Visions Service Adventures

FAQs

Who participates in VISIONS and where do participants come from?

VISIONS participants are motivated, bright, curious, risk-taking teens with an interest in cross-cultural community service work. An average of 28 United States and five foreign countries are represented in VISIONS programs annually. By participating in VISIONS, you are choosing to live in one community, or in a few locations two communities, for the duration of your program. VISIONS is an immersion experience, not a tour.

Most of the teenagers who participate come without a friend, choosing instead to have a completely independent experience. Maximum group size at any site is 25 with six leaders, large enough to ensure a mix of personalities yet small enough to feel intimate and family-like. Minimum group size may be 16 or 17.

Do I need specific skills?

Most VISIONS participants have no carpentry or building skills. VISIONS staffers, local masons and maestros will teach you new skills. For your part, a willingness to learn is all that is required and expected. Every program site has at least one skilled carpenter or several masons who will transfer skills and information to you. Where carpentry is the focus, the second day of the program is an in-depth orientation to tools and tool use, work site protocol and safety procedures, and the chance to build something modest before starting your major project. Once you begin work, the staff will guide you and in many cases local people are your guides and teachers. Activities such as backpacking, kayaking, climbing or diving are supervised by seasoned professionals who have experience teaching requisite skills to people of all levels of ability.

What is expected of me?

VISIONS is jam-packed and demanding. Safe, considerate conduct is essential, along with respect for the framework of the program and the policies in place. There is a lot to do and we have goals to meet. A mindset of teamwork, flexibility and a cooperative attitude are musts.

We expect VISIONS participants to commit to the work goals, to be actively curious about the community and culture and to come ready to invest in their and their peers' experience. We expect participants to help problem-solve when necessary and to look for productive solutions to challenges whether these be in our own community of participants and staff or the challenges we may meet in the service work for our host community.

VISIONS groups live in community buildings and typically work in the public eye. Our home bases often are surrounded by local neighbors' homes. Appropriate behavior, language, dress, sometimes even the kind of music we listen to will be a consideration at many program sites. Our presence impacts any community in which we live. As a group of up to 30 living in spaces offered by the community, it naturally falls to us to keep our home base reasonably clean and orderly through membership on a crew that rotates through home base chores. And at the end of the program our group will work together to leave the space in even better condition than we found it.

While we prefer that VISIONS participants opt to attend solo and believe participating without a friend offers the greatest personal gain, it is alright if two friends attend the same program on the condition that both make conscious efforts to be part of the whole group and to spend time with others. To encourage spontaneity, community building and cohesiveness, we do not knowingly allow three or more friends to attend the same VISIONS program.

Be prepared to be flexible, to push your personal comfort zones for the sake of your own growth and for the benefit of your group. Physical inconveniences are not inevitable in VISIONS programs, but they are to be expected. You should come with the understanding that often the resources available in our program locations are unsophisticated compared to home. The very nature of what we do often places us in communities with rudimentary infrastructures.

For example, water may be scarce in some Caribbean or other locations so that full blast showers every day would be wasteful. Electricity may be inconsistent at best. You may sleep on an inflated mattress in a large room in a community building with the other participants and staff. You should be fully aware that the unexpected inconvenience is a possibility at sites both in the U.S. and abroad. While we make every effort to create a comfortable, clean and welcoming environment, we do so within the framework of the surrounding community. You will do well if you come with an open mind and few pre-conceptions, ready to work, to take responsibility for and to actively invest in your experience.

Participants who choose to bring hi-tech electronic items (DVD players, MP3 players, iPods, video cameras) should expect to accept full responsibility for the safety and condition of such items. Our policy is that those who do bring such equipment will be discreet about the use in public. On the main, local residents have far fewer material resources than we, a contrast that is dramatic at many of our sites. We are a largely affluent group of mostly Americans living and working in small communities - hi-tech items serve only to accentuate our differences. Also, a reality of traveling and living in any developing country or depressed community is petty theft. We keep cell phones, valuables and extra money locked away in secure places. Still, things can and do get lost or simply disappear on outings or if left out at home base.

