How did you discover and get involved with Volunteer Encounter?
I had the pleasure of working with Wildlife Encounter in Victoria Falls. I was the General Manager there. My duties included being involved in the day-to-day running and overseeing of the volunteer projects. Due to personal reasons I had to relocate from Victoria Falls. At the time it was hard to think that I couldn’t be involved with the great work being done by the volunteers and teams on the ground. However, I was then given the incredible opportunity to become part of the Volunteer Encounter team.
Team - Together Everyone Achieves More
What was your experience growing up in Zimbabwe? Has it influenced the work you do today?
Having lived in Zimbabwe my entire life and going through very challenging times in the history of the country, I have watched most of my childhood friends and family leave Zimbabwe for different countries due to not being able to make ends meet here due to the challenges. With those people leaving you realise that there are a lot of people that do not have the opportunity to start a life somewhere else nor the means to make ends meet themselves, I believe that we all have a purpose and the opportunity to help change someone’s life even if it is in the smallest way. I have seen some of the most impoverished people yet they still manage to smile and laugh and enjoy their lives, and I want to be a part of that.
What is the most fulfilling aspect of your job?
The most fulfilling aspect of my job is sharing this beautiful country and its wildlife, culture, traditions, and habitats with people from around the world. Seeing people’s appreciation for life change when they realise how much they truly have when they meet people who have almost nothing but are full of life and joy. Raising awareness of the challenges our wildlife and communities are facing daily.
Veterinary Checks and Lion Movement
How should volunteers prepare for a trip to Africa?
With an open mind and heart, Africa is a place like no other that will change your life. We help with advising volunteers on the correct equipment and items required for their placements but there is no way we can prepare them for the raw beauty and inspiration Africa brings.
What kind of volunteer projects can participants expect to work on while with Volunteer Encounter?
Volunteer Encounter offers a variety of different projects, from working with wildlife research teams and communities to assisting with teaching and conservation education, as well as honing photography skills for those with an eye for photography. Your day can start with working with horses and then with lions, working with children and communities to working with the rescued elephants. One day can provide a lifetime of experiences. We believe that wildlife and communities go hand-in-hand and one can not survive without the other.
Who is the most successful type of volunteer, and what kind of qualities do they possess?
All volunteers in my eyes are successful, from the moment they decide to join a project they have made a decision to make a difference, they already have a drive for something other than a typical holiday. The qualities are the selfless sacrifices of their time and open-minded nature that is required with the work we do. The projects aren’t all just fun and games, they can be very serious and sometimes disgusting (cleaning up after lions is not someone’s idea of a holiday) but the volunteers realise the importance of those tasks no matter how menial. It all makes a difference.
Incredible Egypt
What is something future volunteers should know about Volunteer Encounter?
We exist because we believe that volunteering is a form of sustainable tourism. It minimises the negative impacts of tourist activities on the environment, by contributing to maintaining and enhancing conservation through the return of revenues to protected areas, and the physical contribution of man-hours where needed.
We exist because we understand our volunteer’s goals. Whether altruistic or self-serving, volunteering abroad is one of the most popular ways to gain new life experiences and become a global citizen. This experience makes students more attractive to universities and make job-seekers more attractive to employers, particularly when they volunteer in their field of proposed work or study, such as education, healthcare or natural sciences.
How have you seen volunteers benefit from their time in Africa?
We have had volunteers who return annually because the feeling of fulfilment that volunteering has given them has been life changing, most volunteers leave our projects with a thought that their view on life has been completely changed. I believe the benefits are what the volunteers feel, it is more emotional and comes in the form of personal growth.
Office Time
Why should future volunteers be excited to join Volunteer Encounter?
Future volunteers have the opportunity to help wildlife and communities in a way few people ever can and that is with the selfless hours of work and sometimes just playing a game with children who don’t have the opportunity to meet people from around the world. Future volunteers are global citizens who also teach our people about their cultures and lives as well as learning about Africa’s people, cultures, and wildlife.
What are your hopes for the future of Volunteer Encounter?
My hopes for the future of Volunteer Encounter is to Go M.A.D in Africa, “Go Make A Difference.” Everyone has the opportunity to impact someone’s life and we are making those opportunities more available.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaningful travel to me is knowing that I am not just another person visiting somewhere and not contributing to the future of our world. Meaningful travel is going home feeling truly blessed and realising the value in my life as I have seen the value through someone else’s eyes of something as small as spending time with an elderly person who has no one but you have made their eye’s light up by merely sitting with them. Meaningful travel is being fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.
