Unorganised, unsafe and massively underwhelmed

Ratings
Overall
1
Impact: 1
Support: 1
Fun: 4
Value: 3
Safety: 2
Review

Signed up for 3 months working with NGO's in Cambodia, I was super excited until my first day of placement when I was asked to do IT Support and the language barrier was so big that it became clear I would not get any experience or knowledge because we were unable to communicate with each other. On my first day they also told me they didn't need a volunteer and I shouldn't return until they called me. Well a week passed and nothing. The program coordinator was unsupportive, hard to talk to and difficult to get hold of. When I eventually spoke to him he suggested I wait until they had work or do another placement such as childcare. I then went to head office expressing how difficult communication has been and that email was forwarded onto the program coordinator with no personal response, this was obviously highly unprofessional and made being in the house even more difficult. I was told I could move city and go to another placement but would have to wait 3/4 weeks. After all this I was not refunded for the program, very little apology, they refused to see what they had done wrong and after I left I was basically forgotten about. Many volunteers that arrived when I did were also so unhappy with their placement and had to end up doing an alternative program to the one they selected, or experienced massively unsupportive and unprofessional situations with staff. A guy was placed in the same placement after I left and he was also told they had no work and had to end up doing an alternative program. They really don't care once you've paid and will not try to rectify any issues or recognise that they are lying to people when they register with them. There was common knowledge as soon as you arrived that if you had a problem it would probably not be sorted. I've heard many stories of success with IVHQ but I would definitely recommend staying away from their Cambodia program, there are plenty of other well priced companies who will not take your money and then forget about you.

Would you recommend this program?
No, I would not
Year Completed
2016