Current & Past Volunteer Stories

Want to know what it might be like to volunteer abroad? 

Omprakash volunteers have been posting stories, photos and even videos from their time abroad since 2007. We now have an extensive collection of personal stories from volunteers who've worked with our partners abroad. You can browse through the most recent stories below or use the category selection tool to narrow your search. Alternatively click on the Stories tab for each organization we work with to see specific accounts from a particular organization. Be careful - you might lose a couple hours of your day in here! Happy reading. 

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Tin Roof And Bamboo Walls

July 31, 2012

Parijat Academy, India
Joanna Sese

This article was published in 2006 by Outlook India. You can find the original article here.---Seven-year-old Sanjay's father Mahendra Boro works at a stone quarry. His mother supplements the meagre family income by selling home-made fermented rice beer. Himashri' 6' is the daughter of a woodcutter' Haren Basumatary. And four-year-old Apon's father Ratneswar Bora is a daily wage-earner. For these families with uncertain income' living in Pamohi and three adjoining tribal hamlets on the outskirts of Assam's capital Guwahati' educating their children was a distant dream until Uttam Teron set up a school with a difference' right at his homestead.As Uttam watched kids wander about aimlessly it set him thinking about ways to keep them occupied. A school was the only answer. It began at his home. "I would...

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PISRF is a featured Congolese NGO

July 31, 2012

PISRF, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Joanna Sese

The Tulane University School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Programme National la Santé de la Reproduction (PNSR), has featured PISRF on its informational website Family Planning in the D.R.C. After visiting PISRF's profile, make sure to click the link to understand more about the climate in which PISRF functions.  

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Hug It Forward Experience

July 16, 2012

Hug It Forward, United States
Nadine Pagerie

Hug It Forward is helping many communities in Guatemala make the dream of having a new school a reality. The process not only provides education for generations to come, but also teaches skills to community members and helps clean up the environment in the process. This is what initially attracted me to the project, and the reason why I quit my job in corporate America to live and work with no pay as a full-time Volunteer for HIF in Guatemala. My experience thus far has been amazing. I have been able to work very independently on many projects and interact regularly with children and adults in the communities we are working in. I have learned so much about Guatemala's culture - past and present, and have hope for what...

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What a Fabulous 2 Months in Guatemala!

July 13, 2012

Hug It Forward, United States
Jack Bracken-Lobb

Not many people would consider you sane for flying over 5000 miles to one of the most dangerous countries in the world with borrowed money to help out a group of people you have never met before. It turned out to be the best experience of my life! These guys have got a firm grip on doing what's right, not only for the recipients of the schools but also the volunteers and those that come to help. I was welcomed at the airport with HUGE hugs. The proper kind! all transport was arranged and everything went smoothly, just like every other journey i went on with the team. I felt comfortable and safe for the entire duration of my time even when traveling in dangerous areas because we never took risks...

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My activities

July 31, 2012

Intag, Ecuador
Emilie Dannenberg

This is a timeline of my activities I wrote up to apply for a visa. I did not end up getting said visa. But this document provides a rough outline of our plans for developing the cloud-forest reserve and how this particular project fits into the overall scheme of tourism in Cuellaje parish. The details are imprecise but the general idea is sound. The document is in Spanish but if you don't speak that language just bung it into google translate!! Desarrollo del proyecto modelo de ecoturismo en la parroquia de Cuellaje: eco reserva San Venancio AntecedentesEl plan de desarrollo de ordenamiento territorial (PDOT) incluye el desarrollo de turismo en la parroquia de Cuellaje. En esta zona hay las ganas de desarrollar ecoturismo y turismo comunitario. Actualmente, existe el establecimiento de un programa de...

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Hack fish on head with machete

July 31, 2012

Intag, Ecuador
Emilie Dannenberg

Hello,Update. R.E progress with the cabana. We have the funds and now all that remains are small matters of 1) purchasing the materials 2) building the cabana. The purchase of materials should happen in the next couple of weeks. The building part ... Fernando has mentioned he has a busy month. He has to plant food so his family has food next year. The other brothers are ready to build. But they don’t have their hands bound like Fernando. In any case things do not move fast in Cuellaje. They move like boggy marsh current. But they do move!!! If you only stayed still a second you would see…But construction will not be a hurried process because it is vital it is done properly. The theory being that tourists would rather not sleep in a...

Dog overlooks lake
Headed down to river to fish
The fam

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That's a wrap!

July 29, 2012

Ghana ACT, Ghana
Molly Ortiz

What a blur! This summer has gone by so quickly! I can't believe that we will be leaving for America tomorrow. This past week has definitely been a fitting end to our 8.5 weeks in Ghana.Before I get into all the details, though, I will start on a sad note. This week the beloved Ghanaian president, John Atta Mills, died of throat cancer. Though there has been a lot of mourning, it has been peaceful here. Citizens who have never even met the man are personally grieving his death--our friend Michael said that he couldn't bear to eat at all the day after the death. There has been a lot of radio coverage of the funeral and about the transfer of power to John Mahama. Molly and I observed everybody...

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That's a wrap!

July 29, 2012

Ghana ACT, Ghana
Annelise Madison

What a blur! This summer has gone by so quickly! I can't believe that we will be leaving for America tomorrow. This past week has definitely been a fitting end to our 8.5 weeks in Ghana.Before I get into all the details, though, I will start on a sad note. This week the beloved Ghanaian president, John Atta Mills, died of throat cancer. Though there has been a lot of mourning, it has been peaceful here. Citizens who have never even met the man are personally grieving his death--our friend Michael said that he couldn't bear to eat at all the day after the death. There has been a lot of radio coverage of the funeral and about the transfer of power to John Mahama. Molly and I observed everybody...

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Being an English teacher in Uganda 2012

July 28, 2012

Kings Day Care, Uganda
Monika Muckel

Hello all together,my name is Monika Muckel, I am 46 years old and I am from Cologne, Germany. Until 2011 I was a very busy and successful Customer Service Manager within a German Company selling chairlifts. But eventhough I earned a lot of money and I had a very responsible position and a high living standard, deep in my heart I felt that there is something wrong with this kind of work and I knew that there are a lot more social and valuable things to do and they just waiting for me. A started to think it over and over and finally I resigned my job and decided to do some volunteering work in Uganda, a country which I visited first in 2009 and I immediately felt in love with.I...

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Another day in Voradep

July 27, 2012

Ghana ACT, Ghana
Molly Flynn

 Undi and Woezo! My name is Molly and I am currently on my sixth week of being in Ghana volunteering at the school International Achievers. The school is composed of about 30 students from the age 2-7 that live in the local village called Voradep. I currently am teaching in the nursery which is composed of 2-5 year olds. The children are eager to learn, and absolutely love singing and dancing. Frequently throughout the day one of the older children will burst out in song, and soon after the entire class will burst out with a chorus of "See See See" or "Every Cell in my Body is Well". While some songs are the same, or slightly different, from American songs, there are many songs that are unique to Ghana....

Voradep 1
Voradep Village Students
Voradep 2

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with organizations and volunteers throughout our network.

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