GVI Canada

In being a city-bred, metropolitan, well-educated young woman, sometimes I don’t know how good I have it in Vancouver, British Columbia. So I leaned into my spiritually esoteric inner child and accepted a humanitarian mission abroad to teach English to the monks in Luang Prabang, the beautiful capital of Laos, a UNESCO world heritage site and the only landlocked and Communist country. This was an incredible experience that unearthed my greatest love of all: serving others. I thought of this while listening to a podcast and re-folding my clothes once I landed for my first day in Luang Prabang: it feels really liberating to engage in a completely novel experience not because I have to.

In January/February 2020 I volunteered at GVI’s base on Mahe Islands in the Seychelles. Our mandate as volunteers was to survey coral marine life. I found the GVI organization from trip preparation to the onsite staff to be well organized, efficient and very accommodating for someone like myself who had no previous experience in doing something of this nature. Although I did have to pay to be part of this program it was well worth for the adventure I experienced. Also, in the end I felt my efforts did have an environmental impact which was rewarding to me. I would highly recommend this type of volunteering to anyone and I plan in the future to do some more with this organization.

I had the most amazing 3 months of my life as an Intern for GVI on the terrestrial conservation internship in the Seychelles. The support from GVI throughout the booming and preparation process was incredible, and the experience in itself, life changing. I made international friends for life, am now part of the GVI alumni community and ambassador program, and hope there will be many more adventures to come.

During my recent trip to Costa Rica I had the pleasure of interacting with three of GVI’s finest. The experience began with a friendly welcome at the airport and the following two weeks were increasingly wonderful. The whole time I felt safe in the country. From first aid assistance to communications in Spanish, all the bases were covered. The first week was a rewarding five days of sweat and smiles. GVI ensured everyone was happy and healthy while we worked on the project. The second week… where do I start. The most blissful week I can recall. The activities, people, and sights were incredible. All in all, these two weeks were undoubtedly amazing and life altering. Thank you GVI.

I participated in a scuba diving marine biology expedition with GVI near Mahahual Mexico (this particular basecamp no longer operates, but there should still be other similar operations in or around the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico).  I participated for 3 months and had an incredible time, scuba diving twice a day.  By the halfway point diving had become second nature and I felt like a fish in the water.We had about 23-30 participants and staff onsite so it felt like summer camp. The comradery, cooperation, and collaboration were fantastic.  We had only rain water to shower (so we showered once a week), minimal electricity dependent on aging batteries and solar panels, and virtually no privacy. We lived onsite in palapa huts, exposed to the elements and weather. Constant fresh air and sunshine.  In the mornings we were up bright and early to run chores, rake the beaches to control sand fly population, or were in the kitchen making the camp breakfast if we were on kitchen duty.  Then, after eating and depending on if you were scheduled for data collection in the ocean you would be suiting up for a few morning and afternoon dives.  If you didn't have a scheduled dive, you were on other chores, data entry, or if on the kitchen team you were only onto making lunch.Some of the chores were maintenance, cleaning up, refilling scuba air tanks, and organizing equipment.By evening there were a few other chores, or if you were on kitchen duty you were also making supper for everyone (kitchen duty meant you were pretty much there all day, it rotated so everyone had their part).Evenings were spent relaxing in hammocks, drinking warm beers at sunset, and then just hanging out with the friends you made talking - about the various fish, coral, rays, turtles, and seashores you saw during your dives.Weekends were often off to Mahahual or Tulum to unwind and party (or get a meal with meat in it... basecamp was vegetarian and we mostly just ate this soy protein stuff so we had to get pretty creative for taste when it came to kitchen duty).  Often we'd also visit some Mayan ruins or do some extra scuba diving in fresh water cenotes or even to the Blue Hole of Belize (which was easily the most memorable adventure we had during this experience).It's been years since I took part with GVI, but to this day is still one of my most memorable and fondly thought upon experiences ever. I've travelled to Quintana Roo and the Yucatan half a dozen times since, and Mexico as a whole over a dozen times because of that first experience visiting Mexico to participate with GVI.

My experience volunteering for GVI in Costa Rica was truly amazing. I would recommend it to anyone interested in wildlife conservation. Located in the extraordinarily beautiful Tortuguero National Park, you will be surrounded by dense inland and coastal forest. Highlights include working with sea turtles and jaguars. This program offers a very balanced mix of conservation work, biodiversity surveys, and free time. If you want to experience the untouched beauty of the tropics this is the program for you! The location, animals, people - are all highlights!

GVI Chiang Mai is one of the most incredible programs that is unlikely to be matched by many others. This program allows individuals to take part in three main areas: community, biodiversity and Elephant reintegration. It is a great gap-year program for individuals either looking to find the right future path and really dive into field work and assignments revolving conservation via the internship programs. It is also an amazing program for individuals who want to take a break from assignments and to just enjoy learning in the field and woking in the community. Anyone would love this program! No matter your age or area of work/studies, this is a wonderful program.Huay Pakoot is a lovely, peaceful and thriving community where the locals treat you like family. Upon arrival, I must say that I was slightly nervous due to the language barrier as I knew it would make socializing with my homestay family challenging. This being said, my family and everyone in the village was exceptionally welcoming and understanding and language lessons (Pakinyaw) were provided by local liaisons which made it so much easier to converse with the locals and to feel more at home.I found this program especially educational. I learned a lot about the culture and about local biodiversity and Elephant reintegration and tourism in Thailand but I also learned a lot about myself. You can really come to this program and challenge yourself to try new things and for me I found the most challenging part was dealing with large classes of rowdy children!!! I was worked in the grade 2 classroom for 6 months and at the beginning I was slightly overwhelmed by their energy and my inability to communicate with them but after a few weeks I really began to love teaching and by the end of the program I was sad to leave as I had such a strong bond with the kids. Huay Pakoot allows you to really step outside your comfort zone and try things that you wouldn't normally try and build confidence.ALSO, who wouldn't want to wake up every morning and go see elephants?! This is one of the most magical parts of the program. Not only do you get to go on a morning stroll through the forest and see elephants, but you get to learn to take data on them and discover what social behaviours happy and healthy elephants display. It truly is special and makes you more aware of the negative side of the tourism industry around the world and how we can make a difference. The elephants in Huay Pakoot really brighten up your day.Go in with an open mind and you will have the most amazing time as you will be brought in to a wonderful family away from home.

My volunteering experience in South Africa was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. I have always had a love for animals, and this experience was everything I had hoped it could be.The staff create a friendly and safe environment, as well as continue to pass on their knowledge to the volunteers. I learned more in my time with GVI about wildlife than I do in my university classes.The other volunteers are also extremely like-minded and animal focused, which makes for a real family feeling. I am still in contact with several of the people I met volunteering.My trip was so wonderful, I have booked a new trip with GVI, and I would recommend these programs to any travelers looking to do some impactful work in different countries.

This was my first ever volunteer trip and it was honestly amazing! The staff was so helpful in every way. They were able to give us information on local things as well. We were able to see what it would be like to live in the townships. Our accommodations were in a secure compound so there was never any concern of safety. Not only was everything organized well but the actual experience was outstanding. Working with the children in the school was life changing and leaving was really hard. If I could have stayed longer I would’ve. Highly recommend.