"Not as Expected 2/10"

"Not as Expected

08/16/2016

When I signed up for the Marine Biology trip to Fiji, I was so excited. I love engaging in new experiences and making friends from all over the world. However, my expectations were quickly depleted. To start off, the social environment of the trip was awful. Everyone was super cliquey, and it reminded me of middle school. There were 2 distinct friend groups on the trip, and if possible, they had little interaction as possible. It wasn't a fun environment to be stuck in for 16 days. Because of this, I was incredibly homesick for most of the trip.

Next, my initial trip leaders were rude and distant towards me. They made us do push-ups if we were even 5 minutes late to an activity. I understand if timeliness is important, but then in turn, they themselves would be 30 minutes late to an activity. The hypocrisy drove me insane. The two trip leaders made no effort to befriend me, and only learned my name 4 days into the trip, even though there are only 15 children and we spent all day together. When I informed my trip leaders of an intense skin reaction I was having that looked like chicken pox, they told me to "get used to it" and that I would probably have it for the next 3 weeks, giving me no medicine or actual diagnosis. Needless to say, that wasn't comforting at all. Then, I continuously had stomach problems because my body had a hard time adjusting to Fijian food, and when I told my trip leaders, they either didn't believe me or acted irritated. In addition, they advised against using medicine I had brought on the trip for that specific sickness. Overall, they did very little to help me adjust and made me grow less likely to reach out to them for help.

Lastly, the simple day-to-day living environment was a bit tricky as well. I was surprised to find myself without warm water or electricity for more than half the trip. I was essentially camping, which wasn't what I had initially signed up for. Herds of rats came into my tent 3 nights in a row, preventing me from getting very much sleep. As for the food, a lot of it was inedible because they didn't remove the bones, so I found myself incredibly hungry and ended up eating unhealthy foods to make up for my loss of food intake. The daily activities were fun, but sometimes a bit too intense. A mandatory 3 hour hike in the hottest part of the day made one of my friends vomit and made us an hour and a half late to lunch, when we were all hungry before we even left. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this trip to my friends."

Review from GoOverseas.com, found here.

Head of Rustic Pathways Sexual Misconduct Scandal

You may want to check out the following article on the sexual misconduct scandal involving the head of Rustic Pathways, who still has ownership of the company and access to all program sites.

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• Two low-ranking male staff members reported being coerced by Venning into sex acts while they massaged Venning, even though the employees had told Venning the contact was unwelcome. Both employees said they were not homosexual, and that they complied with Venning due to Southeast Asian culture that strongly discourages refusing orders from "the boss." A third employee said he rebuffed Venning after Venning touched him "in an unwelcome sexual manner" including his "private area." (The third now-former employee in a message to cleveland.com praised Venning, and denied that anything bad happened to him while he worked for Rustic Pathways.)
• The three employees who the memo said had unwelcome sexual contact with Venning said Venning paid them before or afterward. The company memo described the payments as "pocket money" or "tips."
• Venning impeded the investigation by refusing to provide to company officials records from his computer, the memo said. He also admitted to deleting files from the computer, according to the memo.
• He also intimidated and disparaged an American student whose February 2013 complaint, drawn from conversations with Asian staff, launched the investigation, and pressured subordinates to stop the investigation before it was complete, according to the memo.
• Venning arranged for underage students traveling with the company to be taken to the Red Light District in Bangkok, Thailand, where, the memo said, the students witnessed prostitution and possibly witnessed sexual activity. The trip to the red light district, which the company told cleveland.com was impromptu and unsanctioned, took place during a program through which students learned about impoverished and marginalized people in Thailand.
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Read the full article here.