1. Who participates in VISIONS and where do participants come from?
2. Do I need specific skills?
3. What is expected of me?
4. Where will I live?
5. How will I spend my time?
6. Why VISIONS?
7. What are the meals like? Do menus include vegetarian foods?
8. Who are my leaders?
9. How much supervision is there?
10. How do you ensure safety? How accessible is medical care to program sites?
11. How do you select participants? Do you require an essay or interview?
12. How old are the kids?
13. What is the composition of boys / girls?
14. Do participants come with friends?
15. What's your policy on alcohol/substance use or possession? Appropriate dress, relationships?
16. How do I make travel arrangements to my program?
17. How do I know what to pack? What's the weather like? Will I need any shots?
18. What is the policy on cell phones and hand-held devices?
19. What is included with tuition and how does payment work?
20. How does VISIONS choose program sites?
21. What do I need to know that I haven't asked?

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 32 United States and six foreign countries are represented in VISIONS programs annually. By participating in VISIONS, you are choosing to live in one community for the duration of your program. In a few locations, we live in two communities. 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 around 15 participants, and middle school programs usually are smaller with a dozen or so kids.

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. It's also an opportunity for you 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. At the end of the program our group will work together to leave the space in even better condition than we found it.

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.

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, and may have a day-long home stay experience.

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. Your bed is either an inflated mattress or a thick, vinyl-covered foam mattress on the floor or bunks. 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 items. There are private changing areas and indoor plumbing at all our sites. 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 relied on bucket showers. 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, and many afternoons you will knock off by mid-afternoon to attend a festivity, go sight seeing, participate in an internship with local artisans, 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 water breaks throughout the day.

You choose daily from among several projects that include a central construction project and a few smaller 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 of 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, lasting an hour or slightly more. 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.

Weekends are a mix of travel and adventurous, fun excursions. We take advantage of all that our surroundings offer in terms of cultural and recreation activities. We go to many must-see destinations in the region, and we also go places and do things that are unique to our program by way of close relationships with local community members.

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?

VISIONS hires local cooks who prepare dinners, which includes a variety of recipes for all courses. Meals are a blend of Western-fare and local cuisine, and always with enough options to satisfy each person's palette. 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 discuss and hopefully incorporate your needs.

Who are my leaders?

VISIONS leaders are mature and 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 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 students. Most are mid- to late 20s and early 30s. All are minimum certified in First Aid and CPR and many hold advanced safety certifications such as EMT or Wilderness First Responder. Program leaders are on-site about 10 days before you arrive, refining the calendar and nailing down non-work activities.

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?

Further to our high staff to student ratio, an additional 'halo' of safety are the trusted local people we employ and have know for years. From project managers to maestros, cooks to professional drivers, these folks work with us seasonally, know us well, and take care of us.

The VISIONS model is to return to the same communities year after year. We know our sites and our local contacts, and we are not traveling through as tourists, learning as we go. 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, and we have a long history of safe programs. 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; many of our staff have additional medical training.

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.

As we are not a wilderness-based program, all of our sites are near to physicians, medical clinic/s or a hospital. Oftentimes local clinics are used for basic care, and we will travel to more advanced hospitals with Western-trained doctors for more serious medical needs. 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 emergency evacuation insurance. VISIONS recommends Travmark A+ Protection Program, which offers a basic emergency evacuation package as well as other trip protection.

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 website, over the telephone and in other materials about the nature of the experience and about our expectations of participants. Most of the teenagers (and middle school students) 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.

VISIONS does require a health history form that is signed by parents, participants and a physician. Participants also submit a questionnaire that asks about their goals for the summer and how/why they chose the program. Should issues be noted that we feel we cannot properly and safely accommodate or that are not a good fit with our demanding and cross-cultural programs, we will talk with the family and un-enroll a participant if needed. 

How old are the kids?

On our high school programs, kids are 14 through 18 years old - freshmen through seniors in high school. The average age is 16 to 16 1/2. There always is a range of ages in VISIONS programs; a few 14-year-olds each summer, a fair showing of 15-year-olds, and mostly 16, 17 and even 18 years old. Because our goals of community service and team-building are so focused, age on a VISIONS program becomes less relevant than it may be at school or during the regular course of the year.

