The last time I was at the Original Volunteers accommodation in Bangkok you asked me to write something in your Book and I was unable to complete it. So I hope this will be good enough:

When I left for Bangkok it was my first time on a plane by myself. I did not know what to expect, was anyone going to meet me at the airport, am I actually going to get to teach?

Then my story as a volunteer in Thailand Began.

After safely being picked up at the airport I met one of the coordinators at stupid o’clock in the morning, and you could not ask for a nicer person to meet after being awake for 36 hours and the sun was rising.

I felt safe and I new that this thing was real “OH MY GOD!! I have to teach Thai children how to speak English.”

All I wanted to do was to Teach in a school down in the South of Thailand, but the placement offered was Manoawan School, a couple of hours north of Bangkok. When I arrived I was very happy immediately I could not stop smiling the kids were amazing.

These Children have characters that put a smile on your face Almost! every day. I was teaching at the same school for just over 2 months and you truly become connected with these individuals.

I came to Thailand on a spiritual journey and teaching was the greatest foot hold to help me on my journey.

I had the idea that I would continue teaching once the school holidays were complete, I left for the south. My Ideas slightly changed. I have now found a great passion for Diving, (it turned out to be the right thing to have started in the north.)

This passion for diving has kept me in the same place for the past nine weeks. (Oh yeah, open water was my greatest Fear.) This adventure would not have been made possible if it was not for the amazing children, the experiences that took place, the people I met, the fun I had and most of all the hard work, commitment and passion that the volunteer coordinators for making all this possible.

So Thank you very much.

Nicholas Jon Vale

I was very lucky with the accommodation there and had a whole bedroom with toilet and shower to myself there. I got to know the owner of the hairdresser next to the school and had an arrangement where I would teach her daughter English in exchange for a very delicious dinner which was a big plus!

I am now “back down to earth” and in the process of looking for a job. Would it be OK if I could cite you as a referee? I think some employers would like to verify how I spent my time volunteering abroad.

Please also say a hello and thank you to Dennis for the good advice he gave prior to my placement. This really helped and gave me just that bit more confidence when delivering my first lesson.

I hope things are going well for you both and thanks again for arranging such a great placement.

The coordinator makes you feel automatically welcome with her craziness ! and Dennis settled me into the idea of teaching and made me a lot more confident in what I had to do. After a lot of travelling we finally reached our school. The director had invited us to his home the night before and we had an awesome time on his farm, eating dinner, quad biking and meeting his family. We were made to feel completeley at home and were very excited to go to his school the next day, although constantly feeling nervous and apprehensive. However, there was no need, all of the teachers and students were so welcoming and so excited to see new volunteers, that we did not get a chance to feel scared. They went out of their way to make us feel a part of their school community. I have nothing but good things to say about the school we were at. We were based in the Kanachanburi province about an hour and a half from the town, close to the erwan waterfall. It truly was a beautiful area and beautiful school. The children were a pleasure to teach, so eager to learn, a credit to themselves and the school.

With regards to teaching, you just have to be yourself and go in there with lots of ideas but no plans! You have to figure out for yourself how much they know and where you want to take them. They will hang on your every word so never be worried about not keeping their attention! I advise a lot of english games mixed with alot of learning. Listen to Dennis, he is so right, they have plenty of vocabulary but no structure to use it. Stick with teaching them sentences and get them talking as much as possible because that’s what they struggle most with. By the end of our time, one of our classes were joining sentences with ‘and’! It was the most satisfying thing to see! A real sense of achievment that you may have really made a difference to their lives and future.

The people of the town are so lovely and welcomed us equally as much as the school had. They really do make you feel like a celebritity, so so special! The people at and around the school really did make my experience. We lived in a treehouse which was soo amazing and really added to that rural experience. I thought that the teaching side of it and roughing it up would be my least favourite part of it, but I can honestly say it made my entire trip. The children really did change my perspective on things, they were all adorable!
If you get the chance to attend an english camp when you are in thailand, it is a must. You get the chance to meet other volunteers, of which I made some really good friends and had an awesome time. You also get the chance to sing the YMCA over and over again which is brilliant. Although I can’t honestly say that the children learn loads of english this way but it gives them an environment to open up and try speaking english with others providing a platform for them to hopefully develop their english in the future. It’s a pleasure to see the smiles on their faces throughout the day!

