Ecoteer

I volunteered for only two months in August and September 2007. Although I feel this is a very limited time period, I think I have been able to do many things, which will not only affect me as a person, but also many Cameroonians and even more people at home in Finland, where I am from. My work for the project has been very dispersed and in the beginning I felt my task was something my expertise did not cover. I am a human rights and politics student and I was supposed to help with acquiring funding for the micro-credit scheme and various other projects. While I have no trouble trying to find funding, I was unable to make applications, which require financial statements and excel tables that are completely out of my field. I recommend for you to ask what you will be doing during your stay and perhaps there are some things that you can prepare already at home. Key to the stay is communication. Always discuss openly any problems and matters you have, preferably with Evelyn, the president of the project, and they will be solved. You are going to stay in a completely different culture, especially if you are from anywhere but Africa and remember that people in Cameroon might not recognize if you have a problem with something unless you come out and explain it. I then proposed that I would develop the child sponsorship project in the Unique School in Batoke. I was able to get some 50 new sponsors from Finland and other places in the world and I feel it has been just as important for the children as many Finns, who have been deeply interested in the culture and the life of the children they are sponsoring. In case the project continues well after I leave I think it can develop to a meaningful project that allows cultural exchange as well as the possibility of education for various students. I also started developing Mbonweh a new website in order to find more easily funding in the future as well as provide sponsors and volunteers with better information since the project is in need of volunteers. I think one of the most important things of the stay is cultural exchange. Learning about Cameroon and telling people how things are done where I am from. You learn from each other. Especially my weekly emails to a huge number of people at home have expanded knowledge from Cameroon and certainly made many people think of ways to help a developing country. I also work as a freelancer and will write articles and make radio for the Finnish Broadcasting Company about the Cameroonian women and think this advertisement might be very valuable not only to the project, but also Cameroon as a country. Also just the fact of going to a micro credit meeting as a "white man" and giving the time to interview women and give them your support is a motivating tool that they value highly. To me it has been an invaluable experience. As a volunteer you do not need to worry about security. You are well taken care of, to an extent that sometimes it becomes too much to a person who likes a little adventure. I would say that Cameroon is quite safe and where we are staying, I have not felt unsafe walking the streets even in the evening. But it is good to be cautious; we for example had a burglary in the house in the evening and lost most of our valuables. So lock your doors, is my suggestion and will certainly be Evelyn's as well after this incident. The nature here is incredible, probably most incredible in the world. Cameroon is a miniature Africa with its rainforests and savannas, its anglophone and francophone provinces. So give some time to see it in its entire splendor, which will of course be easier if you are staying longer than I am and choose another time of year than the rainy season. More time will also make you less annoyed about the ineffective ways of going about the day. Volunteering here will allow you to meet so many interesting and sweet people, will allow you to be innovative and creative and have responsibility in helping many people. I am not expecting two months to change the world, but I am sure that it was meaningful, although before I left I thought it would be better just to send the money rather than to spend it on a flight ticket. The water might be cold and the cockroaches might be disgusting, but that is just part of all the fun.

I had no idea how rewarding teaching could be until I started teaching here. I have never met children who are so eager to learn. This eagerness really motivates you to try your hardest to find sponsors and donors to help the children's families pay for them to come to school and for the school to carry on educating them. You know that you are living and working in a poor area but until you actually visit some of the families you have no idea how difficult it is for them. Many families live in just one room often with four or five sharing one bed. Many are struggling with diseases such as malaria and HIV. Despite their situations the children always have smiles for you. Visiting the families of the children really brings it home as to how most of the families struggle to have a decent meal a day let alone pay school fees. A typical day in the life of a volunteer here in Mtongwe starts with the walk along the main road to the school. This walk should only take about 20mins but can often take a lot longer as people are so friendly and always want to stop and talk. We constantly hear shouts of 'JAMBO!' and 'how are you?' from the little kids. The morning at school can involve teaching subtraction to a class full of 8 year olds or playing eye-spy with the 10 year olds! The teachers are always really appreciative of any help you can give.The majority of our afternoons are taken up either working in the office, typing up additions to the website, stories about the lives of the students, working out how to contact donors or how to fundraise, or catching a 'matatu' and the ferry into town to use the internet to get in touch with potential volunteers or donors, and of course email family and friends back home. There is quite a lot of freedom with this project which I like as you are able to take your own initiative and work on ideas which are always appreciated. There is also so much to see in Kenya and you are given time to go off travelling. I'm glad that I am staying for a significant amount of time so that I can properly contribute something to the project and see Kenya!