Our middle school programs are for 11- to 14-year-olds, with most participants aged 13 and 14. Note that 14-year-olds may choose between a high school or middle school program, and each year are represented on all programs with great success.

What is the composition of boys / girls?

Our programs receive a fairly equal balance of males and females and we oftentimes have sites that are exactly a 50/50 mix. Once either gender has 15 participants (for a program of 25), we close enrollment so that there is no more than a 5 or 6 person gender-difference. If there is a greater imbalance it's because of an unforeseen event such as 2 boys dropping at the last minute, for example.

Do participants come with friends?

While we prefer that VISIONS participants opt to attend solo and believe participating without a friend offers the greatest personal gain, it is all right 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. The vast majority of our participants attend programs as individuals.

How do I make travel arrangements to my program?

VISIONS organizes round trip group flights from select U.S. airports to most program sites. VISIONS representatives are present at the group flight departure airport in order to facilitate check-in and passing through security. We remain at the airport until all flights have departed and, with our travel agent, monitor flights until all participants have been received by staff leaders at the program airport.

We do not require that participants fly as members of the group flight. Many families make individual flight arrangements, especially if they are not located near a group flight airport. We do suggest making travel arrangements through our recommended travel agent, as she will do her best to pair students on the same flights if they are not traveling with the group.

Our staff leaders are onsite a week to ten days prior to the start of the program -- we do not fly with participants on the group flights. Staff leaders meet all flights - group and individual - upon arrival, and on the last day remain at the airport until everyone's departure is confirmed.

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

Once enrolled in a program, participants and parents/guardians receive login information to My VISIONS web pages. These pages contain comprehensive information: a packing list, health guidelines relevant to the site, geographic data and cultural readings, details about your home base and service projects, flight arrangements and more, including forms to complete and return to us. You also will receive a letter of introduction from your program director in early May.

What is the policy on cell phones and technology devices?

Cell phones and high-tech gadgets are permitted for travel days to and from the program sites, but they are not part of the day to day of a VISIONS program. On the main, local residents have far fewer material resources than we, a contrast that is dramatic. We are a largely affluent group living and working in small communities—high-tech items serve to accentuate our differences. Also, a reality of living in any developing country or depressed community is petty theft. We keep cell phones, music devices, valuables and extra money locked away in secure places.

Gadgets and phones are returned on departure day and money may be withdrawn as needed during the program. If you bring a camera, which is permitted, make sure it is a separate devise from your cell phone. Participants who choose to bring high-tech items accept full responsibility for the safety and condition of such items; things can and do get lost or simply disappear on outings or if left out at home base.

Perhaps most important, our goal is for you to be engaged in the here and now of your experience. Programs offer personal connections, sights, sensations and sounds that are unique. VISIONS is an opportunity to forsake distractions of regular routines at home for awhile and to focus on an experience that has the potential to be one of the most powerful of your life.

Time is set aside one day per week for participants to call home, and parents may call the program site if needed.

What is included with tuition and how does payment work?

There is a $600 deposit that includes a $300 non-refundable processing fee. The remaining $300 is refundable in full until March 15 and non-refundable thereafter. Tuition balance is due April 1. Applications received after April 1 must include tuition payment in full.  Tuition does not include airfare, personal spending money, or ferry fees or departure tax at some locations.  

Rebates, Withdrawals, Trip Cancellation Insurance: The seasonal nature of summer programming precludes rebate of tuition fees for cancellation after March 15, or for late arrival or early withdrawal. Our costs are determined on a group basis, not a per-student/per-day basis. Should a participant have to withdraw due to a medical emergency, injury or other crisis, partial or full refunds only shall be distributed through the trip protection insurance purchased in addition to program tuition. VISIONS strongly recommends the purchase of trip cancellation/interruption insurance. You may purchase trip cancellation insurance through VISIONS’ recommended trip insurance company or your own insurance and/or airline carrier. Details are included in information that is included after enrollment.

How does VISIONS 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 are ready to learn. Being a team player is important, as is a curiosity about the local culture.

We talk and correspond with most families before they choose a VISIONS summer. Please be in touch with our office should you have questions, if you would like to talk through our program options, or if you would like to receive a list of participant and parent references.