Sarah More, CREES

gyg-logo-teal-transparent1Name: Sarah More
School: University College London
Type of Work: Environment/Conservation, Community Development
Region: South America
Length of stay: 1-2 months

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I traveled to Manu National Park, Peru, with the volunteer company CREES (Conservation, Research & Environmental Education towards Sustainability) in April 2011. They have an eco-lodge set in the Peruvian Amazon where they work to preserve and study the surrounding forest as well as help the local community. I helped build bio-gardens for local people to give them more opportunity to grow their own produce, recorded rare animal numbers, and explored the rainforest with the help of the wonderful local guides.

Share a favorite memory.
There are so many wonderful memories and experiences for me to choose from, I couldn’t put just one down here. The staff at the Manu Learning Centre (MLC) was just fantastic, so friendly and always helpful. Playing soccer with them every evening was so much fun. Traveling along the Madre De Dios river on our little motorboat was another highlight, being able to watch all the things going on along the shoreline. The 4am starts to watch literally thousands of macaws and parrots flying above you was incredible. Just being in the forest, surrounded by ancient trees is a humbling feeling, as is being lucky enough to witness a female jaguar in her natural environment. However, the Peruvian people themselves have to be the best part. Their hilarious wit and kindness will stay with you for a very long time after arriving back home.

A ‘pod’ where the volunteers sleep.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
I am currently studying Archaeology at UCL, so I wanted to visit Peru for its amazingly vast history. Being in such an amazing country has made me want to spend a lot more time in South America. It has also made me far more active and aware of the plight of the Amazon and how we need to conserve it for the future. I learned to be far more independent and to give everything a go at least once. I also became far better at soccer after playing for an hour very night (not compulsory).

What is the most challenging part of your job?
I traveled alone and did not speak Spanish at the time, so the hardest part for me was the huge culture change. However, CREES made it all so much easier, with plenty of good English speakers and a friendly face to meet me from the airport. I was with three other volunteers, a small group for the MLC, but luckily we all got along fantastically and became so close. There is a lot of physical work involved with this project, so that is something anyone considering this needs to take into account. However, if you would prefer not to be so active there are plenty of opportunities to get involved without too much running around the jungle.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Don’t be put off by the long trip or seemingly isolated location of the MLC. The trip is an amazing journey from Cuzco, through mountains villages, up across the top of the Andes, then down through the Cloud Forest, and into the deep Amazon. There are around 10 members of permanent staff and plenty of visitors to the MLC, as well as lots of projects away from the lodge in the local towns and villages. It is a brilliant opportunity to see rainforest life and help out in a number of different ways. I had a fantastic time.

Jacob Blanc, English Opens Doors

Name: Jacob Blanc
School: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Type of Work: Education
Region: South America
Length of stay: 3-6 months

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I taught English in a public school in Chile through a Chilean Ministry of Education-sponsored program called English Opens Doors. I worked about 30 hours a week in my own classroom in a small public school with students grade 7-12. A lot of my job responsibilities and tasks were figured out on the run, meaning that there was either a lot of flexibility or disorganization in the program, depending on which perspective you want to take. Being in such a small school made me immediately feel a part of a close community, and my students and their families warmed up to me very quickly. The program facilitated all of the regional placement and travel, set me up with a home stay, provided health insurance and even provided a small monthly stipend. So unlike a lot of work abroad programs that charge you to teach, EOD actually gives you a bit of pocket cash and all you have to do is pay for your airfare.

Share a favorite memory.
We put on an “English week” toward the end of the year, and the highlight for me was dressing up in drag with the 12th grade students to sing and perform Barbie Girl by Aqua. The whole school was at the performance and we all had a blast learning the song, making up a dance and putting on a silly show for the community.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
The patience of teaching a foreign language, and doing so in a way that respected my students cultures and world-views. Living in South America was a fantastic way to gain an intimate perspective in the region’s culture and history, all of which has been a huge help now than I am in graduate school for Latin American history. Working with EOD really reinforced my desires to be a teacher and connected my abstract research interests to specific trends in my daily experience working abroad.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Finding ways to connect learning a language with the students’ individual interests and backgrounds.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Be as easy going as possible, since working as part of a government program in South America means unavoidable problems in bureaucracy and processing. There will be many challenges and unforeseen obstacles, but just know that they will get resolved eventually and that those moments of frustration are perhaps the best opportunities for truly understanding new cultures and daily lived experiences.

