Volunteer Int. Adventures

Volunteer International Adventures focus is on youth and animal projects which we are passionate about. We see the need for assistance from international volunteers in developing countries and have seen the difference extra hands-on help can make to communities and conservation. 
Our priorities are:

Culture and Cultural sensitivity
We want our volunteers to immerse themselves in the culture of the country that they are volunteering in. Volunteering is very different from being a tourist. As volunteers are much closer to grassroots level, you get an in-depth insight into the challenges the country faces. We love it when our volunteers want to take part in as many activities as possible, meet locals and educate themselves on the history of the country no matter how dark the past might be. As locals, we understand the huge need for cultural sensitivity. That is why we like to work with our project partners and communities and not enforce what we feel is best for them. We never tell them what they need but ask how we can be of assistance. That said, we always appreciate suggestions and creative ideas from our volunteers. Never be afraid to mention your thoughts or ideas. They might just be feasibly possible to implement within the communities we work in - and often are.
Remember: what you put into your project is what you will get out.

We want all our volunteers to know that they have achieved something when they leave, whether it be assisting a child to grasp mathematics, teaching school children the game of cricket, uplifting youth with sewing classes, helping to satellite collar an African wild dog, relocating a rhino, collecting data on great white shark populations, treating indigenous sick wildlife, helping to sterilize animals from disadvantaged communities, instilling the love of reading in a child or teaching marimba classes. These are just a few examples of how volunteers have given back in the past. We also want volunteers to leave having fallen in love with the country they are helping in, and having made lifelong friends, who will become future ambassadors for their countries.

Ethical projects
We do not support the trophy hunting or canned lion breeding trade. We will not be assisting in any projects that use volunteers to raise lions for the bullet or for profit in any way.
Our wildlife and animal projects are either wild on free-roaming reserves, in registered rehabilitation centres or sanctuaries where the animals are non-releasable due to injuries, human habituation or because they are exotic and not indigenous to the area.
We support local, ethical animal sanctuaries and reserves as activities volunteers can visit during their free time.
When volunteering for any projects with children, whether teaching, care or youth development, we insist on receiving a paper copy of your CRB check, no older than six months, from your country of origin. The children we work with often come from very challenging socio-economic backgrounds and have been let down by adults many times. We are not prepared to put them at risk, or to allow anyone to endanger them in any way.
Animals and children come first as they are innocents and do not have a voice to stand up for themselves.
We pride ourselves on responsible, sustainable projects with enough locals on board to carry on running when volunteer numbers are low. Still, many of our projects depend heavily on volunteers as there are not enough funds to permanently employ more locals to help.

Cost effective
Over nearly 15 years of working with volunteers on projects, we have realised that volunteering often comes at a very high cost. We aim to make volunteering more accessible, reasonable and inclusive, which is why most of our projects include so many extras. By keeping costs low and having more hands-on help we can achieve so much more. Family, friends and group discounts are negotiable so, the more that volunteer together, the lower we can keep the costs. We will always reward loyalty for those that return to take part in our projects again.
Costs include donations to our projects too

Safety
All our projects have been strictly vetted, risks assessed, and safety measures checked. We will not risk the safety of our volunteers, so some areas are off-limits. However, nobody can ever guarantee total safety in any area. We do have open channels for reporting any incidents and have close relations with in-country support on the ground. We have liability insurance and insist that all participants have personal travel insurance. We perform airport collection and drop offs, so we will see you through, right to the end. We also believe in the personal touch and are available to our volunteers 24/7 in case of emergencies.
Please arrange your travel insurance at the time of booking your trip.