VOlunteering India Testimonials
Reyes Felip - Spain - Castelló de la PlanaProgram Name - Summer Volunteer Program India
Program City - Delhi, Agra and Jaipur 2009 - 30 August 2009
What areas did you like about our website?
I liked the information given on the website, the fact that it had a Facebook link to its group, so that we can meet other volunteers before coming. Also I liked the evaluation feedback from past volunteers.
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How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
It was very helpful, the booklet was very informative as it helped me to prepare my stay. As for the service given, it was always quickly answered any possible doubt through email.
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Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
It was an unforgettable experience. I did not only enjoy my placement, but learnt many things from the place and people I worked with.
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Accommodation and meals
Accommodation was good, we had more facilities than I had expected. The meals were the traditional meals from Indian family and we even learnt how to make some of the dishes, thanks to Priya.
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What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
I cannot tell just one thing. It has been the overall experience of living. Delhi is crazy but once you get used to it, you start enjoying it. As I said the work with children was were rewarding.
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Would you recommend this program and our organization to others?
Yes, Of Course!
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Orientation Week
It was very informative. I loved the combination of Indian culture lessons plus Hindi classes and trips to Delhi\'s monuments.
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Summer Program 2009
It was an excellent program. I would definately recommend it to everyone. Within four weeks, you get lot of experiences, the orientation week, the placement with the children and the final travelling Golden Triangle trip. We visited so many interesting places and it was very easy as we had private driver and a permanent guide with us.The hotels and the food was excellent.
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Priscilla Anne Marie Vogl - Canada - Toronto, ON
Program Name - Summer Volunteer Program 2009
Program City - Delhi, Jaipur and Agra - 30 July 2009
What areas did you like about our website?
I really enjoyed the video of that volunteer from Chicago. The Facebook link was also useful.
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Any recommendations to improve the website
More Videos of Volunteers and the children would put people at ease/make them sure that the organization is legit.
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How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
I was impressed with the detailed guide and the quick response via email that I recieved from the staff.
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Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Yes, I wish the staff at the placement spoke better English becuase I had many questions. The Project and the place was fantastic. The kids were GREAT!
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Accommodation and meals
The meals were extremely healthy/ well prepared. The accommodation was cleaned well regularly. Didi is the best!
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Coordinator
Very helpful & sweet! It was a pleasure to speak to someone who could answer all my questions about India. Thank you for having such acceptance for so many people living at your home! I felt welcome and comforted & am so happy that I made the desicion to come here! Thank you for taking us out for such amazing meals as well!!!
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What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
Being able to meet such amazing kids at my volunteer placement. They were truly memorable! The chance to explore north India during the weekends with an amazing group of other volunters was also a treat!
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Would you recommend this program and our organization to others?
Yes! I have already told all my friends who are considering coming to India for the first time.
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Any comments and suggestions
I think you all did a great job at introducing us to India and making us feel like we had a home in Delhi. Everytime we went away on weekends and come back - we kept saying \"I\'m so glad to be back home!\"
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Summer Program Golden Triangle Tour - Delhi, Agra and Jaipur
The tour was a nice break from taking the hectic trains around India. Jaipur is a wonderful & coloful city & seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra will Always be in my memory. It was great to take part in Summer Program to be able to do this.
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Avni Shah - USA - Freemont, California
Program Name - Child Care Program
Program City - Palampur - 18 July 2009
What areas did you like about our website?
I liked that the website was easy to work through. It was nice to see the pictures and read some of the testimonials on the website because that helped me and my parents in picking India to volunteer at.
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How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
How did you find the Pre Departure Booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare? The Pre Departure Booklet was pretty helpful in telling me about India and the weather and surroundings. Email responses were quick and helpful and every time I called the staff was helpful in answering my questions.
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Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
I did enjoy working at my placement. I was placed at a day care center which was very nice and I really enjoyed volunteering with the children.
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Accommodation and meals
Accommodation was wonderful. Living with the family was really nice. The meals were nice.