The hardest and only negative thing I have to say is when you have to say goodbye to them children. I poured my eyes out! It was the hardest thing of the whole trip. You really do grow to love the children and their whole culture. I have only been home 5 days and miss Thailand soo much! Hopefully, one day if I can get the money together I will come back, and come back through this programme. She will do all she can to ensure that your experience is everything it should be, she is like your thai mum out there and I do thank her for that!!! I am so jealous of anyone reading this because you have all this to come! I wish you the best of luck Thank you to everyone!!

Annie xx

Based in Marrakech you do not have to be tied to volunteering in one location, or at one project. Original Volunteers can offer you the opportunity to choose to volunteer at the Medina or Tramsolote Orphanages, at two different baby homes, by working with Street Kids projects, teaching English in local schools, or you could take a short bus ride to remote mountain villages to work with the local children.

Original Volunteers that the approach that no previous experience of volunteering is necessary, just a desire to have a go, and get involved.

From playing sports, and games with the children, to being creative with Arts and Crafts, a desire to teaching children to read, through to practical skills, such as painting and decorating, you can really make a major difference while volunteering with Original volunteers.

While there is a weekly volunteering schedule it is entirely up to you when you choose to opt in and out of it.  With Original Volunteers we want you to feel that it is your choice entirely.

Your time spent volunteering abroad with Original Volunteers can help to change a child’s life dramatically by improving their standards of Education, their self esteem and confidence, and their surroundings, as well as helping to make you a more rounded and complete person as well.

And in Morocco a colourful country indeed awaits you.

Based in exotic Marrakech, in your free time, when you are not volunteering, you may decide to sample the delights of the Djemaa El Fna, the Market Square, with its vibrant atmosphere of Fire Eaters, Traditional musicians, Storytellers, Snake Charmers, Dancers, Fortune Tellers, and Acrobats. A feast for the eyes, and ears.

Why not try haggling with the local traders for colourful spices, or traditional fabrics, and local delicacies, or lose yourself in a maze of narrow alleyways, Mediaeval Medina’s, or stunning Souk’s, and the amazing architecture of the ancient Kasbah’s.

Alternately you may choose to take a Camel ride into the Desert, head out to Essaouiria to join the surfing community, or to simply relax with your fellow volunteers at your shared Riad apartment sipping local refreshments on your roof top terrace.

You will soon begin to feel part of a community of volunteers, but there will also be locally based Original volunteers employed coordinators on hand to meet, greet, and offer you support should you need it.

Morocco has been described in the past as ‘Nowhere as close to Europe feels so foreign or different’.

This exotic, colourful, and vibrant country awaits you, and it is the ideal location, for you to begin your volunteering experience with Original Volunteers, and what a wonderful experience it could well prove to be.

To find out more about volunteering with Original Volunteers why not contact us on 0800 345 75 82 or e mail us on contact@originalvolunteers.co.uk

A Charity Fundraiser took 5 months out from her job to work with poor, homeless, and deprived children in Kenya, Mexico, and Thailand.

Lisa Helmsley, who works for a children’s charity as a fundraiser in the U.K managed to get 5 months off from her job in 2009, and spent much of the time volunteering abroad, and working with children.

Lisa spent April volunteering at a Street Kids project in Mombassa in Kenya, June preparing food, and looking after children and babies at Orphanages in Mexico, and July teaching English at a school in Thailand. In between she managed to travel around the Countries that she was volunteering in.

She really enjoyed the experience of working with the children, and felt that her time spent in 3 different countries had helped her to learn a great deal about their cultures, and communities.

She felt that the experience that she had from her work in the U.K was a great help, but added that she had learnt a lot while caring for children from other cultures as well.

She described the local people that she met in each country as ‘just fantastic’, and said that she would love to volunteer again one day. In fact Lisa had previously volunteered with Original Volunteers before in Peru some 3 years ago, and it was this experience that made her decide to volunteer with us again.
She added that she has recommended Original Volunteers to many of her friends and work colleagues.

Lisa has now settled back into her work, and life in the U.K, and we wish her well with her fundraising activities in 2010.
If you are considering taking a break from your working life, and have an understanding employer who would be prepared to let you do so why not contact us on 0800 345 75 82. It could prove to be a life changing experience.

