Expectation: You get to take care of cute little orphans, play and laugh with them all day. You get to know them really well and build real relationships, which makes it heartbreaking to leave them behind at the end of your stay.
Reality: You're supposed to help RENOVATE the broken down school ground. You are given a big ass tool you don't even know the name of and are told to mix heavy cement. You look around for any fixing, painting, wall building that needs to be done and make it your project for the week.
Once I had wrapped my head around the fact that I wasn't going to spend my time at the orphanage with the children, I was positively surprised at how 'fun' the volunteer work was. Admittedly, fun might not be quite the right word. It isn't FUN to mix cement in the boiling sun, it isn't FUN to paint the bars of a very leggy table, it isn't FUN to build a brick wall in a corner where it stinks like pee, but it sure as hell is FULFILLING. That's volunteering for you, you don't get to choose the work that is needed and you certainly shouldn't complain about the job that is appointed to you. 
Nevertheless, we did get to spend some time with the kids. One afternoon we taught some 14- to 17-year-olds English which was a lot harder than imagined. The students that had been assigned to me had a English level of pretty much zero, so it took a (long) while to get through to them. Also, I found that the ongoing men were a lot shyer than their female classmates and that they love to let them do all the oral participation. Sadly, this inevitably leads to lesser language skills.
All through the week the kids occasionally gazed at us with their deep brown eyes while we were beautifying their school and home. It was great to see the smile on their faces when they realized our only purpose there was to gradually improve their lives, brick by brick.
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