There is a lot of cynical and bitter sounding off on this thread. God forbid a company made money running these trips! We happily shell out on expensive stuff for ourselves and kids which companies sell and make money from giving employment to people.
At least these companies are also providing life long memories and some experience of other cultures and giving something back that is really worthwhile. So if you’re wondering whether to encourage your child to do something like this and don’t want to ‘diy’ it to save money here’s my experience.
At the age of 17 in the 90’s I went to Peru for 4 weeks with world challenge. I think the cost was somewhere between 1000-1500 and we fund raised about half. My parents who were fairly well off paid the rest for me to have an experience that I vividly member now. It was in no way a cushy holiday. It was a serious culture shock and very challenging experience, trying to source food and accommodation in a language we didn’t know well (we did Spanish lessons once a week for a year beforehand) each child had to take turns being leader for a day and I absolutely dreaded my turn as a very shy child. We had physical challenges of hiking remote mountains and carrying all our stuff, sleeping under the stars, cultural experiences in the cities and towns, we stayed with a lovely family in the Amazon jungle, hiked the inca trail to machu picchu and built a play ground for a remote village School. We experienced physical hardship, sickness and a month away from everything and everybody we take for granted (no mobiles or Internet back then though) I cherish that experience but had never been so happy to see my mum and English bread in my life since. I know that it’s possible to experience these sorts of things perhaps in a gap year but as a very shy, anxious female I know I wouldn’t have done these things on my own and never will again.
To address the free holiday for teachers aspect:I went to a very big, well performing secondary and none of our teachers were able to or wanted to come so we had a teacher from a nearby primary come instead and our world challenge leader was an absolutely brilliant guy who I’ll never forget.