I have been on this project for one month and I have had a great experience. Living away from the civilised world, without internet, shops, roads etc. On a piece of beautiful nature together with other volunteers and the local inhabitants. Enjoying an empty beach, fresh coconuts, good food and a very relaxed atmosphere. Walking on the beach and encountering the huge leatherback turtles laying their eggs, is one of the amazing things I will never forget. Its very important that these beautiful animals get the protection they need, and this project is the perfect way to do this. For me, volunteering here was a unique, unforgettable experience.

Volunteering at this lodge was one of the most fantastic and eye-opening experiences of my life."A small operation run by Laura Rutter, the lodge fosters relationships not only with the Canadian wilderness and Laura's bear dogs Ruff, Leo and Molly, but also with the guests as meals, hikes and conversations are all shared. While there, we communed with wolves, lived in the loft of a barn, hiked nearly every day on wilderness trails, scrambled up mountains and became close with many of our guests from all over the world. We saw beautiful alpine meadows bursting with flowers, heard marmotswhistle and lived a life closer to nature. The lodge is perfect forthose who wish to experience the Canadian wilderness, hike the trailsless traveled and meet interesting world travelers. I have included a few pictures - the first is of Andy petting a guest's dog, Bart with Molly checking out the sights and smells of the Ridge hike, arguably the most difficult and best hike of the summer. The second is a picture of me and Andy cleaning up after dinner. Yeah, that's a wood burning stove and no, there is no sink.The third is a close up of a Calypso orchid, possibly the mostbeautiful and fleeting of all of the gorgeous wildflowers that I came to identify and recognize this past summer.

Hello my name is Alexandria, my friend Tiffany and I traveled to Ghana May 2006 to volunteer for this project. There were many volunteer options we had contemplated however, after corressponding with Michael (director), we had decided here was exactly what we were looking for. Upon arriving in Ghana we were met at the airport by Michael and Godfred where we recieved a warm welcome. For the first few days we stayed with a host "mama" in Accra city. She was very kind and made us feel very comfortable in her home. We were both very surprised at the size of Accra. Despite the large city atmosphere people were incredibly friendly. We always found ourselves in good company and found Michael and Fred to be very good tour guides. There were so many amazing sites in the city its hard to translate my experience into words. In short it was amazing! We soon left the city for a hospital in a small city three hours east of Accra. The cab ride was filled with incredible scenery. Onced we arrived we were taken care of by our host Bukari who worked at the hospital. We stayed one night in town where we met many local people who were very eager to have their photos taken. I actually got taken house to house for 30 minutes so I could photograph all the families. I would then show them my digital screen and they would laugh. It was really touching how quickly people accepted you and how willing they were to care for you. The hospital was run by a Father superior and the reverend brothers. The accomodations were really nice as well as the staff. Tiffany and I had to leave early due to a family emergency, we are hoping to continue our volunteer services at another time. I was very satisfied with my choice. They provided a unique volunteer experinece in that we were not dragged around with a group of people sight seeing. I feel that I really got to experience Ghana on a more personal level. I only hope that others will have the chance to visit this beautiful country. Please contact me if you would like further information regarding this project or to hear more about the trip.

I spent 7 weeks this past summer volunteering for here, a wildlife conservation NGO in northern Greece. The experience was the best of my life, and I learned so much about conservation work. Everyone was so accomodating and I can't wait to return.

