Volunteer - Volunteer International Citizen Service Employee Review

The host family I had were the only thing that made it a nice experience.

I worked for restless development in Tanzania. I already had 5 years of work experience in development including at big international health agencies. The other English people that joined us were not screened properly and I was living with two young guys with some pretty bad and undealt with mental health issues including depression and probably asperges or similar. We got very little opportunity to work and learn. Spent most of the time reading manuals at the office but didn't get much chance to spend time with communities. When I asked to leave, they threatened to withhold my passport. One of the guys who went me slapped me across the face as a joke - I didn't find it funny. Another one hurled a chair across the hosts' living room in a moment of rage.

To work cross-culturally and broaden your mind and beliefs about the world.

Very disorganised, didn't tell volunteers last minute about important things, kept changing destination of placement, poor leadership (non-supportive), didn't provide us with enough resources, allowance was regularly late, overworked us and didn't give weekly 1 day off as promised.