Job Discussion Forums

yodetta · Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 68 Location: California, USA

hi,

I'm getting alot of mail from STA Travel about i-to-i volunteer and English teaching opps in India, Latin America, etc. And while I AM interested in going to India, I'd like to hear the poop on this organization.

They offer short-term opps and insurance, which is nice....but whats the real deal on them? Anyone have any insider info?

peace,
Yodetta

amandajoy99 · Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 63 Location: Brazil

don�t they charge high fees for "volunteer" activities?

yodetta · Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 68 Location: California, USA

sure, they charge fees for travel and such...but claim to provide insurance and housing...i've looked at some past posts about i-to-i online TEFL programs, that were apparently poor in quality and staff support. And I'm not naive enough to miss the fact that a travel agency is promoting them...

I guess I'm really wondering if anyone has had a good/decent experience through them...or if complaints have exceeded charges of "poor" onto those of "horrible". Any known corruption? Or just poor administration and a case of moderate greed?

Yodetta

Sekhmet · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 329 Location: Alexandria, Egypt

Yodetta, I think it's all pretty much management issues and greed. I did a program in China, unfortunately during the SARS outbreak. Because of internet censorshoip being what it is in China, the only info we could get was from our families. i-to-i did not contact us at any time to give us information. They just called the Chinese representative and told her to contact us to tell us to get out of the country while we still could!

We were not offered any sort of compensation, despite the fact that our contracts were cut short by a month, and we were forced to pay for flights home (STA wouldn't change the tickets for us)

We were also originally told that we were going to Qingdao, but that was changed without notification, and we only found out when we sent our flight details and were told that we weren't going there after all!!

In general, I think it was a whole bunch of miscommunications. Unfortunately, it didn't make our trip to China as much fun as it should have been! I think, once they sort out their priorities and management issues, they should be ok. However, I still think that the price they charge for placements is extortionate!

yodetta · Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 68 Location: California, USA

thanks alot, Sekhmet....that's exactly the kind of info i'm looking for.

did you go to China to teach English or volunteer in a 'community program'?

That's pretty crummy that they didn't pay for your flight home...what became of the original ticket you paid for? Were you reimbursed?

Yodetta

Sekhmet · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 329 Location: Alexandria, Egypt

Yodetta - it was one of their teaching programs. We were based in a small town north of Beijing. It was really nice, and the school was great, but I know that some people weren't so happy... We were also the first bunch of people to go to this town through i-to-i, so we really did feel like guinea pigs!!

I can't remember the reasons they gave for not paying for the return ticket. I do remember that getting hold of them after our return was something like catching water in a sieve - somewhat frustrating!!

Magoo · Joined: 31 Oct 2003 Posts: 651 Location: Wuhan, China

i-to-i are in the business of making money. If you want to do some good, go through a school directly, on a salary, with your airfare paid for. Make sure that that country's government is behind you. Otherwise, work for VSO or some other body that doesn't have a 'sideline' in profit-making courses. Call me a cynical old fart, but I've seen enough to make me trust out-and-out capitalists more than people who display photographs of cute African kids on the Internet. My parents worked in Sierra Leone for VSO, many years ago, and loved it.