<p>Please share your children’ experiences with this program!!! </p>
<p>[International</a> Student Volunteers (ISV) Global Volunteer Programs and Adventure Travel Overseas](<a href=“http://www.isvonline.com/]International”>http://www.isvonline.com/)
“The ISV program is a unique opportunity for anyone wanting to travel and experience the world. ISV takes care of your experience at every level from pre-departure preparation to in-country support for the duration of your Program.”</p>
<p>" ISV’s program gives the unique ability to combine meaningful volunteering with an action-packed adventure tour to enable you to give back to the people and environment of your host country then discover its diversity of cultural and natural attractions. With ISV, you become part of the community, get to know the local people and become much more than a tourist; you travel with a purpose and literally change your life and the lives of those you help through your efforts. </p>
<p>Since 2002 over 15,000 young adults have volunteered with ISV and contributed invaluable volunteer hours to projects in Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Eastern Europe, Ecuador, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and the USA."</p>
<p>Bump!
I wanted to bump this thread because my D came home for a visit last weekend with an ISV brochure in tow. She is especially intrigued by the South African trip which includes volunteering at a Cheetah rehabilitation center.
Anyone have any personal experience with International Student Volunteers? I found mostly very good reviews online, and they have an A- grade with the Better Business Bureau, but I would love to hear from the CC community if anyone has traveled with the organization.
If not this group, any others you can recommend? I’m going to check out emeraldkity4’s link and any others with a cc recommendation!</p>
<p>In America, we have citizens who live with no running water.</p>
<p>In America, we have citizens who do not have flush toilets in their home. Instead, they have a bucket in their bathroom and they have to empty the bucket after each use.</p>
<p>In America, we have countless homeless people who live on the streets year around during warm and cold seasons.</p>
<p>In America, we have teenagers who cannot read or write.</p>
<p>With all of these people who are struggling in America, why not spend the time and effort and help other citizens of our own country?</p>
<p>babyontheway, there are many resources for those in this country who are poor/uneducated.</p>
<p>We have free public education for everyone- how many developing nations have that?</p>
<p>Going without a flush toilet is not such a huge deal. Our house was built before they had flush toilets- or refrigerators, it wasn’t that long ago.</p>
<p>Many of the volunteers in developing nations also have contributed to improving the living conditions for others in their community.
But perhaps they are interested in traveling,
in learning about another society,
where they are the outsider and not from the dominate culture.</p>
<p>Maybe they want to experience being welcomed into a group where they can experience the thrill of teaching someone something they didn’t have any way of learning before- and of watching that person pass on the learning.</p>
<p>I have volunteered with groups in this country who are welcoming and appreciative, ironically, they are often immigrants themselves, but my experience working with those who are not new to this country has not always been as positive, for many have too much of a victim mentality to make use of the help.</p>
<p>Babyontheway, my D has volunteered many, many hours in our community to help make it a better place. Now she wants to experience another culture and another part of the planet, and if she can do some good while there, then yahoo!</p>
<p>Actually, from what I can discern from the brochure the roughly $3000 cost would include transportation and room & board for 4 weeks. If the cost is in fact all inclusive, I think it would be difficult to find something much cheaper given that airfare alone would run around $1200. If the flight is not included, it’s not such a great deal. D is getting the details.</p>
<p>My daughter was abroad for almost 5 months, she would have stayed longer but it took her a while to earn the money. By far the largest piece was airfare.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful links, emeraldkity. I’m also looking at the MHIRT program, which is government grant funded and actually offers FREE room and board plus a student stipend. It’s only for juniors and older, though, and is a longer program than my D may want to pursue. It does looks especially good for pre-med/pre-vet students.</p>
<p>I’m a college undergrad in California and in summer 2009 I went to Costa Rica with ISV. It was the most amazing trip I ever had and it was the first trip I took abroad by myself. I absolutely love this organization. I’m am now a student representative for this program and I’m signed up to go to South Africa summer 2011! I’m super excited!!!</p>
<p>Yes, the program does cost a couple thousand, but you can fund raise since it is a non-profit organization. You do, however, have to pay $500 to save your spot and receive the funraising materials from ISV ( not like candy and stuff, but templates that you can personalize and send out to friends,family and businesses). I would greatly recommend this program for your children that want to volunteer outside the US. </p>
<p>Check out their page in facebook! [International</a> Student Volunteers | Facebook](<a href=“Facebook”>International Student Volunteers)
You can see all the students that are travelling! :)</p>