The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous Fun4Kids volunteer. For more information about Fun4Kids, please see their organisation entry.

I landed in Phuket in April last year and grabbed a bus to Pakarang, a beach town north of Khao Lak. As I hadn’t arranged my volunteering experience or even found an organisation yet, the first thing I did during my first visit to Khao Lak was to find a westerner who had lived in the area for a while, hoping for advice on what to see/do and, fingers crossed, find out about worthwhile organisations to volunteer for. Luckily, I bumped in to a Danish guy who had lived in Khao Lak for several years and had a Thai wife.  During one of my visits to the pub they owned they told me about a friend of theirs called Steve, a British fellow who was in Khao Lak when the tsunami hit in ’04 and had stayed since.

The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous ISV volunteer. For more information about ISV, please see their organisation entry.

I participated with International Student Volunteers in the summer of 2007. I did my volunteer work in New Zealand. My program included two weeks of volunteering and two weeks of adventure travel.The ISV experience is especially attractive because it combines volunteer work with adventure travel.  Participants have the opportunity to see some of the world's most beautiful places, experience more activities than the average person does in a life time, and most importantly help revive a community through conservation and/or social aid. One can choose to participate anywhere from two weeks to three months and in one country or multiple countries.

The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous CCT volunteer. For more information about CCT, please see their organisation entry.

In Jan 2009 I headed over to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand to volunteer with Cultural Canvas Thailand (CCT) for close to 1 month. During this time, I worked specifically within the CCT Canvas Art Program, which embraces the arts as a tool to connect with people. To put it mildly, I absolutely recommend the CCT Canvas Art Program to any prospective volunteer who is looking for a wonderful, rewarding, creative volunteer experience in South East Asia!

The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous Cross Cultural Solutions volunteer. For more information about CCS, please see their organisation entry.

I volunteered with Cross Cultural Solutions for a 7 week trip to Dharamsala in Northern India.  It was a dream come true for me as I had wanted to do something like this all my life and then at the age of 64 I had been accepted, raised my program fee and was on my way.  Also for me CCS accepted me although I had no medical or teaching skills.  The information given before departure corresponded exactly with the placement and I feel it was better than I expected.

The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous Cross Cultural Solutions volunteer. For more information about CCS, please see their organisation entry.

I volunteered with CCS in Yaroslavl, Russia for three weeks in the summer of 2009 – and, quite honestly, it was the best experience of my life.Pre-departure, CCS held my hand the whole way through (though, if you're an experienced volunteer and really want to get your hands dirty and be thrown in the deep end alone, this organisation might not be for you). I don't believe there could be a single organisation better for the first-time international volunteer, and I'm constantly holding other companies to their standards now that I'm home and looking for more opportunities to get out there and help. Yes, CCS is expensive, but it is so, so worth it.

 

The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous Cross Cultural Solutions volunteer. For more information about CCS, please see their organisation entry.

I went to Hohoe, Ghana in the summer of 2009 for three weeks with Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS) and it was the most amazing experience of my life just a shame I hadn’t gone for longer.I had undertaken a lot of research on which programme would be best for me on my first volunteering experience in Africa, CCS seemed perfect as it combined volunteer teaching with cultural learning activities and was structured. There was support before leaving if you wanted any extra advice, you could speak to your programme manager whenever you needed to and a detailed info pack was sent to us. I found speaking to previous volunteers was most helpful though as they had been through the experience and could give a personal account.

 

The following review was written excusively for VolunteeringInfo by a previous Cross Cultural Solutions volunteer. For more information about CCS, please see their organisation entry.

My reasons for volunteering were very selfish: after learning Russian for 5 years Iwanted to spend some time actually speaking Russian! I didn't want a typical touristholiday in Russia as I wanted to speak Russian via interacting with ordinary Russians.Given that Russia is not an open society, I realised I couldn't just turn up, stay withfriends and do some work experience, so CCS seemed the next best option.

 

We've just added a fantastic certified review of Cross Cultural Solutions, sent to us by one of their previous volunteers. Thanks, Jean!

"I volunteered with Cross Cultural Solutions for a 7 week trip to Dharamsala in Northern India.  It was a dream come true for me as I had wanted to do something like this all my life and then at the age of 64 I had been accepted, raised my program fee and was on my way.  Also for me CCS accepted me although I had no medical or teaching skills.  The information given before departure corresponded exactly with the placement and I feel it was better than I expected.I felt, right from the date I registered with CCS, that I had continued support from them in emails and telephone calls and they were able to answer all my stupid little questions with patient understanding.  From the moment I arrived in Delhi and was met at the airport at midnight by two CCS reps I felt safe and at home and knew it was going to be a good experience.  The short stay in Delhi was informative, well organised and fun.  My arrival in Dharamsala was fantastic starting with the views of the mountains from the airport.  The staff were friendly, helpful and great fun.  We were transported to various different places to learn about their culture, scenery etc always accompanied by staff who were very informative.The accommodation was good and the food local and excellent and plenty of it.  I have coeliacs disease and they catered for my special needs very well and happily."

Click here to read the rest!

We've put up a certified review of Cultural Canvas, written by Chris who volunteered for them in 2009. You can find a short excerpt below, or the full review (here)!

"In Jan 2009 I headed over to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand to volunteer with Cultural Canvas Thailand (CCT) for close to 1 month. During this time, I worked specifically within the CCT Canvas Art Program, which embraces the arts as a tool to connect with people. To put it mildly, I absolutely recommend the CCT Canvas Art Program to any prospective volunteer who is looking for a wonderful, rewarding, creative volunteer experience in South East Asia!

Again, you can check out the full review on the Cultural Canvas organisation entry, right here!