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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. 

sort by:    regions All Asia Africa Middle East Latin America United States Europe Online opportunities category All education health environment women's empowerment construction economic development disaster relief

 

Volunteer Feedback May 14, 2012 Volunteers 4 Community Development Organisation, Viet Nam Eduardo Duarte CDS members were extremely supportive to me and always tried to answer my needs. I really thank Mr Doan and Mr Son for making my experience in Vietnam so incredible and unforgettable. The CDS members were 24/7 with me in order to ensure that I was fully satisfied with my stay. We also had the possibility to exchange/discuss ideas and points of view regarding certain topics with positive results. The members always respected my ideas and requests which I found it very grateful. I will definitely recommend CDS to any volunteer wishing to work in Vietnam. I liked the fact that I was living with a local: It was a 360degree change from my day to day life back in London. I really enjoyed the whole experience. Apart from... Read More

 

 

CDS Rural Educational Development Organization April 20, 2012 Volunteers 4 Community Development Organisation, Viet Nam Swantje Bubritzki I arrived to Son Duong only a few days ago, so I am at the very beginning of my time a a volunteer for CDS. My first days I spend preparing a new project together with the programme coordinator, the blended learning project, an education project for disadvantaged kids that focuses on more informal and interactive teaching methods. Next week we will start with the first English lessons in the Blended Learning programme. My experiences with the organisation CDS are very positive. I was very warmly welcomed and even though I am the only international volunteer at the moment, I feel very comfortable in my homestay accommodation and within the organisation. I get a lot of assistance with finding my way around in a different culture. Also, I feel that... Read More

 

 

Environment, Education, and the Power of Choice July 27, 2012 | 1 comment Casa Verde, Nicaragua Sara Bernard "If you’re planning for a year, sow rice. If you’re planning for ten years, plant trees. If you’re planning for a lifetime, educate people." – Chinese proverb (brought to me by Amie Riley) Environmental concerns in a small village like Limon, Nicaragua, are, on a global scale, not that important. It’s a tiny rural community. Half the population gets around via bicycle. The coastal landscape feels (at least in the rainy season!) relatively lush and pristine. Howler monkeys swing and growl through the trees alongside sapphire butterflies; huge flocks of pelicans scoop up a healthy population of fish from the thundering waves. No one here is living off of landfills or shielding their faces from smog or sitting in gridlock traffic.Still, Limon has no trash or recycling services to speak... dog at Lidieth's house puppy at Lidieth's house parrot who lived at a restaurant on the beach one of Lidieth's enormous family Christiane's sister, Anna Christiane (age 16, right) and neighbor Lidieth making a face on the ride back from planting trees making compost 3 making compost 2 biking on the beach biking making the Fenix video Fenix Read More

 

 

Seeing First-hand how SKIP Initiatives Make an Important Difference in People’s Lives - A Case Study of Maria July 26, 2012 SKIP - Supporting Kids In Peru, Peru Krishan Shah Having been part of the ‘Talleres Productivos’ project for over four months now and part of the SKIP project for over a year, it took several separate moments of clarity to make me realize that sometimes, in the midst of everyday life and work at SKIP, we forget the overall picture of what it is we do at SKIP and the real effects the project has on these families.  It is these distinct moments that makes the incredible amount of work put in by the volunteers and staff here all worthwhile. Some of my particular moments are related to a specific mother who has been involved with SKIP since 2005 and in the Talleres Productivos program since 2008.  Maria, a mother of two children, one of who attends SKIP´s secondary educational... Maria with her scarf completed! Maria knitting in the front patio of SKIP Read More

 

 

Time. Where Has it Gone? July 25, 2012 Abriendo Mentes, Costa Rica Amara Stuehling In exactly two weeks, I will be on a plane back to Philadelphia. I’m amazed at how fast my time volunteering in Costa Rica has gone. I’m not quite sure how I feel about going back home but I do know that 3 months is an entirely too short of a time to really get to know understand a community abroad. I feel like I just got here even though I’ve been here for two and a half months. Yes, most of the faces I pass as I walk to the AM office are familiar now and many of the kids wave or stop to say hi when they are outside playing. Just today one of the girls in preschool eagerly told her big brother “Ella es mi maestra!” (she’s... Read More

