It was Tuesday morning when myself and the other volunteers at the nceduluntu nursery in Nomzamo township had our first day. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we had no idea that the loudest sound we could hear throughout that street was the cheerful chanting of "TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER!!" coming from a large number of Xhosa children between the ages of 2 - 5.

From a great start it could only get better:

These children were so enthused by us and enjoyed coming to nursery. They were full of charisma and very cheeky - one of the boys I taught managed to say "alright mate?" in a Liverpool accent!

It was startling to notice how independent some of these kids were. At 4 years old some of them were walking home all on their own - sometimes looking after a younger sibling.

Two weeks later I was in the local orphanage. The children here were equally cheeky and loved playing hide and seek.  

Before I left for South Africa my parents had warned/ nagged me about the dangers of arriving in an unfamiliar country with a company that I had only know via a Google search and some of the issues I ought to be aware of. GVI gave us a full briefing on safety, conduct and expectations whilst on the project and provided us with plenty of fun and everlasting memories.

I thoroughly recommend this experience and am very jealous of anyone going soon!

A growing number of volunteers are now coming from retired people or those having a career break . These are individuals who have more time, often a number of different experiences in the workplace. They see opportunities through GVI to use these in different ways to help local communities in different countries. My partner Tricia and I, are such a couple. We started off on a GVI building project in Peru, and this year moved to teaching English to Monks and Novices in Laos.  We enjoyed it so much we are returning next year. Why?  Well, quite simply we really enjoyed it and we were inspired by the local project leader and the high level of motivation of the students. Resources were often basic but the whole project was well planned by GVI.  We worked with a great group of other volunteers and the accommodation was good. We both felt that our combined contributions were making a real difference to students’ progress in speaking English. We also learned a lot about Laos culture and cuisine. After taking a cookery course while working in Luang Prabang I have now expanded my range of Asia dishes, but I miss my Beer Laos to go with them!

After working on the construction project for almost two weeks, a few of us went on safari for several days and had the opportunity to see exactly why our contribution was so important. Kenya is a country that recognizes the value of its natural resources and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) works very hard to promote education and training on protecting and preserving wildlife.

GVI and all of us who participate in any of the programs are helping to give alternatives to very good and deserving people; to raise awareness and bring viable concrete solutions by the commitment of a lot good folks. We worked hard but I'm telling you the people in the Kidong community worked dawn to dusk in a way that I will remember the rest of my life.

In August 2011, I spent four truly incredible and adventurous weeks on GVI’s ‘Teaching English to Buddhist Novice Monks and Local Communities’ program in Luang Prabang, Laos. Just like everyone else, I felt unprepared and very nervous about the task of teaching an actual class- but just after a few days I felt comfortable enough to teach by myself. I was fortunate enough to have a more experienced volunteer with me for the first two weeks, and in some classes we were also working with a Lao teacher. Even though I am currently studying English and French at Uni to become a teacher, I would not have expected teaching to be so much fun! The students were simply amazing- they were motivated, funny and working quite hard. Even though I couldn’t always get them to do their homework, they participated well in all of the lessons, and they always turned out more lively and funny than I had expected. Of all the wonderful memories I made in Laos, teaching was simply the best.

What I most recommend is to just go with whatever comes your way- planning is really not needed and often things go very differently from what you expected. Exactly this is what made this trip the best experience I’ve ever made- it was exciting and surprising, and I did and saw things I would never have thought I would or could!

Working in South Africa  was truly the best couple of weeks of my life. I experience an entirely new culture and way of life in my short time there, and fell in love with it. The most rewarding experience of all was teaching my own class in the orphanage, and seeing the progress that they made in my short time there. Though it was a daunting task to take on at first as I had no experience working with children, I grew to love it in a very short space of time. I really enjoyed planning their lessons, thinking up creative and fun activities we could do together and even how I could try to prevent them from eating the arts and crafts supplies (one way was to do finger painting with chocolate custard). One child in particular, Thimla really improved in both her English skills and her confidence, and it was truly inspiring to think that I had helped in this process. I found it very difficult to say goodbye to my class at the end of my time there, but knew they would be in good hands with future volunteers and the wonderful carers they had. I would highly recommend this program to any volunteer who wishes to help out, and yet gain so much in return.