Volunteer in Costa Rica with World Endeavors

Diego, our in-country coordinator, he is very helpful and kind. The information about the family and the project was detailed and useful. Yes, I would recommend World Endeavors to a friend or colleague.

This was a terribly run experience, Do not book this program. I did a 2mth program. After 1 month it was so shocking I asked for a refund for the second month which they would not give me. I left early and wasted thousands of dollars. It started when I arrived they put me in the wrong program. I registered for a nutrition program and they placed me in a job at a nursing home for physiotherapy. When I told them, they didn’t know what to do with me do they sent me to the kitchen to wash dishes. I did that for 2 days until I complained and said I wasn’t going back. I’d paid $5000 to wash dishes. The home they put me is was so unwelcoming, that the other students there asked to leave which I shortly did after as well. I also had some of my laundry stolen. You are paying a lot of money, more than staying in a 5 star hotel and you get a bed, sheet, access to shared bathroom with everyone in the house, laundry done and very basic food. Meat was very very minimal, mainly rice and beans. I understand that is what they eat but don’t charge hundreds of dollars per night. I wasn’t picked up for my transfer to the airport and had to source my own transport. The whole program was a disaster and seems like a big money making scheme. I took a 16 year old under my wing who they had expected to try and work out herself how to get public transport to her job on her first day and she didn’t even speak the language. I’d be horrified if I was her parent. It’s appalling how this program is run. Every student that came on the program said how horrible their experience was. Do not trust this program.

Through volunteering in Costa Rica, I learned about myself and my capabilities to adapt as an independent traveler. I met lots of great people from all over the world with whom my path would probably have never crossed otherwise and I learned how lives are lived in a different country.