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Margot Schein, Cultural Embrace

gyg-logo-teal-transparent1Name: Margot Schein
School: University of California, San Diego
Type of Work: Education, Childcare
Region: Central America, South America
Length of stay: 3-6 months

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I worked for Cultural Embrace when I volunteered in Guatemala and Costa Rica. I was doing considerably more meaningful work in Guatemala as I was teaching Mayan children basic math, reading, and writing (whereas in Costa Rica, I was teaching English). My day included taking a chicken bus out of Antigua (where I was living) to a small town called Santa Maria de Jesus. It would come to work at a small school that was almost all volunteer based. I would help the teacher with individual students or run lessons for groups. I helped distribute food and donated clothing and toy items to students. This work is particularly important because these children do not have the opportunity to attend state public schools and would end up working in farms like their parents who earn about $2/day. With basic skills, they can work in a shop or in town. It is not a huge improvement, but I learned the value of baby steps.

Share a favorite memory.
At the end of my stay, the students and teachers were so enamored with me that they sewed me a a thank-you note and preformed a dance in honor of my departure. I was extremely emotional in leaving the people who I was helping. They group hugged me goodbye and I nearly fell over! Their show of appreciation has caused me to dedicate my life to helping others.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
I have learned that one person can change lives. I constantly have to fight disillusionment with the slow progress of world aid, but I am filled with hope when I think about the children who I know I helped directly. And there are those out there just like me- helping one little girl or boy at a time learn to do basic math. My future goals include anything that involves doing good. I want to use my education as a force for the betterment of all people.

Some of the female Mayan children.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job was being brave. I was in a third world country as a young female. But I still got on that over-crowded bus everyday and walked up a hill to that small school because I was in love with helping. There was one day with torrential rains, but I suffered through, arrived and left work quite soaked, and smiled the whole time. Stay Brave.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Love what you are doing. If you don’t love it, change volunteer positions. You can only be beneficial if you are totally dedicated. Volunteering is not easy, so you better be in for the long-haul. And again, be brave and try new things. I know it is cliche, but it will take you very far.

Kerry Fugett, Andean Bear Foundation

Name, Age: Kerry Fugett, 24
University, Major: UC San Diego, Physiology and Neuroscience
Region: South America
Length of stay: 6 months – 1 year
Type of Work: Environment/Conservation

Tell us about the nonprofit/social business you work for:
I worked with the Andean Bear Foundation in rural Ecuador. Most of my time was on-site at our research house in Pucara, in the northwestern area of the country. For more information, check out AndeanBear.org

How did you find your position?
StopDodo.com, an awesome website for finding gigs like this!

What’s your typical day like?
I was the Volunteer Coordinator for the program. We had 4 to 6 volunteers who stayed up to a month. As the coordinator, I was responsible for planning and guiding the treks to do radio telemetry looking for Andean Bears in the mountains. I also had to write the menu and do all the grocery shopping (a task requiring about 5 hours of bus round trip!). A typical day meant up at 6am, we all ate breakfast together, then head out on a hike by 7 or 7:30 to “listen” for one of our 6 radio collared bears. We’d usually be back around 3 to avoid the afternoon rain, take turns in the lukewarm shower, then dinner and hammock or game time.

What kind of people do you work with?
All nationalities with the average age from mid 20s to mid 30s. It was not a program for people going abroad for the first time ever, so most people had finished college and had probably studied abroad. We had a lot of biologists looking for field work training, but really anyone with a passion and who worked hard was accepted.

What are your living accommodations?
The bear house has closed down since I left, but the project is hoping to begin construction on the first ever Andean Bear Sanctuary in Ecuador soon and will be looking for volunteers for that. That will be in a new location near Baeza on the way out to the Orient.

What do you do in your free time?
Hammock, climb trees or work in the organic garden we had going. One volunteer made a swing and a tree house, that was great!

Share a favorite memory or story from your experience!
My first Andean Bear sighting in the wild…up in a tree, the expanse of the Andes Mountains behind, just stunning. We were lucky enough to get to watch it for an hour before it came down and walked away. It never even knew we were there!

What inspired you to do this kind of work? If you are taking a gap year, what motivated you to do that?
Career development and travel bug. That bug bites hard, watch out!

How are you financing your time?
I was given free room and board once I was there, my free time spending money was from personal savings.

What kind of special skills do you need to do your job?
Language, photography, leadership experience.

Do you feel like you are making a positive, critical impact on the global community?
Yes. It is a very small organization and I had a huge part in every aspect of helping run it, from finances to website assistance and social media. It was started and is primarily run by an Ecuadorian Biologist, and I really valued working for someone from the country I was living in. It made it very challenging at times, but I learned how to best make a difference “Ecuadorian style”, which I think will ultimately be the longest lasting.

