Cheyenne, who volunteered in Florianopolis in Brazil, shares her experiences about her time there:

If you’d like to find out more information on our projects in Brazil, click HERE

Katherine Astley is currently undertaking a Journalism Work Experience placement in New Zealand. She has just had her first article published and has sent us a copy:

Congratulations Katherine!

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in New Zealand, click HERE

Karin Laudin shares a typical day with us on her project in Antigua, Guatemala:

My alarm clock goes off at 6.15. (I hear the roosters crowing long before). I am first into the  shared bathroom at 6.30. I head downstairs for breakfast with the family and other volunteers at 7.00. At 7.30 I leave the house and walk a block to the corner to catch my bus (camioneta): either to San Felipe or to Jocotenango, both about 10 minutes away. I get to the school gates at 8.00 although the students and teachers have been there since 7.30. Generally I assist the teacher in the classroom – this is varied and depends on your abilities/interests and the school time table. Mostly I have helped teach English and the teacher and pupils are grateful to have conversations with English speakers. There is a break at 10.15 and at the school project the students receive a nourishing drink and snack. The concrete playground becomes a football pitch, often with several games at once. The girls play twice a week and the boys three times a week (shared field). Classes begin again at 10.40 and I work until 12.00. School continues until 2.30-3.00 so you can arrange what times suit you. I get the bus home and get off at the market place. It is a site of colour, chaos and fascination. I walk 2 blocks home and am grateful to enter the shade and coolness of the house. After lunch, there is time for a brief siesta. I have the afternoon available to revise Spanish, attend my Spanish class or relax as I choose. Late afternoon is a beautiful time in Antigua – the sun casts a warm, golden light over the buildings. It’s pleasant to walk or sit in the park and watch the world go by.

Supper is at 6.45 and this is a sociable, relaxed affair. It’s great to exchange news and views with your host family and co-volunteers. We practice our Spanish and it’s fun to be communicating in a new language. After 8 p.m I may go to the internet cafe or visit friends or, of course, do some Spanish homework.

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in Guatemala, click HERE

Lynn and Tyler are Mother and Son. They volunteered at the Lion project in Gweru, Zimbabwe together. Lynn wrote an email diary of her time there. Here is an extract:

We made it to the project in Gweru, Zimbabwe yesterday at noon.  We have done so many exciting things I don’t even know where to begin!

We got to go on our first lion walk Monday afternoon with two lions that are 15 months old. Well people, I thought 15 month old lions were babies.  Not so.  We were walking with lions.  I mean the male lion had a full main.  It was a little scary at first but the handlers definitely know what they are doing.  The 15 month old lions are D’mici and Dakia.  D’mici is the male.  He is a little temperamental.  We were taught how to approach them.  We did pet them.  Dakia is a female.  She is passive.  She chased a Diker (very small deer) on our walk.  The purpose of the walk to encourage their natural instinct to hunt.

This morning we went to elephant training.  There are four elephants here that were rescued during a drought about 20 years ago.  Three females and one male.  We will ride them through the bush during our stay here.  We were able to get on their backs etc. during the training.

We also went on boundary patrol around the park (300,000 acres with nonpredator animals).  It took us three hours to check the fences on our part of the park.  We had to patch holes, etc.

There are three little baby lions, all about 2 weeks old.  We suspect we’ll have the opportunity to bottle feed them before we leave.  There are also horses here and we’ll get a chance to ride them to spot game (zebra, giraffe, and all the antelope species).

Today, one of the staff walked in with a baby Wilderbeast.  He still had his umbilical cord handing down.  They were out on a safari in the park with guests and found him wandering around with no herd in sight.  He was so cute.  They will raise him and release him back into the park. The place here is beautiful.  Green grasses, palm trees, a big lake.  It is breathtaking.

The way this program works is that there are breeding lions here…about 15.  Their babies are taken away at 3 weeks.  The mother mourns for about a day but then is OK.  In the wild only 30% of the babies live so mother lions are used to losing their offspring.  The reason the babies are taken away is that their mothers are unable to train them to live free since they live in fences.  The babies are bottle fed by humans for a while and then switch to meat.  During their first two years they are taken on 1.5 hour walks two times a day by handlers, volunteers, and guests.  They are trying to build their natural instinct to hunt.  After about 15 months they are taken on night walks where they usually will make their first kills.  At 2 years old a pride is created using information that has been gathered about each lion over the 2 years.  There is usually 4-6 females and one male.  There is usually one to two really good hunters, one who is a good protector, and one who is protective of food.  They let the females pick the male they like.  They are then released into a different park and monitored for success as a pride. It is during this time that they are distanced from their reliance on humans.   Once they are successful for a few years, they then take the pride and release them into one of the national parks (like Krueger) to be free.  It is an incredible program.  I can’t figure out how they are going to replenish the 170,000 lions that have died in the last 40 years.  In 1975 there were 200,000 lions and now there are about 30,000.   It is really interesting what they are doing.  Currently they have one group that will be released as a pride.  They are ready to go when the fencing is complete on the property next door.

The volunteers here are of many different ages.  Ralph from Seattle was 60 and he just left.  There is Michael from Holland, he is 20+, Peter from Philadelphia and he is 20+.  There is Rachel who is probably late 30’s from Australia.  There is Beccie from the UK, she is right about 30.  Liz from the UK is about 24 and Sophie from Sweden is about 24.  There are three ladies arriving tomorrow, one in her 20’s, one in her 30’s, and one in her 40’s.  Another lady arrives on Monday and she is 45 from the UK.  It is an interesting mix of people and makes for a lot of fun.  Everyone sits by the fire every night and eats marshmellows and laughs.