Even now, looking back on my time as a work exchange participant, I start to get a bit nostalgic for the jungle noises, endless beaches, morning yoga, new faces, carribean breezes, and Sunday night reggae in Puerto Viejo. For certain, the best part of the experience is all the people that I met and connected with. Between the staff and the visitors, I made a good handful of friends that I will want to stay in touch with over the years, and hopefully have the chance to visit again. I also found working at the retreat to be a great way to get introduced to Costa Rica. Not having to worry about spending money, finding a place to stay, wondering where my next meal would come from, or how to take a public bus, for example, made the transition much easier and the culture shock much less. I had the chance to gradually become acclimated to the culture and how things worked in Costa Rica, and several months to practice using my Spanish with the cooks and other workers. When I did take a month to travel in Costa Rica after my work exchange, I felt totally comfortable talking to people, taking the public buses, finding places to stay, and ordering food. Probably the most challenging aspect to life herei are the periods of relative isolation from the rest of the world, and even from the nearby towns. For sure, I had time to be on my own, reflect on life, and become very aware of any issues I had in relating to the people I was living with. But I found such periods to be great catalysts for personal growth, also, if so utilized. The opportunity to attend daily yoga classes and create my own daily routine of yoga and meditation not only deepened my practice, but gave me a daily grounding and focus that I was able to carry through the day and share with the rest of the community. That being said, there was also often plenty of opportunity to chill out at the beach, explore the local area, or jump in on one of the group tours. The work itself was enjoyable to me and I found all the interaction with the guests in my work to be a great way to practice compassion and patience. Ah, sometimes such a great exercise in patience!! But for someone with a bit of sense of adventure, an interest in deepening their yoga practice, and a willingness to examine their own issues, I think this work exchange program is a great opportunity.

Volunteers visit here from all parts of the world. During my stay, I worked with volunteers from Holland, Denmark, the US and Switzerland (myself representing Canada) and this during only 6 weeks. I stayed at a homestay with Margarita and Johnny de Campos, only ten minutes walk away. Margarita speaks fluent english and takes wonderful care of all her guests, cooking three amazing meals a day and taking care of laundry It?s a great opportunity to meet new people. A typical day for a volunteer at the Breeding Centre begins at 7am. Guard dogs get fed, flights unlocked for feeding and cleaning, fruit is chopped and other maintenance, feeding and cleaning is done. This takes the better half of the morning; any extra time is easily filled as there is always something that needs doing. Lunch breaks run from 12 ? 2pm, affording the opportunity for a nap in the hammock, and then back to work 2-4pm. Afternoon jobs involve checking all the flights for food and any problems, an afternoon snack for the birds, toymaking and securing everything for the night. Work is 6 days a week, it is not hard but the hours make it difficult to go anywhere other than Alajuela after work. Any sightseeing is best saved for a day off or time set aside at the end of your stay for travelling. I had the good fortune to spend five days working with soon to be reintroduced macaws for Tiskita. I flew down in a small 5 seater plane with another volunteer and the six birds. A little under 25 birds have already been released on the 600 acre property of Tiskita. Our job for the short time I was there was to feed and monitor the progres of the birds, in an absolutely gorgeous and remote setting on the pacific coast. Tiskita is lush and green and teaming with wildlife, hot and humid and right on the beach. It was fascinating to observe the birds that I had only worked with in captivity. It gave me a much better understanding of what has been accomplished. They are a wonderful organisation, the volunteer program is easy, educational and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I would recomend it to anyone!

