Projects Abroad

The summer after my senior year of high school I had no plans besides sitting around and waiting to ship to Boston for school, across the country from my Texas home. I decided this was my year to do something meaningful – to go out and explore, a luxury I knew I wouldn’t have once I entered the ‘real’ world of college classes and working my way through school. I found Project's Abroad by exploring my options online, and chose Romania through a series of eliminations and reconsiderations. It was the best decision I ever made. My first summer I went to Brasov for a month, from mid June of 2012 to mid July. 3 days into my trip I started my Care project in Budila, a tiny town that took me two bus transfers to get to every morning. I worked in a sibling foster home with 10 children who no longer had parents, but still had their brothers and sisters. The communication with these children, kids who were kept from me by a massive language barrier, became almost barbaric but we came together and formed a fun bond. Each day we would do an activity I brought, anything from floor puzzles to painting pots to making bracelets, and we would play outside on their massive lawn. I taught them how to play new games, they used me as a pawn in theirs, and we taught each other how to count to 10 – something I practice daily just to remember how sweet and eager they were. The second summer I went to Romania with Projects Abroad, I went for 2 weeks and decided to work in veterinary care. I traveled by bus to a vet clinic in the city and worked with animals in multiple aspects, from assisting with surgeries to playing with animals and helping with grooming. While I was away, the Projects Abroad staff was generally extremely welcoming and helpful. Everyone was happy for you to be there, and was eager to not only always be available to you, but to do their best to insure your trip was the best it could be. One of the things I appreciated the most was that they really went above and beyond to ensure your safety and help with whatever you need. Both times I visited I utilized my weekends to travel internationally by train, and both times I received help in ticket purchasing, planning and kept in contact with the staff during my trip. I formed close relationships with my volunteer coordinators and remain in contact with them from the States. All in all, both of my trips were life changing experienced that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I made some great friends, saw some amazing places, and ultimately fell in love with a corner of the world I probably would have never visited normally.

It is hard to put a price on an experience that will 1) forever change you and 2) continuously help you in life. That is what Projects Abroad gave me. I went to Liberia, Costa Rica when I was 18 years old, I am now 23, and this opportunity has continued to follow me! The program Projects Abroad was well placed and I was with someone most of the way there. I was picked up at the airport by a staff member and driven to the buss station where I was handed off to a close family friend who would be going the same route as me. Once I arrived in Liberia another representative was at the station to drive me to my host families home. I was able to walk to the school I would work at as well as any stores that I may have wanted to go to. The teacher I was shadowing would hang out with me and show me around. I also made friends with a local church group in the town square are started spending my free evenings with them once they came to my host family and introduced themselves. I am now the Child Care Assistant Director at a local YWCA and provide Respite care to children in need in my community and while Projects Abroad may seem unrelated it gave me the chance to hone my skills at adapting to different people and situations both culturally and personally different than myself. To have been able to go to a different country where I didn’t know the language, the exact currency change, or some of the major customs and leave with a deeper understanding of both world that I am both apart of as well as the world I had only read about was a truly life changing experience. I had more growth as a person and human being in two weeks than I ever thought possible. Even now I am able to reflect back on that time and center myself as an adult in this moment. To be able to use a memory from five years ago to help me focus my current ambitions and goals is truly profound. To anyone who wants a unique, life altering and exhilarating life experience look no further than Projects Abroad. Life IS what YOU MAKE of it. Make it an experience that will last you a 1,000 life times.

The best decision of my life was my semester off volunteering, and Projects Abroad made it so amazing. The staff in my country took me and all the other volunteers in and we felt like one big family. We have weekly meetings and dinners all together, then usually would go out after, and once a month we would do a Community Day and go out to a village or shelter or anywhere that needed help and just helped out... In my three months, I painted kennels at SPCA, went to a women and children's village on a holiday called Diwali, and built a fence in a village's farm to keep the pigs out. The best part was the people you got to meet while helping. They also place you in a school or whichever program you applied for (mine was a special needs school) and are there every step along the way, from meeting the other staff, to complains or concerns, or in some people's cases, a placement change. You're also placed in a host family, which I believe was the highlight of my whole placement. The families you get to meet and live with take you in and you really become a family member while you're there, and even still after you're gone! Another relationship you hold onto after you leave are the friends you make in other volunteers and natives of your country. Everyone has Facebook nowadays, so it's not hard to stay connected. One of my closest friends now, who I met in Fiji, is from Denmark, and we still talk every week, if not more! Volunteering really helped me grow and find myself while making life long friends in my staff, natives, and other volunteers! Really a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it's a easy one to get to with all the help you receive from Projects Abroad!