Finally, perhaps most important, our goal is for you to be fully engaged in the here and now of your VISIONS experience. For this reason we restrict the use of the hi-tech items mentioned. For example, except for long distance night travel or at bedtime, headphones are not permitted. All of our programs offer personal connections, sights, sensations, smells and sounds (even silence) that are unique. VISIONS is an opportunity if not a challenge to forsake the distractions of regular routines at home for awhile and to focus instead on an experience that has the potential to be one of the most powerful of your life.

Where will I live?

While accommodations vary, none of our living spaces is luxurious. We reside in a community building such as a school, church hall, community center or even a small hostel, which becomes our home base for the duration of the program. You will take overnight trips or might have a partial home stay experience, but you'll always return to your home base.

Your home-away-from-home depends on the site you choose. Some have amenities similar to a dormitory; others are sparer and require your willingness to adapt to a level of comfort very different from living at home. Regardless, all of our home bases are neat, clean and sanitary, and food and drinking water are plentiful.

Several of the places we stay comfortably accommodate separate sleeping rooms for both genders-males in one big room, females in another. Sometimes our living space is a gymnasium or a large central hall with males and females at opposite ends. Usually, your bed is either an inflated mattress or a thick, vinyl-covered foam mattress on the floor that may be carpet, tile, or concrete. We sleep in sleeping bags or just cotton sheets in hot climates. You will have a shelf or a small cubby for storing clothes and personal effects. There are private changing areas and indoor plumbing at all our sites (in varying degrees of sophistication). We encourage everyone to pack economically.

Your home base may not be a modern, fully equipped facility. The plumbing may be old or crude and therefore require sensitivity to the volume of use. Natural resources we often take for granted, such as ample water for a daily shower, may not be plentiful at your site. Water shortages are not uncommon in periodic summer seasons in the Caribbean. In especially dry seasons, Caribbean participants have bathed daily out of 5-gallon buckets all but twice a week or so. Dominican Republic participants can expect the country's electricity to be turned off for long hours daily. Both bathing water and electricity have sometimes been inconsistent in past Dominica programs. Together, we adjust and adapt.

How will I spend my time?

About half of the program is service work. Count on working roughly five days a week, generally weekdays, although some afternoons you will knock off early for any number of reasons-to attend a festivity, go sight seeing, or you may be on a backpacking trip mid-week. In hot and humid climates we tend to work until mid afternoon when we break to beat the heat and go swimming or visit places of interest. In cooler climates you could work later. You'll have at least an hour or more for lunch and plenty of water breaks.

Usually you choose daily from among several projects that include a central construction project and a few smaller construction initiatives, from environmental or agricultural service, painting and mural design, work with young children. Some programs feature internships or apprenticeships with artisans, farmers, fishermen, local vendors, micro-businesses and more. The kinds and number of non-construction service options vary with each program site, the needs and wishes of the local community.

There is down time after work, before and after dinner. Our evening meetings are three to four nights a week starting about 7 PM and lasting about one and one-half hours. After that you can relax by yourself or with friends from the program or community. On the nights we are not meeting, we often plan an outing or invite visitors to our home base.

Evenings and weekends are a mix of planned and spontaneous activity. We take advantage of all that our surroundings offer in terms of cultural and recreation activities. Your program leaders are on-site about 10 days before you arrive, refining the calendar and nailing down non-work activities.

Why VISIONS?

You are rooted to one very new, very different place for awhile in ways that are exceptional and that surpass the superficial. Local people welcome you, sharing parts of their lives and their views of life with you. The days mix stimulating activity fueled by purpose and a common goal: productive service work; discovery of another culture; communal living; opportunities to learn, do and see things you never imagined; joyful spontaneous friendships with your hosts and with fellow participants. Many alumni tell us they have made their deepest friendships in their VISIONS programs.