What have you learned about the nonprofit and social business world in your experience?
It is hard. No doubts about that. But you take the small successes and just keep pushing.

Do you think you make a unique contribution to your organization as a young person? Is your perspective or approach different from others?
Possibly. It was good and bad being the same age or younger than a lot of our volunteers. I had to make sure to gain respect right away and that meant being “on” 24-7. But it also allowed me to relate to a lot of volunteers which I think helped a lot.

How do you see this experience fitting into your long-term goals?
I really liked the leadership aspect of it. It made a positive impact on me for sure, but what I want to do next is still hard to sort out. Very amazing experience though that I am extremely glad I did. Though you always think you’ll have it figured out after just one more experience or trip, but it just made me more confused!

Do you have any advice for prospective gap-givers?
Do it!

Are you blogging about your work or travel? How can we stay in touch?
Tried to blog, but only got about 5 posts in almost 10 months….opps. Feel free to email me though if you want to get in contact!

Would you be willing to take questions from potential Gappers?
Yes.

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Kylie Holloway, Global Leadership Adventures

On one of our excursions we traveled to the island of Bartolome where Master and Commander was filmed. We spent the afternoon on the beach to the right of me in the photo and snorkeled in that inlet.

Name, Age: Kylie Holloway, 18
University, Major: UC San Diego, International Studies and Theater
Region: South America
Length of stay: Less than one month
Type of Work: Environment/Conservation

Tell us about the nonprofit/social business you work for:
Global Leadership Adventures. My specific program was in Quito, Ecuador as well as the Galapagos Islands, working on a giant tortoise wildlife reserve for two weeks. The website is www.experiencegla.com

How did you find your position?
Google search for teen volunteer programs.

What’s your typical day like?
We woke up early (around eight) and had breakfast with our host family. Then we traveled by bus to the giant tortoise reserve about a half hour away. We spent the first half of the day cleaning and performing general maintenance on the reserve for about five hours with a break for lunch. After work the group traveled on several excursions such as snorkeling, hiking, and visiting the Charles Darwin Research Center. In the evening we would have group bonding activities after a dinner at our host family’s house.

What kind of people do you work with?
I traveled in a group from Miami with fellow students ranging from ages 15 to 19. The group stayed together until we departed from the Quito airport two weeks later. Some of the fellow students were international, for example one was from Mexico and another was from Taiwan.
We had a lot of opportunity to interact with the natives as we stayed with two host families, worked alongside year-long native employees, and had plenty of free time to explore the town and get to know the locals.

The group in the ditch we spent 3 days digging. We later filled it in with rocks to make a pool for the tortoises so that they do not overheat in the summer.

What are your living accommodations?
We stayed in simple homes, nice for the poverty level of the area however. The food was great and so was the company. We had power and often watched telenovelas with our host family. However the shower water was very cold and bugs were not uncommon in the rooms, never in the beds however. There was internet access in the hotel in Quito, but no internet or phone access for the rest of the trip except for emergencies, however this was very refreshing.

What do you do in your free time?
Our home was about a quarter mile from the beach so a lot of time was spent there. Most of the time we just wandered and explored the town. We were required to stay in small groups and the area was very safe so we were free to do as we pleased. We usually bought cheap snacks and Cokes at the store and sat in the hammocks in the town center and talked with a few local teens we had made friends with.

Share a favorite memory or story from your experience!
While we were in our second home on the island of Santa Cruz, we took a day trip to Las Griettas, which are basically small fjords that cut into the island with cliffs overlooking them. The water in incredibly clear and the area is just beautiful. Our group climbed on the cliffs and jumped from about thirty-forty feet up into the water and had a great day swimming around and just playing on the cliffs. Challenging myself to take the leap (literally) was a truly amazing experience.

Probably my favorite part of the trip; jumping off the cliffs that lined the walls of Las Grietas. The water was incredibly clear and it was just beautiful.

What inspired you to do this kind of work?
Travel Bug!

How are you financing your time?
Personal savings.

Do you feel like you are making a positive, critical impact on the global community?
Yes, I feel like we could have spent more time at the reserve but this program has the best, in my opinion, balance of excursions and volunteer hours. I did feel like we made a difference to the reserve however. Looking back at the work we did, the land we cleared and the pond we built, I do feel as though we were successful in giving back to the community.

What’s next?
More volunteering and finishing school!

What is one thing you wish you knew before you came to your position?
Don’t drink the milk in South America, but eat the steak, its fantastic.

Do you have any advice for prospective gap-givers?
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, talk to people, make friends, say yes to new experiences.
“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” -Sydney J. Harris