We are having the time of our lives!!  I’ll send another update in a day or two if the electricity holds out.  It went off yesterday afternoon right after we arrived and didn’t come on until this afternoon.  They have a generator that powers the lights and a few other things but the computers are not powered.  The showers are warm….heated by wood.  Thank god!

If you would like to find out more about our projects in Zimbabwe, click HERE

At Travellers, we LOVE Elephants and always like to support a worthy cause. Elizabeth is holding an event to fundraise for the International Fund for Animal Welfare:

I N V I T A T I O N
Elizabeths Fund Raising event for Elephants
Saturday 24 April, 2010, from 7pm at Hamblin Hall, Bosham House, Main Road, Bosham PO18 8PJ
Tel.01243 572109

Dear Friends

I am hosting a fund-raising event for elephants on Saturday 24 April at 7pm. I will be welcoming John Berry from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) who will tell us more about the plight of elephants, the Ivory Trade and how IFAW are addressing the current situation. Helen Claxton-Roper will bring her guitar and sing some sweet words. There will be a glass of wine and pizza.

The illegal trade in wildlife is second only to that of drugs and arms. Time is running out for the elephants – thousands are being slaughtered every year to supply the illegal ivory trade. In some Central and West African countries this is pushing elephant populations to extinction. Your support of this event would be much appreciated.

RSVP

Tickets are £10 per head (£15 for couple), in advance, and all profits will go to the elephants through IFAW. Please make your cheque payable to IFAW. To save postage, it would be helpful if you could provide an email address and/or send an sae. By making a Gift Aid declaration your gift will be worth up to 28% more to IFAW. If you are able to Gift Aid your donation, forms will be available on the night.

Thank you in advance for your support of this event.

Lindsay Petersen spent a month in the jungle on our conservation project in Peru. Here is her opinion of the project:

The experience I gained was invaluable.  I learned about current environmental issues and really got to know communities and the culture of the area.  The experience really opened my eyes to the world around me.

The best thing about my placement was the people I met.  I learned so much from the staff at the centre and also from my fellow volunteers.  Everyone I met was so welcoming and eager to teach me about what they knew.  They became like a second family.  I would highly recommend this placement to anyone! (That is, if you don’t mind insects)  It was the most amazing month of my life and I would go back in a heartbeat!

In order to really get the most out of this placement, the volunteer needs to be flexible.  The daily schedule varies with the availability of staff members, the weather, and the river.  They also need to be self motivated and eager to learn.  The volunteer needs to speak up and let the staff know what he/she would like to do or learn and they will usually be able to make it happen, and, of course, the volunteer needs to be at ease living with the many, many creatures of the jungle.

The jungle is an amazing place.  I loved my stay there.  One of the best times I had there was on expedition. Not much more to say except that it was the best month of my life. Thank you!

If you’d like to find out more about our project in Peru, click HERE

Stuart tells Roshan (the Sri Lanka country manager) what he is enjoying about his placement at the elephant orphanange in Sri Lanka:

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in Sri Lanka, click HERE

Travellers Worldwide is excited to announce a partnership with the

Are you aged 17-23 and working with children as part of your Travellers volunteer programme?

If the answer is ‘Yes’, then register for a free training day in London with the British Safety Council. This one-day course will cover personal health and safety for volunteers and also teach you how to deliver basic health and safety to children overseas.

HOW IT WORKS:

Volunteers attend a free training day on 21 May 2010 at the British Safety Council in London. Travel expenses will be paid and lunch will be provided.

Volunteers receive important health and safety training, including discussion of the hazards and risks they may encounter while on volunteer placements.

Volunteers take the examination leading to the BSC Level 1 Certificate in Health and Safety at Work, a nationally-recognised qualification.

Volunteers are briefed on how to deliver basic health and safety to children overseas. The British Safety Coucil aims to reach 3,000 children this year through volunteer programmes.

To find out more please click HERE

At our Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa there is more cause for celebration, here’s the story:

Robbie the baby baboon was brought into the centre at about 8 weeks old. His mother had been killed by hunting dogs and the owners of the dogs had locked Robbie up in a room. The Neighbours of these owners alerted the police, who rescued Robbie and brought him to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. Robbie wasvery emotionally distressed and had some physical trauma too -  a bump on his spine and a very burnt left hand (that the Centre thinks is probably from being given very hot porridge to eat.)

Robbie will need about 4 months of care before he can be introduced to a surrogate baboon mother. Luckily, one of our volunteers, Rebecca, was around to lend a hand – she is volunteering at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre for 9 weeks and has been nominated to mother Robbie for the entire time she is volunteering. It’s a wonderful experience for her but also means that the baboon will receive consistent care, which the Centre is hoping will lead to a quicker recovery and rehabilitation into the wild!

You can see from the photos that the pair have already formed a strong bond:

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in South Africa, click HERE

Despite the Recession, Australia has seen a record high inthe number of people travelling to and from the country in the lsat year – the statistics show that the numbers leaving or arriving were higher than the figures for the entire Australian population!!

Click on the picture below for the full article:

If you’d like to find out more about our projects in Australia, click HERE