You will see your projects completed or nearly completed by the end of the program. After a month on site, you will know the people whose lives you have impacted. And you will have experienced the reward of service when the effort is shared.

A portion of your tuition directly supports materials for the projects. Depending on the program location and length and the projects, VISIONS contributes from $3,000 to $7,000 per program.

At the end of the summer upon successful completion of the program, participants receive a certificate recognizing from 65 to 100 hours of service and listing the projects accomplished.

What are the meals like? Do menus include vegetarian foods?

Mostly, VISIONS hires local cooks who prepare dinners, which includes a variety of recipes for all courses. Meals include plenty of standard foods as well as samples of native dishes. VISIONS menus are nutritionally balanced and vegetarian-friendly; meat and non-meat options are always available. Everyone in the group helps prepare breakfasts and lunches, and helps set up and clean up after all meals.

Note: If your diet is highly specialized, please call us well in advance of the program so that we can accommodate and incorporate your needs.

Who are my leaders?

VISIONS leaders are mature, skilled and reflect a wide range of life experiences. They are college graduates, returned Peace Corps volunteers, teachers, graduate students and Ph.D. candidates, wilderness education instructors, and sometimes professionals from the host community. They believe in our service mission, and they want to share an exhilarating, purposeful intercultural experience with teenagers. Their average age is mid- to late 20s. All are minimum certified in First Aid and CPR; most hold advanced safety certifications such as EMT or Wilderness First Responder.

How much supervision is there?

The staff to student ratio on any program is 1 to 4 or 5. During the day students go nowhere without a buddy and never without checking out and in with the same staff person. Students are never off-site without staff member. Staff accompany students on all evening activities. We know where to go and where not to because we are well acquainted with the communities in which we work. Within these boundaries, there is a lot of freedom of movement.

VISIONS emphasizes the importance of creating and striving to be an authentic community. We work together, play together, relax together.

How do you ensure safety? How accessible is medical care to program sites?

The staff to student ratio on a VISIONS program is 1 to 4. Only occasionally will it increase to one staffer for every five participants. Offering an additional 'halo' of safety are the trusted local people we employ, from project managers to maestros, cooks to drivers, who because they work with us seasonally know us well. Knowledge of the communities, of where it's safe to go and where it's risky at any program location, is systematically accrued, recorded and passed on to program staff from season to season.

The VISIONS Staff Handbook, along with several other manuals for each program site, outline meticulous safety and health protocols which are strictly enforced. At the annual staff training for our leaders safety and health guidelines are reviewed in detail and then reviewed once again in the field at each program site before participants arrive. Some protocols are customized to specific locales. The Home Office Directors speak by telephone with program directors in the field at least every few days as a matter of course. Our leaders are at least 23 years old and at minimum hold current First Aid and CPR certifications; the majority of our staff hold minimum Wilderness First Aid certification and higher.

In every VISIONS program we use the "Buddy System." Essentially, this system ensures that no participant goes anywhere alone and that our staff know exactly where participants are at any time. The home base parameters at the program sites are clearly defined. At night, participants do not go beyond home base boundaries without a staffer.

Water is a critical area of focus. Where necessary, we treat even bottled water with a Clorox solution. Outside the U.S. we eat only those fruits and vegetables with skins. The program directors review food preparation guidelines with local cooks at the start of every season when staff arrive.

All of our program sites are under one hour from a physician, medical clinic/s or a hospital. The majority of sites are closer, less than one-half hour's drive. Our leaders personally visit medical facilities and re-confirm emergency telephone numbers on site before participants arrive, even in those locations where we return annually. All staffers carry on their persons at all times the emergency telephone numbers.

VISIONS requires all participants to have medical evacuation insurance. If your health insurance company does not include evacuation, VISIONS recommends DAN (Divers Alert Network). DAN is not limited to diving emergencies. The $35 yearly membership automatically includes TravelAssist, a service which arranges emergency medical evacuations and many other services which facilitate immediate and comprehensive medical care.

