Outreach International

Within the project I worked in the kindergarden (12 children with special needs aged 2 to 5) & in the OT rooms linked to the project. I was involved in assisting with the children's needs & in activities to further their development e.g. sensory integration, hand-eye coordination activities, facilitating normal movement development, encouraging language development & communication. Within the OT practice the OT often saw multiple children at a time & enaged them in multiple typical OT activities. As someone currently studying OT I assisted the children in these activities & sometimes conducted the intervention sessions independently. I had limited to no Spanish before lessons on arrival but managed to communicate with the children & their level pf Spanish. A highlight of the experience of volunteering was also staying with a host family. This allowed me to be immersed in the culture & was really insightful & fun. Having other volunteers I'm with the same host family was also good as it caused many interesing conversations & so a group of us could explore Ecuador together. Overall I would highly recommend the project or volunteering in general! It was an incredible month & was amazing to be involved in such a good cause.

In Yanacocha, forget your routine, your job, your problems. Leave your "always connected you" at home, and appreciate the restful environment.
In the morning, we read our program for the day, quite easy and straightforward (sometimes, a bit physical too) and the rest of the day goes smoothly. No concern, no stress, it is very relaxing: we take care of those gorgeous animals (= preparation of the food, distribution, cleaning of the enclosure), we spend time with them (no petting !! most of those animals are wild, so except for the food morning round, we stay outside), we make sure they are healthy and happy. The afternoon, there are different activities to be done, still related to the animal welfare.
We eat lunch and dinner all together (volunteers and coordinators), some of us cooking and cleaning dishes.
THIS IS NOT A ZOO ! Everything is done for the animals' benefit (not so much for the visitors' benefit). Being part of the center gives great opportunities to interact with the animals but it doesn't mean that we can pet and hug them. Yanacocha's purpose is the reinsertion of the animal into the wild, so close contact with the animals is not recommended.

After months of planning, excitement and nerves i finally landed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Spend a month on a Sea turtle conservation project. As soon as i walked through the doors at arrivals until i walked back through departures when the month had come to an end, Greta, the Outreach international Coordinator in Mexico was always there to help us with anything we needed. On the first day she showed us around the beautiful city and helped us to buy whatever we needed. Her knowledge about the place is amazing and she always knew where were the best places to go. She helped us settle in at our Host Justina's House and then returned the next morning to take us to our project a couple of hours away.

As soon as we got out of the car at the turtle camp in Mayto i was stunned. The place and the view were spectacular. At that very moment i knew it was going to be one of the best months of my life.

After we had made ourselves at home we said goodbye to Greta and shortly after we got in the car with some other volunteers and we went to Tehuamixtle, a town near by, to go snorkelling, as it was sunday.

On week days we would participate in daily activities at camp, like, helping to keep the place clean, removing plastic waste that got washed up onto the beach with the waves, Helping in the kitchen at dinner time etc.
Then, at night, we would take it in turns to patrol the beach for turtle nests. This was done on a Quad bike along the 12 km beach at different times of the night. We would also have to keep a look out for poachers who would try and steal the eggs. On our return from patrol, the eggs would be then buried again in a special area so that 45 days later they could hatch and return to the ocean.

As i spent a long time there i was able to meet so many incredible people. Volunteers would come and go and with many of them i got the chance to form amazing friendships that i am sure will last a lifetime.

Being at camp you learn so much about turtles and many other animals. We were able to take boat trips out to open water and see the turtles as they rise to the surface to warm up in the day time. We also visited a Bat cave close by and learnt all about the different types of bats in Mexico.

Since a long time ago i wanted to do something like this, i wanted to be a volunteer and give a small part of me to helping a good cause. I finally got the chance to do it and it blew my expectations out of the water.

I became good friends with Israel, the owner of the camp, and all the other staff members. Even the local boys that help out on a daily basis.

This Project was an Experience of a lifetime and it once again reminded me why i want to dedicate my life to Wildlife conservation.

I couldn't recommend this experience more, what i would say is, stay as long as possible. Learn more about turtles, about wildlife, about volunteering, about living with people from all over the world and listening to their stories and cultures. No one could possibly regret it.
Since we arrived on the first day, the volunteers that were already there said to us, you are going to want to stay longer... And they were so right!

After all of this, meeting amazing people and learning incredible things, unfortunately, my time at Campamento Tortuguero Mayto came to an end. As i saw Greta arriving to take us back to Puerto Vallarta to go home, i said goodbye but more than a goodbye, a see you soon. I made a new family on the beach in Mexico, and i couldn't thank them enough for making the experience as incredible as it was.

Eliza Rylett