A Nurse from Birmingham who volunteered at an Orphanage in Mombassa has described her time there as the ‘best thing ever’.

Satwant Kaur spent 2 weeks at the Orphanage in September, ‘Loved’ her time spent there, and is making plans to volunteer abroad again with Original Volunteers.

She said that she would definitely recommend volunteering to people, particularly in Mombassa. ‘ I would recommend it as a first one’ she said, adding that ‘they looked after me so well, and I felt safe there’.

Satwant, who has a PGCE, particularly enjoyed teaching English, and Maths to the children, and hopes to return to Mombassa again one day. For the moment she is thinking about volunteering in Thailand, working at an Orphanage again, possibly at the end of April. ‘ I gained a great deal of personal satisfaction’ she said, talking about her time spent there, and that it was a wonderful feeling to be able to ‘put a smile on the children’s faces’.

We are very happy to hear that Satwand had such a wonderful time, and very pleased to hear that she is considering volunteering abroad again with us.

If you feel that you could enrich, and enhance the lives of Orphanage children why not contact us on 0800-345-7582 or contact us by e mail on contact@originalvolunteers.co.uk

A student from Glasgow who volunteered at a school in Ghana described the experience as her ‘Best 5 weeks ever’.

Rebecca Jopling from Glasgow, but is studying in Edinburgh, went to volunteer at the Sunrise School in Ghana in August 2009. When asked how she had enjoyed her time there she said that she ‘loved it’, and that it was the ‘best 5 weeks ever’.

Rebecca was full of praise for the co-ordinators on the project, and Original Volunteers, saying that it was very well organized, and that Original volunteers were the cheapest volunteer company that she had discovered as well.

She made a lot of new friends that she has kept in touch with, and found the people of Ghana to be very friendly. She added that when you are walking around the Town the local people were always very excited to see you.

Rebecca, who has recommended the experience to many of her friends, hopes to go to India in the Summer to volunteer with Original volunteers again.

She added that the experience has helped her to gain a whole new perspective on life, and that she now realizes how privileged she is.

We wish Rebecca well with her studies, and look forward to arranging for her to volunteer abroad again in the Summer.

If you are a student, and you are wondering what to do during your summer holidays why not contact us on 0800 345 75 82 and we could arrange for you to spend your best Summer break ever as well by volunteering in one of 17 different Countries around the world.

When P.A Steph Barnard chose to volunteer with Original Volunteers she left the U.K hoping to ‘experience real life in Morocco, meet people who live and work there, and do something worthwhile with my time’.

Steph returned saying that she ‘absolutely loved’ volunteering, found the placements to be ‘rewarding’, described the projects as ‘unforgettable’, and felt that she had ‘truly experienced experienced the magic of Marrakech’, and hopes to ‘return again someday’.

Steph had wanted the opportunity to travel on her own, do something different from her day job, and to see the real Morocco rather than ‘just be another tourist’. Looking back upon her experience she states that ‘this is certainly what I got’.

Upon arrival she was met at the Airport, and taken to the Riad house where she met fellow volunteers who warmly welcomed her, and were able to ‘answer all of my questions’. She was pleased with her accommodation, describing it as ‘clean, comfy, and welcoming’.

Steph spent most of her time volunteering at Orphanages describing the staff as ‘welcoming’, and ‘appreciative’, and the children as ‘sweet and friendly’, and ‘inquisitive, and fun to play with’.
She also got to volunteer at a centre for babies which she really enjoyed, and on a camping trip that she described as ‘the best time of all’, and a ‘totally memorable experience’ with kids who were ‘great fun’ and staff who were ‘really pleased to have us there’.

Steph was also full of praise for Original volunteers coordinators in Morocco saying that they do an ‘amazing job’, are keen to ‘ensure that the volunteers are happy’, and that they ‘helped us to make the best of our time in Marrakech’. Steph also made friendships with other volunteers that she hopes will last forever.

She described Morocco as ‘exciting and fun’, volunteering as ‘unforgettable’, and added that she had never been on an Aeroplane, or volunteered before her time in Morocco.

An enthusiastic steph added that ‘I feel I have truly experienced the magic of Marrakech, and I hope to return again someday’.