 

 

Cultural Exchange at Camp Helen Brachman July 24, 2012 | 1 comment Mawuvio's Outreach Programme, Ghana Kaitlyn Gitter Wow this summer is flying by! I have spent the last 2 months at a summer camp, called Camp Helen Brachman (CHB) in Almond, WI that serves inner city youth from Milwaukee. This is my 4th summer on staff here and I absolutely love it! However, this summer has some awesome new programming. Renee Farwell, from Mawuvio's Outreach Programme (MOP) is actually a previous staff here at CHB and was able to return this summer to do a cultural exchange between her students at MOP in Ghana, Africa and our campers from Milwaukee, WI. Renee runs several programs throughout the day teaching campers about life in Ghana and how her student's lives are similar and different from their lives. I have had the opportunity... Painting Ghana Flags Sharing Writing Eating Jollof Making Jollof Read More

 

 

Documentary Skillshare: The Faces of Fenix July 24, 2012 Casa Verde, Nicaragua Sara Bernard Since I and each of the Casa Verde participants were all such insatiable documenters (grabbing photo, video, and audio constantly), we spent the last few days of the program sharing our documentary equipment and skills with the teens of Formación Fénix. It culminated in the production of a short collaborative video about their work. Click here to see the blog post and YouTube video on Casa Verde's site! I'll paste the post and embed the video below, too. *   *   *The entire time I’ve been in Limon, I’ve lugged around an enormous Nikon SLR (and often a large audio recorder, headphones, and external microphone). Of course the three filmmakers for The Reach are constantly wielding their various cameras and audio recorders, too. Even Maddie Burke — the only... Read More

 

 

3 Weeks Volunteering With Asociacion Crear in Samara! July 24, 2012 Asociacion CREAR, Costa Rica Elise Mendelsohn  Volunteering with Crear was a really fun and rewarding experience for me.  Crear works to provide supplemental educational and recreational opportunities for the children living in the beach communities of Samara and El Torito, Costa Rica.  The children were very well behaved and responsive, and I could tell that they really loved coming to Crear.  The Crear staff is excellent, and I always felt like they were accessible to me if I had questions or needed anything.  They also worked very hard to plan fun, educational activities for the kids.  Some example activities that I worked on with the kids:  Pointilism painting, nature walks, stencil drawings and playing lacrosse.Perhaps the best thing about Crear is the location.  Samara is an amazing town, and I am very eager to return.  It... Read More

 

 

My month at SKIP July 24, 2012 SKIP - Supporting Kids In Peru, Peru Kathryn Payman  The month i have been here with skip has passed by incredibly quickly but it has definitely been a worthwhile experience. Each volunteer brings something different to skip but they are all motivated by similar goals and take their roles seriously. I have learnt a lot about the organisation and really value the philosophies that it is based upon - i believe that the continued committed from volunteers will ensure that it continues to grow and develop in a positive way. The kids are wonderful (although challenging at times!) and the amount of energy they bring to every class is incredible. I've thoroughly enjoyed working with them and helping to make a small difference to their educational lives. The set up of the volunteer house means that there's never a dull... Read More

 

 

McColin's Handymen July 23, 2012 Ghana ACT, Ghana Annelise Madison Wow....I cannot believe we've come to our last week here in Ho! Annelise and I are both excited at the prospect of returning home to our families, but we are also very sad that we will be leaving behind the awesome McColin's students that we have come to know so well, as well as the beautiful landscape and warm community that that we are fortunate enough to have been a part of the last two months. Here's a recap of last week:The students had final exams this week, so our normal rountine of teaching from 8 to 3 was a little altered, but this allowed us some great opportunities to help out in other ways. Last weekend the Ghana ACT volunteers decided that before everyone departed at the end of the... Read More

 

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The Omprakash Foundation is a tax-exempt non-profit organization registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
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The information on this website is being provided as a general resource for individuals planning to travel and volunteer abroad. The Omprakash Foundation and/or its representatives assume no liability based on the information contained herein in the event of accident or illness, or for damage or injury to person or property of any nature whatsoever.