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For my first trip to Thailand, I decided to spend 2 weeks volunteering in northern Thailand, specifically Chang Rai. It was the best decision I have ever made. After 3 days, I was trying to see if I could rearrange my flights to stay longer. The program connects you with people from all over the world. In my group, we had people from the UK, Australia, Brazil, France, and the USA. Our big project for the first week was helping to build a dam for the local Karen village. Building that dam was why I went to Thailand. We were able to see the results of our work as we watched the water redirect and we were working with the local village men. They thanked us with a barbecue and the village head shook all of our hands to say "thank you." The next week, we were digging a water line for a school. We slept in the school and played with the children. We were able to really connect with the children and see what their lives are like. Throughout the program, Lynn, the program manager, checked in to make sure everything was okay and assured us that she was there if we needed anything. Even before I left for Thailand, Lynn was there to answer my countless questions and really prepared me for my trip. Volunteering with IVHQ was the best decision I have made and I hope to volunteer with them again soon.

I volunteered with Mirror Foundation, IVHQ's local partner in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Accommodation: all volunteers lived at Mirror Foundation's premises, in a rural area, approximately 40 min north of Chiang Rai. I was placed in a bamboo house, where sleeping bags were put on the floor. We also had squat toilets and bucket showers, which is part of the experience. Wifi barely worked, which made difficult to plan lessons. Some volunteers were not mentally prepared to live in such different conditions they were used to, and keft the program early. In the beginning it was tough (mainly due to insects, reptiles, etc), but I managed to enjoy the experience.

Food: breakfast, lunch and dinner were provided during weekdays. Delicious local food!

Transportation to/from placement: provided by the local organizationin pickup trucks.

Weekends: during weekends, almost all volunteers leave the foundation and travel to other cities in Thailand or simply stay at a hotel in Chiang Rai.

Volunteering: indoor volunteers were taken to a different school, every week. It was a great experience teaching at public schools in small villages, tasting local food, talking to the local teachers. In my opinion, all volunteers should be fluent in English and have some teaching experience.

During my 1 week duration with the Mirror Foundation in Thailand with IVHQ, I learned a lot about myself, the culture and grew out of my comfort zone. Traveling alone especially to a unfamiliar country is not easy, nobody said it was going to be easy. Everyone that volunteers are most likely it in the same boat as you are. It's okay to be sacred, anxious, nervous, or even overwhelmed. However, I met some of the most nicest people in my program. People from all over the world hat are different than I am yet similar in so many ways. It help me transition and feel much more comfortable volunteering. I will never forget our outdoor project of picking and planting rice. It was not easy at all especially in the humid hot day in Thailand. But it made me appreciate those around me and what I have. Everyone worked so hard for something that we usually take for granted such as buying rice from a grocery store. Without knowing how much effort it is to grow rice. I appreciated everyone involved in this project because no matter what challenges came up (dehydration, tired, hot) we all overcomes it together!

What a wonderful experience! Through volunteering with IVHQ I have made lifelong friends from Thailand and around the world. Volunteers are often sent on home-stays to teach or do outdoor work (whichever program you choose) and those were my favorite part. The schools I would teach at on home-stays were extremely thankful, eager to learn, and rarely have access to English speaking teachers.

The foundation where volunteers stay is nice, although don't expect luxury (i.e. squat toilets, bucket showers, no A/C). But that's all part of the experience! It helps volunteers fully submerge into the culture and live like the surrounding hill tribes do. The wifi doesn't work well, which made us volunteers become close very quickly, but it did make it hard to plan teaching lessons.

Through IVHQ I found the confidence to travel on my own for the first time to a rural community in Thailand as a volunteer. I had such a profound and genuine experience there that I recommended your organisation to friends and decided to do it again in Kenya the following year.

I was officially apart of the 'Constuction/Outdoor' program but once I arrived there I quickly realised that I was instantly apart of a local community and could help out in other ways too.

The local foundation made us volunteers feel very much at home and ensured that our skills and resources were put to good use.

Our team spent most of our days making bricks, constructing fences and building structures for various community bodies. As I am a trained Secondary School Teacher I also spent some time teaching english and entertaining the children who had family members working within the partner foundation.

The partner foundation was set up in a way that allowed all the local and international volunteers to live, eat, work and play together. We slept in gender seperated dorm-style rooms and ate our meals communally with the staff and had a volunteer room where we could email friends and family back home and relax after a day of volunteer work. It is very well set up to accomodate everyone's needs.

My fondest memory was our Christmas eve outting. This involved going bamboo door-to-door and singing our christmas carols to the local community families. This was positively received and the locals returned the favour by singing for us with instruments and 4 part harmonies (somewhat superior to our out-of-tune rendition of 'Jingle Bells').

The security that IVHQ offered me (and my family) during my trip was invaluable. My parents had the reassurance of a NZ contact if they could not contact me and I knew what to expect in terms of being collected at the airport and being placed in a relevant role within a reputable organisation.

IVHQ offer programs that are a fantastic introduction to the developing world to any nervous-first-time traveler.

I would highly recommend this IVHQ program.

Great interaction and cultural excahnge with opportuning to have a postive impact in upgrading the condition of building imprlovements in two northern Thailand hill tribe locations. Small sized work teams (4 to 6 volunteers) + 2 Mirror Foundation staff coordinators allowed for very good work flow, cooperation and transport logistics. All work is intensive manual labor, and can be a bit challenging in the hotter summer months, particularly for the more seasoned (older aged) volunteer.

I only had the time off work to volunteer for a week, but it was so worthwhile. Doing the outdoor program for such a short period usually means you won't have an opportunity to do a homestay, but somehow the week I was there we not only went out for a 5 night homestay with a local hill tribe, we were there for the beginning of their traditional New Year celebrations. I had the opportunity to get to know some wonderful volunteers from around the world, dig rice fields, live without the internet or phones much less electricity for a week. It was hard, yes. But it was also one of the best weeks of my life. I can't wait to go back to Thailand.