Original Volunteers
reviews and complaints

Hi Dorothy, I am so sorry about this but we cannot find your name, Dorothy or Barnes anywhere or on our database as a volunteer who travelled with us. If you can get in touch with us directly via our main email address with some more details : contact [at] originalvolunteers.co.uk so we can look into the matter that will be helpful. Kind regards, Caroline, Original Volunteers Team

Dear Ana, we are saddened that you felt you had to write online, we have already responded to you earlier in the year but turning to your main points on this website specifically:
(i) "Before I made any payments, Rachel Lewis, would call me 1500 times a minute"
Hi Ana, we have records here of all phone calls, we did not call you very often, only to return calls.
(ii) "It turned out that OV had told them that I would be at Mombasa Airport as opposed to Nairobi, and they had my travel itinerary so they knew where I would be arriving".
In our information it states clearly that the airport for the Mombasa street kids project is Mombasa, this is where the volunteering project is. It is not practical for the staff to organise pick ups from Nairobi as it would be a 18 hour round trip. Yes you are correct that we told the project staff you would arrive in Nairobi as that was where you had bought flights to, but only so they would be aware. Occasionally a volunteer chooses to fly to Nairobi for a cheaper flight then to take the train overland independently, organising their train station pick up in Mombasa directly with the project staff as airport arrival times cannot be known as accurately in advance as flight times. The following advice taken from the website: **A pick up will be automatically organised for you from Mombasa airport. If you are travelling overland from elsewhere in Africa, shortly before you travel we will put you in touch with your Mombasa team to arrange a suitable meeting point or to get directions. Most volunteers coming overland from Nairobi take the train which usually arrives between 8am – 11am.**
(iii) "Upon arrival I was told that the volunteer house that had been out of use for over 5 months and that volunteers had been staying at the White Castle Hotel (the Kenyan welcome pack from OV stated all volunteers had to stay at the volunteer house)."
This was unfortunate, we had updated the information on the website but yes you are right the information pack emailed was out of date. We do not think this was in any way detrimental to your experience, things do change from time to time on projects, volunteering is unlike a traditional holiday where the hotel and rooms stay in the same for years.
(iv) "Emma also lied to me and told me there were another two volunteers already"
No one lied. Two volunteers were on the list but changed their plans. The street kids project in Mombasa is a quieter project compared to many others and this is described on the website that volunteer numbers may be as little as 1-10 at a time, unlike in other locations where there will be many more volunteers. If volunteer numbers had been a pre-requisite for choosing a project we would have advised you straightaway at the time of booking. We are often recommending one project over another if anyone wants a more lively experience in a larger group or a shared experience. It is not in our interests to encourage a placement if we feel it is not going to be a great fit.
(v) "Grandsons of Abraham Rescue Center was recruiting street kids and so there was nothing for me to do".
You described in your email to us that there were boys, just less than usual and that you were looked after by a member of the local team. Previously volunteers have been able to work on a one to one basis with the boys. The project has had many volunteers who have gone back independently for a second visit and worked on a one to one basis with the boys who need a lot of support before they are ready to move on to full time education at the sister project.
(vi) "One day on my lack of volunteering I was out doing touristy things as a way to kill time and I was robbed and beaten near Fort Jesus. When i reported the incident to OV they completely ignored my pleas, screened my calls and refused to refund me my monies."
The only money which had been paid to Original Volunteers was the registration fee and your project costs for your second project in Tanzania. We did not at any time receive any money for the street kids project in Mombasa. We were saddened that you claimed all your money back following a robbery in Mombasa which was unfortunate but not something that we could have foreseen or prevented, travelling in Kenya, does pose different risks than say, in your home town. It is very unfortunate.
(vii) "The second project I had with OV in Tanzania, I contacted the projects directly and did end up working with them "
You were able to travel to Tanzania to volunteer as we had already pre-organised the placement for you and put you in touch with the volunteer coordinator.
(viii) "The project manager told us they never transfer the funds, which confirmed what I had been told in Kenya by the manager there."
There has never been any outstanding payments for Kenya or Tanzania. All volunteers to the street kids pay the project directly. We assume you paid the project in Mombasa directly on arrival as you had been instructed to do so before travel. We also hope you paid the project in Tanzania for your stay as we did not have the funds from you to send them.
(ix) "I fundraised on gofundme.com for the Tanzanian project for some construction their are currently undertaking, because I felt extremely bad for them because they were surprised by how much we said we paid and the **nothing** they received ".
In Tanzania volunteers work at established projects throughout the local town, it sounds like you were fundraising for a project you were introduced to as our volunteer coordinator is not currently building anything at the moment. For a programme like Tanzania where volunteers work all over the town (compared to Mombasa where volunteers only work with one charity) there is no possibility to spread money around to each project. This is the usual arrangement when working with more than one organisation in one town. Many other projects work in the same way, our Ghana programme is an example of this. In Tanzania volunteer contributions go towards your host family and volunteer coordinator who organises placements for you.
(x) "I have police reports of items lost and explaining how I was beaten. I want compensation for the lack of enjoyment the company put me through, for their negligence and the harm they put through whilst relying on their misrepresentation."
It is a real shame that you missed the name of the airport to fly to before buying your flight (flying to Nairobi rather than Mombasa where your project was located) and that you were robbed in Fort Jesus but that it is not something that is within our control other than advising volunteers not to visit Fort Jesus on their own and for which we are only aware of one Fort Jesus robbery, your own, since sending volunteers in 2007 although we may insert a general advice for future volunteers to hire one of the trained guides which we include mention of in the free time section of the webpage.
SUMMARY: We hope that despite everything you did get a lot of valuable experiences and that it has not put you off travelling further. Indeed you must have made a close connection to one of the projects in Iringa to start fundraising for them. We can only hope sincerely that had your flight been into Mombasa and the robbery not taken place that you might have had a better experience.