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GVI Volunteer case study

Name : Jabu Henson

Age : 33

Gender : Male

Country of Residence : UK

Start Date: 6 th August 2010

Volunteer Program : EGB066 Marine Conservation, Pez Maya

Please answer the following questions:

Why did you apply to do this programme with GVI?

I had decided to take some time off from work after completing my MBA. I workin Finance, based in London and the priority was to unplug entirely from that life;leave the laptop, email and blackberry behind and recharge the batteries. Therewas the option to travel around doing a bit of diving here and there, but theprospectus for the programme in Sian Kaan seemed to offer a lot more. Thechance to get involved in conservation while increasing my diving knowledgeand experience (I had an open water certification with 14 dives) was the maingoal. However, the list of additional benefits of the Yucatan Peninsular easilyconvinced me to sign up. The staff did their best to dissuade/prepare me for theexperience with warnings of washing out of a bucket, waking with the sun, nomobile reception and everyone mucking in together, but this only served toreinforce the fact that I had made the right choice of destination and expeditionfor my escape.

How did you find it?

Where do I begin?

Clear turquoise waters, undisturbed coral reefs, turtles hatching, 200 odd fishspecies and that was the work. At the weekends we found time to goswimming with 100+ whale sharks, night dives, visits to Mayan ruins and crystalclear cavern dives (Cenotes).

Those are the highlights but the realities of the base have their own appeal.Rising early and getting stuck into chores, first thing in the morning, is not asmuch of a pain as it sounds. When everyone chips in, tasks get done quickly andefficiently and youre on the boats and in the water before you know it.

The staff are enthusiastic and love their jobs lets face it who wouldnt and Iwas very impressed with the excellent condition of the dive gear, safetystandards, and dive training.

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Its hot here but I came for the heat. In all honesty, the first couple of nights, Iwould have given anything for a light breeze and a ceiling fan. The mosquitoeshere are also a breed apart. Anyone whos been to this part of Mexico will tellyou they are a little more persistent than your average common garden variety.In time you learn with a combination of repellent and suitable clothing theyre

bearable just!

Your reflection on what you got out of it?

I have advanced as a diver and know my Ocean Surgeonfish from my Blue Tangs.Seriously, I find diving a reef a much more enriched experience for knowing over200 fish species and some of the coral types. Ive learnt about fish behaviour andsigns of a healthy reef ecosystem. That Damselfish will farm the coral they like toeat in their respective territories and that green turtles move alternate front finson land as opposed to both in unison like loggerheads.

We trained hard to get up to monitoring level and my only disappointment wasthat in the 5 weeks I couldnt contribute more to the collection of data we onlybegan actively monitoring in the last week of the phase. I would also have likedto go on and do my rescue diver and dive master with GVI Pez Maya, as theinstruction was great and it certainly wet my appetite for further progression indiving. This is all possible in the 10 week programme but work wasnt gonna letme have that amount of time away.

In addition to the work on the base, I loved the GVI project with some localMayan farmers. Helping with their organic farming, our group spent the daybuilding a compost heap. It gave me a chance to spend time with and get toknow some people I would not have come into contact with on the normal touristor backpack routes. They not only cooked a traditional lunch for us but also letme sit with them and learn how to make authentic tortillas. Although I think theywere being polite at my poor attempts.

Ive been physically tired, filled every weekend, and longed for a hotel a coupleof times, but somehow all this has re-energised me and that was exactly what Iwas hoping for.

A few tips:

Watch out for the Whale Sharks tail if it dips below you.

Its impossible to keep your eyes open for more than 10 mins while lying in ahammock with a sea breeze blowing.

Shouting 1, 2, 3, PUSH louder, doesnt get the boat back on the beach anyeasier

What do you hope to do in the future?

In the immediate future Im off to Belize to dive the Blue Hole

It will be back to London and work for me but with the certainty that Ill beplanning more diving for the near future. Im pleased I made my small

contribution to the data collection but frankly, I feel I got a lot more out of the

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experience than time allowed me to give back to GVI and all the hard work thatwent into my training.

Ive had an amazing time and although I wont be packing in the job to doconservation work on a beach in the Caribbean, I have heard a rumour that GVI

is doing something with Great Whites in Cape Town so another expedition maybe on the cards.

About Global Vision International (GVI)

GVI is an internationally based volunteer abroad organisation which offersvolunteer programs in Africa, South America, Asia, Europe and Latin America.Formed in 1998, GVI provides support and services to international charities,non-profits and governmental agencies through volunteering opportunities and

direct funding, filling a critical void in the fields of environmental research,conservation, education and community development. Various types of overseasvolunteer work are offered including volunteer holidays, gap year volunteering,short term volunteering, long term volunteering, volunteer internships, internabroad programs, student volunteer abroad programs and employeevolunteering trips abroad. Available subjects include marine biology,environmental research, teaching and scuba diving courses in various locationsaround the world.

For more information on volunteering abroad, please visit http://www.gviusa.com or http://www.gvi.co.uk .

http://www.gviusa.com/http://www.gvi.co.uk/http://www.gviusa.com/http://www.gvi.co.uk/