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Coordinator
Bobby was an amazing coordinator. He was always helpful and was making sure we were all taken care of. I could not have asked for a better coordinator. He was great and always made me feel as if I could ask him for anything.
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What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlight of my volunteering experience was when I was helping a little boy read a book and he could read the story on his own after. It really made me feel as if I helped the boy and the day care center. Also, just working with the teachers at the day care made me very happy.
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Would you recommend this program and our organization to others?
Yes, I would recommend the volunteering placements in Palampur to other people.
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Grant Austin - USA - Lubbock, Texas
Program Name - Child Care Program
Program City - Palampur - 01 July 2009
What areas did you like about our website?
From what I remember, the website was fairly concise, but informative and helpful. The orientation week was described on a day-by-day basis, which was nice; it gave me a good idea of what to expect during my first week in Delhi. I also remember watching a video of a past volunteer talking about his experiences in the program, as well as photos of past volunteers with kids. Both of these were good additions to the website.
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How did you find the pre departure booklet given to you and the service of the staff in regards to answering your questions and helping you prepare?
The pre-departure booklet was nice and was very helpful to my mother. I got some good tidbits about Indian culture from it, but apart from that, I would have been fine without it. The staff was excellent in answering all my questions through e-mail promptly and completely.
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Did you enjoy working at your project / placement?
Working at my daycare was a rewarding and challenging experience. The kids were very young and naturally had short attention spans. I am glad to have had the experience, and I hope that my presence brightened their days a little bit.
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Accommodation and meals
No complaints whatsoever with the accommodation. Bobby, you have a beautiful home and family, and it was an honor to be your guest for 3 weeks. All of the food served was good, Lekh Raj was very kind and did an excellent job. My only request would be a little more variety in the meals, but I also understand the need for caution in serving anything that might upset a volunteer’s stomach.
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Coordinator
Bobby, it has been such a pleasure to have spent these few weeks with you and Amit. You have both been very kind to me, and have made me feel like a good friend, not just a volunteer. I am as sad to leave you both as I am my fellow volunteers. Thank you both so much for everything, and I hope to come back and see you again sometime in the next few years. Until then, we’ll keep in touch online!
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What was the highlight of your volunteering experience and your trip?
The highlight of my volunteering experience was a little girl in my daycare named Swati. She was so adorable and always smiling. She was never mean to the other children and was a joy to be around. The whole trip was a highlight for me. This being my first time in India, I enjoyed taking in every moment. I particularly enjoyed riding on a motorcycle in Delhi, a meal at Swagath (restaurant in Delhi), trips to McLeod Ganj and Manali, and spending time with my fellow volunteers.
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Would you recommend this program and our organization to others? yes/no
Yes!
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Anastasia Zakharova - Australia -
Program Name - Volunteer in the Himalayas in India
Program City - Palampur - 06 January 2009
Pre Departure
Pre-departure information regarding the day care centre was sufficient to get an understanding of what was required of us (volunteers).
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Arrival/Airport Pickup
My flight was on time (surprisingly), and everything was very well organized!
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Placement/Volunteer Project
I was placed in the host family at Bobby’s house. Again, everything was well prepared! Bobby showed us the day care centre, where we were supposed to be working on the second day of my stay (Monday), and later, we organized the work at local school also 3 days a week. There was not always a lot of kids in the day care centre though, and school has proven to be quite challenging, but I would have preferred to spend more time teaching English there.
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Home Stay /Host family and meals
The room was clean and comfortable, food was fantastic.
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Coordinator
Bobby was very helpful , he answered all my questions and made me feel safe and comfortable during my stay in Palampur.
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Would you recommend this program to future Volunteers
YES!
It is a fantastic place, not like the rest of India (as far as I have seen it): very relaxed, safe and beautiful. If he or she likes kids of all ages and prepared to be creative, patient and enthusiastic about it, it is, indeed, the place to be!
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It is a fantastic place, not like the rest of India (as far as I have seen it): very relaxed, safe and beautiful. If he or she likes kids of all ages and prepared to be creative, patient and enthusiastic about it, it is, indeed, the place to be!
