Has anyone volunteered or is planning to volunteer overseas through this program? I'm considering going but the cost is pretty expensive and there's barely any reviews online.

Here's the website: http://www.isvonline.com/

Great question! I was actually wondering the same thing. The announcement in class was great, but real reviews would be really helpful in deciding!

From what I've seen, the only one of those programs not offered in Canada are involved with dolphins and sea turtles.

I don't understand the appeal of spending $5000+ to go to another country to do what you can here...

Exactly; I'm not the biggest fan of such large scale companies. IVS is actually a company that offers its services in all of North America. They are "allegedly" here to make a profit from the research I briefly just did on forums/blog posts. This is actually a good alternative idea to arrange trips for people who aren't really big on going to Mexico/Florida for their spring break and getting completely wasted.

There is all so much you can do in Canada or even Hamilton if your sole intention is to help out within the community. Spending that amount of money is only useful if you just want to experience a foreign culture/country. In that case I would recommend just going there as a tourist for a smaller amount of money and giving away the difference to a local charity

p.s: *waits for IVS Alumnus & McMaster "students" to register on Macinsiders and post about how awesome the whole thing is!* Not again! :S

The thing is that if a company has a tendency to act like and present themselves like Door to Door Salesman's or Late Night Shopping Adverts then something is not correct. All the uber positive customer reviews the over positive website layout :S


Edit: http://www.martlet.ca/view.php?aid=40120 A random controversial experience

I dunno, I think its not quite as sketchy as, say, certain painting companies, lol.

I have a few friends who did it and had an absolutely amazing time. Plus if you're planning on travelling anyways, you might as well get credit for it!

I'm not sure how high the actual cost is, but I'm pretty sure it would absolutely destroy my budgeting :(

EDIT: Plus if you go to New Zealand, you get to do the Nevis Jump.

I remember reading it was ~1600 or around there.

I don't understand the appeal of spending $5000+ to go to another country to do what you can here...

There are very few opportunities to get involved in Northern Canada, I think I mentioned one that interested me at BP that night. It's kind of unfortunate that there are so many trips to international locations but significantly fewer things to help our own country.

Granted, I went on a global trip (not with ISV), but more because I wanted to travel abroad. Considering you gain so much from international experiences, I feel obliged to give back to the community in ways that they would find culturally appropriate - I dislike the idea of building houses and what not because it just takes away from local labour and ends up hurting the location more than it helps.

I would try to go with smaller local organizations that try not to make a profit off of you. Global Youth Network is pretty good. I'm applying for a Kenya trip with Golden Key. I'm pretty stoked about it since a lot of the kids that I work with have immigrated from Kenya and I've always wanted to travel there anyways.

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

I remember reading it was ~1600 or around there.

lol according to some reviews the actual trip is well over $4000 in total costs! They keep adding stuff/have fine print apparently. I mean JUST a Return ticket would cost you around 70% of 1600 or something like that!

Originally Posted by Jay

There are very few opportunities to get involved in Northern Canada, I think I mentioned one that interested me at BP that night. It's kind of unfortunate that there are so many trips to international locations but significantly fewer things to help our own country.

I think that is and isn't true. I think there are opportunities, we just don't know where to look, or even how, in some cases.

Originally Posted by Jay

Granted, I went on a global trip (not with ISV), but more because I wanted to travel abroad. Considering you gain so much from international experiences, I feel obliged to give back to the community in ways that they would find culturally appropriate - I dislike the idea of building houses and what not because it just takes away from local labour and ends up hurting the location more than it helps.

I would try to go with smaller local organizations that try not to make a profit off of you. Global Youth Network is pretty good. I'm applying for a Kenya trip with Golden Key. I'm pretty stoked about since a lot of the kids that I work with have immigrated from Kenya and I've always wanted to travel there anyways.

Agreed. I just looked at the cost of the ISV trips, and they were a lot. Nearly $4000 plus the cost of your flight and affiliated fees is a lot of money to be spending in a country for four weeks, especially since only two of those weeks are the touring kind.

As for the credits...the school (i.e. Mac) has to approve them before they will count towards anything; meaning they need to be the same as a course offered here. Looking at Geo and Poli Sci courses...I couldn't find a similar one.