Just to start off, everyday is an adventure. Not one day is the same as another. To put it into retrospect, in all my life and in all my travels, I will never have another unforgettable experience quite like this. I have been very fortunate to come when I have. It?s been such a pleasure to watch the 3 lion cubs grow up in the past few weeks. Just to see their personalities come about, but most of all to be able to observe them develop their life long skills driven by pure instinct. Techniques like muting or the throat grab was astonishing to see them perform on a carcass they were feeding on at an early age of 3 months. Adorable as they are, they cannot take away the spotlight from JJ the male lion, and Scar the lioness. To watch them bond as a pride and their interaction as a family with JJ playing around with his cubs as Scar watches closely with her motherly instincts makes you realize that maybe they aren?t too different from us. Even watching the cheetah having a meal on a small duiker was quite the sight. But not all exciting things happen with just the carnivores. One of my favourite things I got to participate in was buffalo darting. 3 buffalos were being transported and we got to observe and even assist the local wildlife vet. I was able to inject the buffalos with 2 shots each, but most of all would you believe that it took 14 grown men to carry each buffalo to the transport truck?! If that?s not mind- blowing enough, try having a 35 year old elephant bull walk by you inches away from the Landrover. Or even listen to the herd of elephants trumpet when they got reunited with each other. But even the simple things like the anticipation of setting up a trap cage for the aard wolf and waiting to see what was in the cage or to see who was nibbling at our bait was more than enjoyable. Even helping out the local community when SPCA came to spay and neuter the local community?s pets was very rewarding as we managed to get over 111 pets done in a span of 2 days. However, as much fun as it is during the day, night time is something else. Camping out in the reserve under the African sky and let me tell you there is nothing quite like the African stars, was a whole new experience in itself. Listening to all the different nocturnal animals calling to each other like the jackals or sleeping by an open bonfire all night long is now my new definition of camping out. On top of that in spite of everything we get to do, we have some classroom time which isn?t really what I make it out to sound like. During the lectures about elephants, carnivores or even animal behaviour we are enlightened by all this information and facts that I find I am able to retain simply because I am out in the reserve day and day out and see and do things firsthand. So if I had to say one thing about my stay here, it is that you never know what to expect, but whatever the turn out is, it will be one unforgettable journey.

I arranged to stay at this lodge through Ecoteer (www.ecoteer.com), some months before my trip to Australia. Ecoteer enabled me to select a project that appealed to me and were efficient and economical in arranging my volunteer work. Membership of Ecoteer or WWOOF is essential in order to work at the lodge, and Ecoteer membership is cheaper. I flew into Brisbane on Saturday 12 August and travelled to the local rail station. This involved a couple of changes, but the trains were good and took about an hour in total. For a South-East Queensland journey planner see: www.translink.qld.gov.au/ . I had previously arranged for the manager, Paul, to pick me up from the station, which he did. I was made to feel welcome as soon as I arrived. The lodge is set in a peaceful, rural but not isolated area. Mt Tibrogargan dominates the view. The area around the lodge consists of native bush, restored rainforest in nearby creeks, farms growing such things as macademia nuts and pineapples and country houses set in large plots of land. The lodge itself is essentially a small hotel run with ecological principles. The entire site is clean and smart. Paul's home is an old church on the site in which he feeds volunteers. Behind this is a sociable decking area and the rooms. There are four double rooms, one family room and three bunk rooms. Volunteers sleep in one of the comfortable bunk rooms; as I was the only volunteer there at the time I had a room to myself. Behind these is a railway carrage which serves as the guest kitchen. The lodge itself is sunnounded on two sides by an orchard and small coffee plantation. Below the lodge there is a fire pit and a forested creek which is being restored with native plants. Much of the work was cleaning and preparing rooms for guests, especially as I was the only volunteer there at the time. I did , however, get an opportunity to do other work such as mowing grass, mulching and planting in the forest and working with Paul to finish building a woodshed. The food was excellent throughout my trip, much of it grown at the lodge itself and home-cooked. Evenings were spent chatting with guests or holding interesting conversations with Paul. The lodge does not provide an opportunity for partying every night and mostly has only one or two volunteers at a time. Apart from the work at the lodge I was able to walk in the nearby national park, climb Mt Tibrogargan (something of a scramble), meet some interesting people and visit a couple of markets and rainforest walks with Paul. I found the the trees and plants to be fascinating: hollow, burnt out trees that were still growing, huge rainforest trees with butress roots and strangler vines that grew down from the canopy, enveloped and killed the trees and continued to live as enormous free-standing trees themeslves. I enjoyed my two weeks at the lodge, was very comfortable and was able to do some useful conservation work. By the end of this time, however, I was ready to move on to somewhere with other young travellers that would be a little more lively. I would not suggest volunteering there for more than a few weeks. If you are looking for somewhere peaceful to stay, in spectacular surroundings with friendly company then I would heartily recommend spending some time at this lodge.

