Sea Turtle & Cultural Immersion Teen Volunteering Thailand

I am Vasulakshmi, an Indian living with my husband and son in Dubai, UAE. My 16 years old son participated in GVI Sea Turtle Conservation and Adventure Teen volunteering program in PhangNga, Thailand, between July 22nd to Aug 6th 2023. I came across your website while doing research on Teen Volunteer Programs. For my son's 16th birthday, I wanted to gift him experiences of a different culture, show him ways to give back to the communities and build his confidence to make new friends in new places. And GVI Teen program ticked all the right boxes for me. Safety and security was given paramount importance. All the activities were supervised and guided. Highly recommend GVI as all the team members are thoroughly professional, promptly respond to all queries and take care of the volunteers like family. GVI team nurture's life long friendships, instills love for nature, heritage and culture. My son is eager to participant in the future programs and staying connected to GVI family.

My time with GVI in Thailand has been such a life changing adventure for me! From the volunteer work itself, which left me with a rewarding sense of achievement, to the time spent with the wonderful people I had met exploring beautiful temples, kayaking along rainforest rivers and seeing the most breath-taking views of the southern islands. I have learnt so much about conservation in its' various forms over the past two weeks, and the trip has inspired me to make changes in my own community at home to make the world a better, more sustainable place. The staff on the trip were some of the warmest, friendliest and kindest people I have ever met and I miss them so much. It has been amazing to step out of my comfort zone and challenge my own personal boundaries, and I cannot wait to hopefully work more with GVI in the future.

It’s was an eye opening experience packed full with new knowledge, adventure and seeing how local communities work, I enjoyed every minute of this experience and I will definitely be coming back and recommend it to as many people as I can :)