I think that is and isn't true. I think there are opportunities, we just don't know where to look, or even how, in some cases.

Oh, I agree. There are definitely opportunities to help out our own country. But in many cases, the programs probably aren't as structured or as visible. If you google "Volunteer in Costa Rica!" versus "Volunteer in Northern Canada" there's a huge difference in the number of hits. I'm not sure whether it's the reason that you've mentioned or if there's just less of a demand. Perhaps it's both.

I was talking to one of the career services people about working with Canada's Indigenous population - which deserves more attention, but in many cases it's difficult to volunteer unless you are Native. Of course, this is understandable due to many students trying to "help" out a culture/country, but they end up trying to put their Western values in. Their assistance is often incompatible and perhaps counterproductive with the society that they are trying to help.

If you're seriously interested in getting involved with an Indigenous Community, contact MFNSA (McMaster First Nations Student Association). Although they do a lot of out reach work to the local Indigenous community (Six Nations, New Credit etc) they could possibly help you get in contact with other groups, since most of the members (except me and one other girl this year) are Native and could possibly get you in contact with people they know.

Or possibly Bonnie, the student counselor could help as well...she may possibly have a larger network. As could the women in the Aboriginal Students Health Sciences Office.

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

lol according to some reviews the actual trip is well over $4000 in total costs! They keep adding stuff/have fine print apparently. I mean JUST a Return ticket would cost you around 70% of 1600 or something like that!

Oops, I was looking at the 2-week trip, not the 4-week one. It says $3,695.00 CAD, but $4000 sounds logical for a company who wants to make money out of it. That's just crazy. Sigh, if someone actually planned their own trip like that, it would barely cost half that four grand.

Just to clear up a few things about ISV.
I know it doesn't sound cheap and with flights included it does end up being quite expensive in comparison to other trips.
However, I went last year to Costa Rica with them and it was such an amazing experience. You can talk to anyone who has actually been on the trip and they will tell you that it is a great experience (don't just listen to all these people speculating). There is no way that if you went on your own you would be able to go to such remote places and meet and stay with locals while volunteering to save the lives of sea turtles (that was my volunteer project).
Also there is no way that you could go white water rafting, zip lining, repelling down a 80m waterfall, swimming in hot springs and waterfalls, horsebackriding, etc while travelling across the whole country for less. Along with guides who can ensure your safety and know everything about the country!
I was slightly skeptical when I first signed up but they do make every effort to ensure that you feel safe and that you are not part of some scam!
To me, it was worth every penny.
I would recommend getting the information and talking to people who HAVE done it in order to know if it right for you.

Hi everyone...

So I actually went on a trip with ISV for 4 weeks from May 14th 2009 to June 13th 2009. And basically i am about to tell you first hand that they are an amazing organization. They are not-for-profit, the trip is not cheap but I can tell you it is definitely cheaper than if you were to go on your own AND its worth every single penny.

Someone mentioned its something where ppl just go to get drunk like on vacation in Florida or Mexico... you will be sent home from New Zealand (or where ever your host country is) if you are caught drinking while on the volunteer project. You can drink, just not while working on the volunteer project.

Also, they supply copious amounts of support throughout the application, preparation and throughout the trip. At no point are you left to figure something out on your own or left without help. You have multiple guides and project leaders with you and you make amazing friends. I have friends from NY, Florida, Texas, New Brunswick, Alaska, Manitoba, Wisconsin, Michigan, all over Ontario. And we have had 3 reunion get togethers so far because we cannot stand too long of a period without seeing each other. Even though it was only 4 weeks, we did stuff in those 4 weeks that most people do not do in a lifetime and as a result became really close friends.

In the second 2 weeks alone we did: jetboating, skydiving, zorbing, sea kyaking, bungy jumping, cave exploring (black water rafting), white water rafting, glacier hiking, horseback riding, and so much more!

I have to get back to studying now, but i just want to say that it is an amazing experience. You may have seen myself or my friend at the front of the class with those 2 guys doing the presentations. If you have any questions or comments or want to find out more, do not hesitate to let me know!

*gets a flashback from CollegePro threads...