I came to work here in order to gain hands on experience with a successful ecotourism company, with the aim of entering environmental tourism as a career, but in retrospect my experience here has given me much more than just a solid foundation in ecotourism. Having finished studying a 4-year degree in Environmental Science at Sussex University, I decided I was actually going to attempt to put it to good use, and so after joining Ecoteer and a successful application, I did what many university graduates do after finishing their studies, and promptly left the country.. Not really knowing what to expect was part of the fun for me. Having spent time living in several different countries, this time I was far more relaxed and ready for anything that was going to come my way. I jumped on a plane out of Heathrow, and almost 17 hours later I was hopping off in the capital of Sabah, Malaysia - Kota Kinabalu. Get in! The first 3 weeks of my placement were spent in Borneo Ecotours HQ in KK, and in the branch office in Sandakan, learning the operations of the company, and getting to know the staff. For me, one of the best things about this job has been meeting new people and making new friends. During my time in KK I stayed at the company's Backpackers, so there was no shortage of fruity characters and young travelers to meet and share a few drinks and stories with! After 3 weeks of orientation, it was off to the jungles of Borneo! My first experience of getting to the lodge is one I will never forget. I was driving overland from Sandakan to Sukau, escorting a minibus full of bags and diving equipment which belonged to guests who had taken the boat from Sandakan to Sukau earlier that day. Everything was going fine and I was looking forward to getting there at last? until our mini bus died and left us about an hour and a half away from where we wanted to be. So the driver stayed with the vehicle while I flagged down a passing minibus, handed him a fistful of ringgits, loaded all the bags into the vehicle (to the amusement of the other 3 passengers), and proceeded along the dirt road to Sukau Village? The work that I'm actually doing is a mixture of all sorts. My official role was 'environmental volunteer', but in this job I find myself doing much more than that. I've learnt about hospitality, guiding, and loads about tropical ecosystems that you can't learn in books and can only be learnt through experience. The best thing for me is being able to apply the things that I learnt at uni to real situations, which is something I always questioned whilst I was learning them! Having been here for 9 months already I am starting to look back at the time I have spent, and I am already contemplating my next move. Regardless of where I end up, I know that my time spent in Sukau will be with me forever. The things I have learned, the good times I have had, the exposure to a totally different culture, and most importantly the friends I have made, are things that I will keep with me for a long time to come. Ironically, the hardest thing about coming over here and working is going to be going home again afterwards!

After Sri Lanka I went to India, Kerala, and I had no idea where I would land, both the area and the people were totally unknown. But the bigger the surprise when I looked out of the room the first day and realized I was in a extremely beautiful, new and big estate, surrounded with nature, all kinds of eco fruit plants and even a small river. I arrived at the same time with some guests from the UK, and the food served was unforgettable. I couldnt believe it! The best thing was the family that run the place, all engineers, with a heart full of joy and the energy to sparkle everything with enthusiasm. My work there was diverse, in the beginning I discovered the area on a motorbike and after a while I would guide guests thrue the amazing country site of kerala, or at night would go on night safari with them. Later, the owner involved me in one of his other projects, real estate, and brought me in contact with a man that wanted to start a buddhist center in Kerala. I love buddhism and was thrilled when he asked me to visit some other buddhist centers to speak with the monks about the new project. Its still materializing, and hopefully we can open soon. Thanks very much for being part of your wonderful organisation!

They are a wonderful organisation, the volunteer program is easy, educational and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I would recomend it to anyone!

This Ecoteer organisation is really something! You are doing so well, so right! We really hope that you manage to go on like this, helping in saving this planet