Study Abroad Programs in Rural Areas, Belize

The staff at Toucan Education Programs Inc (TEP) are exceptional! They are very professional, organized (while also maintaining some flexibility and adaptability to changing program needs), provide excellent communication and customer service, are great problem-solvers if any issues arise, and also very caring towards faculty and students and their needs. Additionally, the staff are well-versed in planning meaningful educational experiences, while also ensuring meals, travel, and accommodations are exceptional while in-country. I have special dietary restrictions, but all my meals were planned and taken care of without me having to worry too much about it. TEP really goes above and beyond in their services and I would wholeheartedly recommend them!

Toucan Education Programs (TOUCAN) responded to this reviewJuly 09, 2022

Hello Dehlia, we are so happy and grateful for the opportunity to facilitate your agriculture faculty-led program for you, your entire cohort, and your professors. It was an honor to host you and your cohort. Your openness made it so easy to serve you and the entire group. Thank you!

I thoroughly enjoyed learning the culture of Belize. Such a beautiful and peaceful area. I loved the sense of community. Although the students were in walking distance of the school, we as the leaders mostly had to do everything in the area we stayed and had to get a taxi to get to the city everyday.

I thoroughly enjoyed my study abroad experience using this program. There were activities planned for us relating to our major as well as extracurriculars. This was an amazing opportunity to enhance my cultural knowledge and apply what I had learned from my college classes. I would highly recommend this to other students!

The spring was overall a great experience. The people were very welcoming and there was a lot of assistance to make the transition easy for us. We were placed at Holy Family R.C. School, but there always a lot of confusion on what exactly we were supposed to be doing there on both ends, I feel like that should have been established before we got there so time wouldn’t have been waisted.

Toucan Education Programs (TOUCAN) responded to this reviewMarch 21, 2020

Hello Myah,<br/><br/>We hope you are well given how drastic our lives have changed since you left Belize. Your review is appreciated and valued. <br/><br/>We would be grateful if you explained further why you felt our program staff was not resourceful in providing pragmatic solutions to your needs. <br/><br/>On another note, we are pleased and excited about how engage you would like to remain with TEP.<br/><br/>Again, thank you for your review and we hope to hear from you soon.<br/><br/>Stay safe and healthy!<br/>The TEP team

The TEP trip to Belize was the trip of a lifetime! I learned so much about myself and the beautiful country of Belize. The TEP staff was very responsive to needs and took the time to get to know me as an individual.

Toucan Education Programs (TOUCAN) responded to this reviewMarch 21, 2020

Hello Ms. Worldwide!<br/><br/>Thank you for your review of your experience in Belize this spring. <br/><br/>We value and appreciate your time and response.<br/><br/>With continued gratitude.<br/>The TEP team

I had a great time while studying abroad in Belize! I got the chance to stay with a Belizean family during a home stay. I learned so much about myself and my level of respect for other cultures has risen greatly. I learned to appreciate the daily necessities that I look for granted at home. My host mom and I still keep in contact today. We also were given a wonderful lady to guide us around Belize during our stay. She was very informative about the history of Belize and also the popular places that we should visit. Overall, my study abroad experience was very memorable. I have been back to Belize to vacation 2 times in my own since my study abroad and I plan to study abroad there again in 2020. Do I love Belize? You better BELIZE it!!

Toucan Education Programs (TOUCAN) responded to this reviewDecember 05, 2019

Dear Ciera,<br/><br/>Sincere thanks for taking the time to share your experience with other students. We hope your review inspires them to step out of their comfort zone and consider Belize.<br/>Sincerely,<br/>Rhondine

TEP was a vital resource in making our study abroad experience a success. The cultural immersion experiences were by far the most meaningful and impacting part of the trip. I want to give a special thanks to David Hernandez for being a wealth of knowledge, a excellent resource, and a huge help to our group. He was phenomenal!

The entire experience was amazing. Most importantly, I feel the cultural immersion experiences were top notch! Very informative. Very well prepared. Very educational. In addition, the professionalism was impeccable along with the genuine welcoming spirit of everyone. The variety of food, housing, and flexibility offered was great! No complaints about anything.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Belize. TEP provided us with culturally immersive situations where we could share our own experiences and learn from the Belizean community. Thank you so much for this!

I had an amazing experience in Belize thanks to TEP. All members were kind and easy to work with. They made the experience as welcoming as possible. They also allowed for us to feel comfortable asking any questions we had.

Toucan Educational Programs was the cornerstone of this amazing experience for our students. Their work allowed us to focus on integrating course materials into in-country experiences. I would recommend using TEP for your study abroad experience.

Toucan Education did a wonderful job providing our leadership group with the essentials and much more during our study abroad in Belize. Rondine and her group did an excellent job with our housing. Every morning and evening we were provided an excellent meal from the staff at Log Cabin Inn and Villa Verano. Maids cleaned our room every day and when asked they washed, dried, and folded our clothes. When we stayed at Villa Verano in Hopkins the resort provided bikes, canoes, paddle boards, and a sailboat for our own personal use free of charge. When there was an issue we would notify Rhondine and her staff and they fixed the issue in a very timely manner. Toucan also did an amazing job with the excursions they planned for us each day, as well as the tour guides that were provided to us each day. We had one tour guide that stayed with us the entire trip and he was awesome. He was there every day to make sure we had enough water, provided us with great information about Belize, and he also became a friend to all of us. One thing I loved that Toucan provided was a Belizean phone for everyone. If there was ever an emergency we were able to use that phone to contact Rhondine and her team, our professors, our classmates, and our parents back home. I would recommend Toucan Education Programs to anyone that is studying abroad because without them my experience in Belize would not have been as great as it was.

I really enjoyed coming to Belize, and enjoying this study abroad with TEP. I got to experience the culture in the food, social aspects, and guest speakers. All of this and the TEP program leaders made this experience amazing, and I will always remember them for it! Thank you!

I had a great time in Belize. The housing accommodations were good until there was no running water on three separate occasions for several hours at a time. As a person with OCD, this did not help. The second housing location was amazing and I would 100% go back to it. Although, I really enjoyed the whole culture and meeting new people. It was the perfect mix of being a tourist but also putting yourself into more than surface level experiences.

I really enjoyed my time. The emerging of the cultural was my favorite part. Overall, my experience was a good one. Also, everyone is very nice and welcoming. I loved being able to interact with the different cultures.

This was an excellent experience for our 2019 group. Many thanks for Toucan Education for working with us to make this a great experience. The activities and experiences galvanized our curricula and delivery. Making the experience impactful and meeting core curricula objectives of student's major. It was a Win-Win.

Toucan Education Programs provided us with a very well-rounded experience that allowed for authentic cultural immersion to take place. I am truly pleased with all factors that went into the planning and implementation process, including being very thorough with the pre and post effects of this type of trip. I would recommend TEP to anyone who is looking for authentic cultural immersion and service learning. I look forward to working with them on many more events.

The study abroad program in Belize (Hopkins Village and Belize City) was outstanding. Learning more about the Garifuna culture and their significance in Belize was really interesting and rewarding experience.

Toucan Education Programs (TEP) did a wonderful job providing a well-balanced program of engaging and contributing to the growth and development of students, educators, and the communities we met. Our program gained enhanced cultural self-awareness and curiosity to cultural differences. Their organized responsibility of the participants in the program is phenomenal! The TEP staff is always there to answer your questions. This is a trip I would recommend highly to parents of students who are interested in study abroad.

I found this experience to be a great introduction to the study abroad process. It aided the enhancement of my multicultural competence and ignited a passion for more cultural immersion experiences.