Voluntary work with animals
If you are passionate about wildlife, doing some voluntary work with animals is a hugely rewarding way to spend all or part of your career break. If you do some voluntary work with animals you will be ‘giving something back' to some of the countries you visit on your gap year by making a positive contribution on your visit (rather than simply doing a spot of sight-seeing and then moving on to your next destination).
As well as having obvious benefits for endangered wildlife, voluntary work abroad with animals is also a hugely beneficial experience for the volunteers themselves. Voluntary work with animals is usually extremely ‘hands on' - and volunteers spend a great deal of time on a daily basis observing or caring for some of the planet's most beautiful (and often extremely rare) wildlife. If you are considering a future career caring for animals in any way, voluntary work with wildlife provides invaluable experience and really boosts your CV. Even if you are simply doing it because you love wildlife, voluntary work with animals gives you a real sense of personal achievement and a feeling of having ‘made a difference' on your travels.
Voluntary work with animals is also an excellent way to meet both local people and other like-minded fellow travellers. Working with locals during the course of your voluntary work with animals enables you to get to know them and their culture on a far more intimate and personal level. Also, because you have such a strong shared interest with the fellow travellers you work alongside during your voluntary work with animals, it's highly likely you will eventually return home having forged some life-long friendships.
If you would like to do some voluntary work with animals on your gap year the only real problem you face is deciding which volunteer project you would most like to work on. Gap Year for Grown Ups has a diverse range of programmes all over the world offering the opportunity to do some voluntary work with animals. It's worth spending an hour or two exploring the GYFGU's website and reading up on all of the various ‘Voluntary work with programmes' that are available. Alternatively, if you would prefer to discuss your potential plans for voluntary work with animals with someone in person, you can also call one of Gap Year For Grown Up's team of expert travel advisers.
Career break fundraising - Many people who choose to do some gap year voluntary work with animals decide to raise some sponsorship money before they travel - either to help fund their project or to make a monetary contribution towards the day-to-day running costs of the particular project they are going to be involved with. If you are taking an unpaid sabbatical from work, and are planning to return to the same job after your gap year finishes, it may even be worthwhile approaching your employer to see if they will make some form of contribution to your voluntary work with animals - the worse thing they can do is say no! You can raise sponsorship for your voluntary work with animals in a number of ways - anything from training for a sporting event such as a marathon to organising a ‘bring and buy' sale at work.
In order to help inspire you, here are just three examples of what you could get up to if you do some voluntary work with animals on your gap year…
Voluntary work with animals - Save the rhino
There are only 3000 or so black rhinos remaining in the world today - a sad fact which makes GYFGU's ‘Black Rhino Conservation Project' one of our most rewarding and important programmes for voluntary work with animals.
Voluntary work with animals - Orang-utan Conservation
Another gravely endangered species is the orang-utan ape - the only great ape found outside of Africa. You could opt to head to the rainforests of Borneo for voluntary work with animals on your gap year and help out on an amazing orang-utan conservation project which involves working closely with local jungle tribes-people.
Ecuador's Galapagos Islands are one of the most remote, beautiful and unique locations in the world in which to do some voluntary work with animals. GYFGU's has several rewarding programmes in the Galapagos - including a project dedicated to saving the islands' remaining Giant Tortoise population.
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