General Impression
Overall Rating: / 10
Everything was organized and taken care of. I liked the volunteer dashboard and how all of my information was easily accessible in one place.Country
Absolutely loved Bali. Such an incredibly unique culture and energy that is not comparable.
Parts of Ubud are definitely more established than others; the centre is full of yoga studios, vegan cafes, salons, etc., whereas other areas - such as the village where we volunteered - are not nearly as developed.
Parts of Ubud are definitely more established than others; the centre is full of yoga studios, vegan cafes, salons, etc., whereas other areas - such as the village where we volunteered - are not nearly as developed.
Project & Staff
Project:
I believe the minimum duration for teaching work abroad should be two weeks. One week (four days, really) was just not enough. The first day was basically an hour of me shadowing a teacher who had been there for a month already and the second day was a wash because most of the kids were at temple (so the kids played games the entire time).
I was connected with Lison [another Love Volunteer] ahead of time which was nice, but she wasn’t even in the same homestay as me. I later found out the other homestay was nicer- even had a pool. Not a huge deal but slightly odd that the homestay’s aren’t created equal despite paying the same for them. I found it weird that I had a roommate who I was not able to connect with before. I ended up getting my own hotel for 6 nights because I wasn’t comfortable living with someone I didn’t know at all.
Staff:
Novia and Meg were GREAT. They had excellent English which made it easy to communicate. My only feedback is they should tell us when kids will be at temple instead of class because those are valuable hours that could be spent exploring.
I believe the minimum duration for teaching work abroad should be two weeks. One week (four days, really) was just not enough. The first day was basically an hour of me shadowing a teacher who had been there for a month already and the second day was a wash because most of the kids were at temple (so the kids played games the entire time).
I was connected with Lison [another Love Volunteer] ahead of time which was nice, but she wasn’t even in the same homestay as me. I later found out the other homestay was nicer- even had a pool. Not a huge deal but slightly odd that the homestay’s aren’t created equal despite paying the same for them. I found it weird that I had a roommate who I was not able to connect with before. I ended up getting my own hotel for 6 nights because I wasn’t comfortable living with someone I didn’t know at all.
Staff:
Novia and Meg were GREAT. They had excellent English which made it easy to communicate. My only feedback is they should tell us when kids will be at temple instead of class because those are valuable hours that could be spent exploring.
Tips
-join Facebook groups to connect with other volunteers before you go
-really research all areas of a country before deciding where you want to go (one of the volunteers started in Ubud and ended in one of the beach towns where there were more volunteers)
-really research all areas of a country before deciding where you want to go (one of the volunteers started in Ubud and ended in one of the beach towns where there were more volunteers)