 Global Crossroad program? |
AfricaAntarcticaAsiaCentral America CaribbeanEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth AmericaOceans and SeasGlobal Crossroad program?Africa » Tanzania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| any info on trips arranged by Global Crossroad? Any bad experiences? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
schmeg04 Meg Schmitt Post Count: 2 Msg: #1 575 days ago, May 11th 2008 | Hi all- | I'm an undergrad possibly interning in Morogoro, Tanzania this summer. I might be going through a group called Global Crossroad, but I'm having trouble finding information about them. Has anyone ever used them or heard anything about them? Any problems/bad experiences/great experiences? I'd really appreciate hearing anything about them--my trip is in just over a month so I'm trying to figure everything out quickly. Thanks so much! Meg Schmitt Doig Lindz Post Count: 1 Msg: #2 572 days ago, May 14th 2008 | [Edited: 20:48 - Doig - private message is better] nikki006 Nicole Post Count: 1 Msg: #3 468 days ago, August 26th 2008 | I know that this is a late reply to this post but I want to say that my experience with Global Crossroads was not a positive one. I just spent the last few weeks in Tanzania, Africa working in an orphanage with seven other people from my town. Everything that Global Crossroads was involved with in regards to our trip went wrong. There were many things that happened that shouldn't have such as ending up at an orphanage that we knew nothing about instead of going to the one we were told that we were going to, having safari drivers who were not registered and very unorganized causing us to have to end our safari after one game drive because they didn't have the money or the permits to continue, and also the fact that Global Crossroads were very poor in communicating with us what we needed to know. Every other volunteer that we met along the way were also very dissapointed with their Global Crossroad experience. I just want people to understand that Global Crossroads is very unorganized and unreliable based on my own experience with this company. Even though we were dissapointed with Global Crossroads we loved our time spent with the children at the orphanage. That part of the trip was definitely an amazing experience and our hearts were touched while being there. | CourtinUSA Courtney Post Count: 1 Msg: #4 446 days ago, September 17th 2008 | Do not go anywhere with Global Crossroad. My name is Courtney and I just got back from a volunteer program in Tanzania with Global Crossroad/IFRE. The company is a scam and Yotam, the coordinator for Africa is a corrupt man who is not allocating the money to the orphanages. I met other volunteers from other programs while I was there. Check out Global Volunteers, I've heard good things. Just be very cautious. If they tell you that you only need a tourist visa, they are wrong. You need to have a volunteer visa. Good luck. If you have more questions, post them and I will help you out. | Tmnoonan Tom Noonan Post Count: 4 Msg: #5 427 days ago, October 7th 2008 | I would have to second that. Look into other programs. Read these <snip> | [Edited: 16:01 - Mell - Removed URL] Momin Momin Shakoor Post Count: 1 Msg: #6 240 days ago, April 11th 2009 | Hi Meg, | I am a medical volunteer and I went through global crossroads. I am doing lots of cool work in hospitals, ambulances and event leprosy colonies in Faridabad, India. I don't know what goes on in the Africa program but here in India everything is going well. Even the other volunteers that I live with (who work in the orphanages) have said that the program is great. I think a lot of people just show up to these projects expecting to be spoon fed all of their tasks and volunteering agendas. For example, I wanted to do medical volunteering in India and I am a registered EMT as well as a pre-med student. There was another volunteer who had no medical background, interest or experience and she did not have a good time volunteering. An effort is also required when doing these types of volunteering projects. For example, another volunteer who used to go to the hospital with me became very distressed and gave up because she did not understand Hindi, whereas another volunteer who despite not knowing what the nurses or patients were saying made a full effort to help (and made a huge impact). If you show keen interest and are sincerely there to help and not just waste time then I think that the volunteer projects can be life changing and amazing. It just depends with what intentions you go with. gumibear margie Post Count: 1 Msg: #7 137 days ago, July 23rd 2009 | hi everyone, | Yes this is a super late reply but I just want to inform all the people out there who are interested in volunteering with Global Crossroad to BEWARE! I went to New Delhi in 2006 with my high school friend. We spent about 2 months there and I have to say that the volunteering experience at Salaam Baalak Trust (working with street kids) was absolutely amazing. Will I do it again? Yes definately. but will I go through Global Crossroad again? HELL NO! Global Crossroad claims to donate parts of the program fees to the local charity/organisation that you are going to work with. You see, Salaam Baalak Trust has NEVER EVER heard of Global Crossroad, let alone receiving donations from them. Global Crossroad has extremely poor management, actually it is almost non-existent. $2000+ USD is a large amount of money, especially in developing countries. that amount of money is more than enough to keep a bunch of kids in school for a whole year. Global Crossroad is more like a middle man that takes all the money and chuck you at the doorstep of the local charity. But don't worry, your local charity will always take good care of you. So I guess if you don't care about how much you are paying for the program and how much is going to the charity, then i think Global Crossroad is the one for you. Momin, I am very glad that you are having a good time volunteering in Faridabad. However maybe you should ask the people at the hospital if they have received any donations from Global Crossroad. Advices? I think the best way is to research about local charities and organisations before you make any decisions. Contact them DIRECTLY if possible and arrange your own accomodation and transport. This way, instead of feeding Global Crossroad with all your hard-earned cash, the money can go to where it is most needed. dredreyy Audrey Amar Post Count: 1 Msg: #8 123 days ago, August 6th 2009 | hey! im a canadian citizen, and i went to bolivia to work in an orphanage in santa cruz - AVOID GLOBAL CROSSROADS!!!!!!!!!! i was lucky enough to have gone through a middleman organization that took care of all the interactions between me and them, but other people i met there often never spoke to the ground co-ordinator, and one volunteer i met had to abandon her research project altogether. definately volunteer abroad, but do it through somebody else. |  ThembaThemba Joshua Wrinkle Post Count: 3 Msg: #9 121 days ago, August 8th 2009 | also, avoid Operation Crossroads Africa.. I would not say it is a scam really.. just very poorly organized and the team in the US is not quite aware of how things truly pan out on the other end. Rather look into NGOs that are locally based and contact them, find your own adventure and desire.. often it is more fulfilling and less costly. | Number of Users: 9 | Number of Posts: 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
