Has anyone done volunteer work through Oyster worldwide?

[ThespianTendencies]

I am on the verge of booking a trip through them, I am planning on going next April to South Africa to volunteer with baboons and monkeys. It is not cheap and there are travel companies much cheaper but I am travelling with my two children and want the security of an organisation that takes care of the details. Just wondering if anyone has done this and how they compare to cheaper organisations. Ta

I don’t know this company and they seem to suggest they have family groups going but in their Q&A they just talk about friends.

What will your children be doing whilst you are working? This project demands exhausting work so are they working too? Therefore they must be 17 plus which is the minimum age. If not, won’t they be ultra bored?

It’s really a gap yah company so I expect it will be basic. No proper lunch available without shopping for it yourself might put me off! Fridge? If my children were younger and they were missing school, I would just do a holiday. Are you going for 2 weeks or 12 weeks?

I am doing a family volunteering option. I have researched the work load etc and chosen a family friendly one which caters for younger children (son will be 13 so not too young). they do family ones specifically. The one I have chosen has 3 meals per day provided and I think you can opt for family accommodation so that is all fine. It is just the cost thing really - can be done much cheaper but is that necessarily better with regard to facilities and accommodation etc.

Doing 10 days then a safari btw .

Voluntourism is not without its problems least of all ethically. Who overseas such projects to ensure that they are being properly run in terms of overall animal welfare and staff?.

Before committing yourself further to this I would actually look at animal sanctuaries in your region of the UK and think about volunteering your services to one of those organisations.

Cheaper is not always cheerful either.

I don't know, do you have particular skills with baboons? Do your kids? Wouldn't local people benefit from this work, rather than you doing it as a glamorous trip?

Please don't. Even if you did have specialist skills, such a short visit means you'll create more work for others than you'll do yourself.

www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-sullivan-volunteering-abroad_n_5a7de894e4b044b3821d1627

Well it’s hardly glamorous! They will be working hard.

Personally I would just go on safari. Leave the work to the locals. However organisations need volunteers’ money to run so you have to weigh it all up.

The Huff article asserts communities find their own way to deal with a crisis. That’s true in a highly developed country, but rarely true elsewhere initially. That’s why there is international coordination when help is needed. The article is flawed in some respects and SA is a far more developed country than Tanzania.

However there is a question to be asked as to why local people cannot do this work and not paying volunteers? There are no shortages of baboons in SA. So why is it necessary to have a sanctuary? I would find out more about it. However I would far rather go to a bush camp for a safari!!! Might even be cheaper!!

it is definitely not glamorous!! I want to be able to help, I want to contribute and atone for all the dreadful ways humans have treated animals in the past. I don't want to just go on safari, I have done a safari in Kenya before, I want my children to experience something other than a 5 star resort that could be anywhere in the world. We will tag a safari on the end of our trip however, it is along way to go to miss out on an experience like that. I was more concerned that this is the best way to do it all.

Personally, I think if this work needs to be done it should be done by local people for a decent wage. This would help the community and possibly foster better treatment of the animals in the wild by raising awareness. One simple question, where do the profits from this organisation end up? In South Africa doing good, or in the UK?

The road to hell is really paved with good intentions and I would suggest you read up more about voluntourism and the problems associated with it.

If you really do want to help then give money regularly to organisations like the WWF as an example to name but one, rather than your time as a layperson. Money would be a far greater contribution to animal welfare overall than you pitching up at a sanctuary for 10 days.

Why not actually go and live there for a year or so when DC is at university if you feel strongly? Get some experience and be useful. There are loads of projects. There are lots of endangered species. Baboons in SA don’t qualify! Plenty of gangs shoot rhinos and elephant for horn and tusks. You would be more use stopping this. However you, like everyone else, needs to be paid for sustained useful work. So make sure what you do is sustained and useful.

You are helping to conserve animals by going as a holiday maker to the reserves. There won’t be a tourist industry if there are no animals to see and that scenario will greatly damage local economies. Even if the camps are 5* (I prefer bush camps) it still means guests are paying to see animals and ensure local employment. Just be discerning and choose the right camp. Plenty have links with researchers doing conservation work. We went to one in Botswana that was monitoring cheetahs.

Keeping the animals is important. The lion population is falling rapidly. I cannot see how a few days helping with baboons really achieves anything and you really won’t atone for the Chinese wanting rhino horn!

I hear what you are saying but I cannot see that it can do harm. it is a gap year type set up so I can go with peace of mind - which is important when travelling as a woman alone with children (though my daughter will be 22). Also, there are several projects to participate in, I am looking to actually get stuck in rather than sit at a beach resort doing nothing. I could not do a year away for at least another 6-7 years and am planning on taking a course to teach English aboard so that I can be of use in a school or such like.

I am not knocking your intentions but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Why not volunteer at an animal sanctuary or work for a voluntary organisation in the UK first?. If you really want to help as well give money, this is what such organisations really need rather than well meaning but idealistic volunteers to cater for without the necessary skillsets.

If you want to teach English abroad you will need both a batchelors degree and an ESL teaching qualification such as TEFL as a minimum requirement.

If there is one thing LEDCs are not short of it's unskilled workers. Agree with Attila - if you are really passionate about volunteering find a UK sanctuary.

I want to be able to help, I want to contribute and atone for all the dreadful ways humans have treated animals in the past

I'm not clear how taking three polluting long haul flights and then working at a place that will allow multiple unskilled new workers interact with intelligent and easily stressed out animals every week is in any way atoning.

Agree with others about donating money, or if you want a holiday (which is totally okay!), then find an ethical safari company that employs locals at good rates and keeps a decent distance from the animals.