Projects Abroad

Consumer Reviews and Complaints

1. 

   Projects Abroad Reviews & Complaints

   (2)

   As parents, we were SHOCKED at how little adult supervision there was on the programs. Our child went on a supposedly supervised program for 16-19 year olds, and we discovered that the Projects Abroad teens were on their own almost every night, ending up drunk at the local bars and discos 3-4 nights per week! We paid for the Projects Abroad meal plan, and learned that the first three dinners were (1) chocolate cake and hot chocolate, (2) bread, and (3) a slice of bread and spam. After the kids complained that they weren’t getting enough food, the meals improved a bit, but our child spent a significant amount of additional money just buying FOOD. We initially liked that Projects Abroad promised that our child would stay with a local host family, to learn about the Peruvian culture, but most kids were actually put up in a small hotel. The medical program was supposed to be shadowing doctors for two weeks, but there was only four total days of that – the rest was mostly busy work. Not the hands-on experience we were promised. One P.A. student spent 1.5 of her two weeks in a hospital with a nasty stomach bug she picked up, possibly from the unfiltered brown tap water. Another kid ended up going to the hospital after getting into a bar fight with another Projects Abroad student. LOTS of drugs being offered to the tourists too. No adults anywhere around. We spent a LOT of money on two separate two-week Peru programs and felt that the Projects Abroad overall supervision was seriously inadequate. I could go on and on about the two Peru programs but, in summary, as a parent, I wouldn’t recommend sending my kids on a Projects Abroad program. We’re not especially nervous parents, but we don’t feel the program was NEARLY safe enough to send kids that far away.

   By Samara Malanado

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2. 

   Projects Abroad Reviews & Complaints

   (1)

   Getting to the island was so scary. I was put on a bus with no other English speakers and told my trip would be 3 hours long, 8 hours later with no food we got to a beach where I was told to get out and ushered onto a small wooden boat that looked like it would sink. Luckily I survived the trip to the island. The accommodation and bathrooms were so unhygienic I got sick almost immediately. There’s no septic system so you have to put all of your used toilet paper in a opened bin beside the toilet which is in the same room as the shower facilities. There’s nowhere to wash your hands and to flush the toilet your pour water down the bowl. I also have a pre-existing medical condition that I was told I would be able to manage over there until I arrived and found the medical facilities on the island were very basic and almost non existent. I was apparently not the first person worried about this as diving is a dangerous activity and can require medical attention. I was also worried when I found out not one staff member knew first aid. The staff are very friendly at first then become immediately standoffish on the second day. The only time they lighten up is when they are drinking which is most nights. I’m a young person and enjoy a drink or few but not every night. I also felt very out of place because some of the people in charge were younger than I was and were almost only interested in sleeping with the volunteers. Even though most of the volunteers were already sleeping together or had done in the past. There are posters all over the accommodation that state no drugs on the program. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Almost every volunteer was smoking marijuana and taking pills every day and would come back to the house out of their brains. Not to mention certain staff felt it okay to supply the volunteers with drugs and were happy to do it with them. There was also very little conservation work happening at all. Volunteers could work on their “own projects” which mostly consisted of us watching movies or reading each other’s books. Only a few volunteers had actually collected any relevant data while most of them had not even researched anything, we just tagged along on the dives. I also didn’t even see a seahorse in my time on the island. I was told they’d seen 4 seahorses but I find that hard to believe. The food was very mediocre to poor quality. If you don’t like rice, don’t go. That’s what I survived on and occasionally ate fish. The chicken was disgusting and pork often still had skin and hair attached as well as parts of bones. There were so many times when no one even knew what the meat was. There are so restaurants on the island that do amazing food though so I recommend those. There is no interaction with the community other than the children saying hello every time you walk by. I was advertised that we would be teaching and interacting with children as well as teaching them about conservation only to find this was never a part of the program. When I left not one person from projects abroad contacted me or even saw me to the airport. I was simply put in a taxi and dropped off. Two weeks after I returned home the project manager emailed me and asked how I was as they hadn’t heard from me, they weren’t even aware that I had returned home. For the amount of money you pay it’s definitely not worth it. Apparently a girl left before I got there, she changed her flights home. I wish I was fortunate enough to do that because I would have gotten out of there in the first week. On the plus side: I made some amazing friends who were equally as disgusted as I was at the organisation and overall let down of the program. I also enjoyed the experience of seeing another country and culture. I would not however recommend this to anyone unless they are into ‘cheap drugs and alcohol’ and watching movies every day and going for the occasional dive.

   By Aracelis Gerner

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3. 

   Projects Abroad Reviews & Complaints

   (1)

   I signed up for a volunteer trip with PA after doing research on several different companies. I paid my almost $300 deposit for a trip that I would take in November. I contacted my trip planner/advocate in mid August to let her know that due to medical reasons that were beyond my control, I would not be able to take the trip as anticipated. I later received an email from someone telling me that I could reschedule the trip with a fee or cancel the trip and lose the money that I paid. I explained to him that it was an emergency that was beyond my control. The reason that I will not be able to make the trip is that my doctor informed me that I would need to have a surgery in mid October and I would be bed ridden and not able to travel for at least three weeks. Even after being told that it was a medical emergency, the representative said that there was nothing he could do about and told me that I could postpone the trip with a fee of upwards of $95. I asked to be contacted by a manager or supervisor and he sent me an email stating that they were the manager. All of the previous emails they sent me stated that they had the title of ADMINISTRATOR the next email that they sent had the title of Acting Deputy Director. They sent me a link to the terms and conditions of their page which mentions nothing about cancellations in the case of medical emergencies. They again offered to reschedule my trip for a fee. Even if they gave me the trip completely FREE I would refuse to go. I cannot imagine the treatment that I would receive if I were to have an emergency while in a foreign country with their employees. My experience with Projects Abroad has been horrible and I am still trying to receive a refund. On top of worrying about the damage caused by the Hurricane I am faced with an upcoming surgery AND stressing over trying to get funds back from a company that I was going to VOLUNTEER for. I am in conversation with my bank but I cannot believe that I have to go to such lengths to get my money back from a volunteer organization.

   By Gertude Standen

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