<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I looked around and didn't find a similar topic posted anywhere. </p>
<p>A friend of my daughter's - let's call her Sarah - a student at a very well-regarded US liberal arts college, went to Costa Rica this summer thanks to a travel grant from her school. Her project involved researching a specific animal species, and a number of these animals were supposed to be in residence at the Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary in Cost Rica. The animals were listed as being in residence on the sanctuary's website and although Sarah informed the manager of the sanctuary of her proposed project, the manager did not tell her that these animals had been moved some distance away. Instead, Sarah did not find out the animals would not be available for her research until after she arrived and had paid both her fee to "volunteer" and for her room and board in advance. Then, after she realized she would not be able to complete her project with this organization, she was told "No refunds!" </p>
<p>Sarah then scrambled to find another project and to stretch her remaining funds until it was time to fly home, since many/most(?) of the "volunteer" programs are actually programs where you pay to work for nothing. I don't know how Sarah researched this organization, but googling with its name and "reviews" yields a range of both very negative, as well as some positive, reviews on the sanctuary, which surely would have raised red flags if she had seen them. Many of the negative reviews talk about the unsanitary conditions in which animals are kept, the manager's continuous verbal abuse of volunteers, and the high numbers of volunteers who leave early because of the conditions. </p>
<p>Obviously there is a huge life lesson learned, and my initial reaction was that a bit of web research might have avoided the problems. In the case of this organization, there is enough negative stuff out there that it isn't hard to find. In general, however, online reviews of these voluntourism programs are apparently suspect in many cases: Spotting</a> The Fake Volunteer Abroad Reviews.</p>
<p>Sarah's Mom asked me what she could do to prevent Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary from scamming other idealistic young people, and I 'm a bit stuck on what to specifically suggest. Any suggestions out there other than Googling? Or only going with a program when you know someone who has already gone on it?</p>