet and comfort would always be available and I had no issues with them since day 1. Maria, my "Peruvian mom" was like a real mom to the whole house, she would have dinner with us and we all got sad when we had to leave her. She was really careful with our stuff and would always be there to help us with questions or necessities.
The coordinators in the city would always be present as well, making possible to even create a friendship with them.
Our orphanage just like any other, really needed assistance and our presence there was essential for the kids. They would become happier once we were there.
RCDP will definitely have me again to volunteer in another country.

Volunteered at an orphanage for teen moms and their children. Really felt like we were needed and appreciated as volunteers, and we're making a difference for the moms.

RCDP provided excellent support throughout, including when I was ill and admitted to hospital.

The price was very reasonable and the majority went to the orphanage.

I worked at an orphanage for teen moms and had the most amazing time. I plan on going back this year! The support from the company was exceptional. They provided transportation to and from the airport. Answered any questions I had, walked me through everything step by step as this was my first trip. I highly recommend them and can't wait to go back!

I did a lot of research to decide which program to volunteer abroad with, and IFRE seemed like an organized program with opportunities in many different locations and with many different forms of volunteering. I chose to volunteer in a hospital in Cusco, Peru, and it was the most wonderful experience. All of the staff made me feel very welcome and did a great job of facilitating my stay and helping me plan excursions. They always made themselves available to me and took great care to make me feel safe and comfortable. I was placed in a home-stay with a wonderful family, who I am still in contact with. IFRE really made the effort to make my experience everything I had hoped.

Hi all! I am a Global Leadership Adventures Alumni and I had an amazing time in Peru, this past summer! I really recommend GLA! The housing experience was great! GLA Peru rented out a hotel in Cusco, for both the 2 week and the 3 week groups. I felt very safe there! I had never been to Peru, so I felt that by being there I grew, a lot! I understood much of their culture and what their lifestyles are like. The program staff were very supportive! I felt that I was able to talk to them about whatever I needed, or if I was frustrated with other students! Overall I recommend GLA to all High School age students.

After graduating high school I took a gap year with Quest; I wasn't completing sure why, but I knew I needed to do something different. For years I kept telling myself I loved learning, but truthfully I felt like a robot on an academic treadmill. I yearned for the type of learning that embraced creativity, pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and forced me to engage fully. I gained a new level of self awareness on my gap year that allowed me to become a global citizen. Many of my experiences were challenging but they made me feel grounded, present, and alive. We need an education reform that allows the next generation to breathe and realize their great potential. The type of education I got on my gap year, traveling and living with people from around the world, working next to inspired people, illuminated the kind of environment I want to create, and created a space that evoked my authentic self. Don't be fooled, It was not just a luxury vacation- I battled giant jungle mosquitos and rainstorms, ran from possibly rabid stray dogs, ate only rice and eggs for weeks (as a vegetarian in a meat eating continent), and struggled with South American time (ie: sitting on a bus for thirty hours, without any more books, waiting for a mudslide to be cleared). The fact is I cant even begin to talk about my time with Quest because there are just too many moments that will stick with me forever. I became best friends with my Quest family and although we live on different continents, we have managed to do the long distance thing- still talking and seeing each other when possible- because these are the people you never want to live without. When the academic persona is stripped away where would I be? What makes me come alive? I asked and answered those questions on my gap year. When I started university, I knew who I was and what I wanted to accomplish. I took classes that I found interesting and focused on building meaningful relationships.

I had the experience of a lifetime volunteering in Peru. Quest was fantastic, and the project was great. It was an amazing experience working with kids from Villa María and we got to do heaps of cool things, such as going to the pool, performing in shows and putting on fêtes. It was hard work, but it was really rewarding. ten out of ten would recommend!