International Volunteer HQ [IVHQ]

I debated what experience to do when volunteering in Costa Rica and settled on Teaching English. I took a TEFL course, did the IVHQ prep work, and waited patiently for my volunteer dates. I volunteered for IVHQ previously in Fiji and had a fantastic experience. The Costa Rica was a very different experience as you may expect differences in a different country but also fantastic. I was partnered with a community center about 1 1/2 to 2 hours by bus outside of San Jose so ended up taking UBER, which was affordable. My class was a group of Intermediate English learners and by listening to their needs on the 1st day, changed my teaching plans from grammar to focus on speaking, reading comprehension, and vocabulary understanding. I had a great 2-weeks with the class, making an impact in a small community often overlooked, and hope to come back through another volunteer experience. The local team had great resources and support. My homestay was with an awesome family. I enjoyed the private room that had a kitchen and a place to stretch out in the mornings/evenings. I also enjoyed the Costa Rican cuisine that the matriarch of the family cooked daily.

My daughter choose marine conservation in Belize as her chosen program and I was lucky enough to join her. The people of Belize are friendly, helpful and very safe. As well as scuba diving to spear fish the evasive lionfish, we also had an educational element each day which was great to learn the basis behind why we were doing what we were doing and also learning more about the local underwater environment. Even though we travelled onto America afterwards, my daughters favourite moments of our overseas trip was her time on the volunteer program in Belize.

Volunteering in Bali with the turtle conservation project was such a special experience. The local team is incredibly helpful, always happy, and eager to teach you new things. They do everything they can to make sure you have a great time while also learning and contributing. Another amazing part is meeting people from all over the world—it’s so nice to share the experience with such a diverse group of new friends.