How do you select participants? Do you require an essay or interview?

VISIONS is self-selecting. We make every effort to be very clear in the brochure, on our web site, in home appointments, over the telephone and in other marketing materials about the nature of the experience and about our expectations of participants. Most of the teenagers who participate know how to write essays for anonymous audiences, and so you need not jump through that kind of hoop. What you read and what you hear from us about VISIONS is what we do. Your job is to know this when choosing VISIONS for your summer. This enrollment process has served us well since 1989.

How old are the kids?

14 through 18 years old - freshmen through seniors in high school. For some programs we limit the minimum age and number of participants. The average age is 16 to 16 1/2. There is always a range of ages in VISIONS programs; a few 14-year-olds each summer, a fair showing of 15-year-olds, but mostly 16, 17 and even 18 years old.

What is the composition of boys / girls?

A fairly equal balance of males and females. Depending on the season, some programs may have 5 to 6 more of one gender than the other. No program will have only 4 or 5 of one gender. When the numbers get high for one gender, we close enrollment until the other catches up. If there is a greater imbalance it's because of an unforeseen event such as 2 boys dropping at the last minute, for example.

What's your policy on alcohol use or possession? Illegal Drugs / Substances? Tobacco use?

Zero Tolerance. No alcohol. No drugs. No tobacco products. No possession, no use or purchase of alcohol, drugs or cigarettes. No sexual relations. Participants in violation of this policy are dismissed from the program promptly and return home at their own expense. They will not receive a certificate of service for service hours.

How do I make travel arrangements to my program?

VISIONS offers roundtrip Group Flights on regular airlines from select U.S. airports to most program sites; we do not require that all participants fly as members of the Group Flight. VISIONS representatives are present at the departure airport on the first day of the program to facilitate check-in and boarding.

Staff leaders meet all flights upon arrival, and on the last day remain at the airport until everyone's departure is confirmed. For non-direct flights, a VISIONS representative is physically on-call to get to the connecting airport in the event of an unusual delay or cancellation.

VISIONS representatives do not fly with participants to the program destination. VISIONS representatives are not at return round trip destinations at the end of the program.

How do I know what to pack? What's the weather like? Will I need any shots?

Once we receive your application (and confirm that there is room for you in the program of your choice), you are a bona fide participant. We send a letter confirming receipt of the application and your space in the program. In early spring, we send you comprehensive information: a detailed packing list, health information relevant to the site, geographic data and cultural readings, details about your home base building and service projects, travel (flight) information, and more, including forms to complete and return to us. You'll receive a letter from your program director in early May with more information about the summer ahead.

How do you choose program sites?

With few exceptions our programs are in places where full-time and long-time seasonal directors have a committed connection and /or interest. Relationships with local people are important if not key to VISIONS. We forge lasting links and loyalties in the communities in which we work. We choose our sites carefully with the long run in mind. Program planning and development are a continuous focus so that set-up trips ahead of the summer are annual occurrences for every program site.

What do I need to know that I haven't asked?

VISIONS is multi-layered, jam-packed, and challenging. The service work we do is ambitious and we have goals to meet. VISIONS won't be a fit for you unless you are willing to try new things and ready to learn. Being a team player is very important, as is a curiosity about the culture at the site.

A VISIONS participant should be prepared to be flexible. Physical inconveniences are not inevitable in VISIONS programs, but they are quite possible. Therefore, you should come fully aware that the unexpected inconvenience is a possibility at sites both in the U.S. and abroad. The best approach is to come with an open mind and few pre-conceptions about your experience.

At the end of the summer upon successful completion of the program, participants receive a certificate recognizing from 65 to 100 hours of service and listing the projects accomplished.

In This Section

WORK HARD
PLAY HARD
LIVE DYNAMICALLY
CONNECT DEEPLY
SERVE PURPOSEFULLY
SEE DIFFERENTLY
MAKE A DIFFERENCE

VISIONS Service Adventures
Phone: (717) 567-7313