| Volunteer Name: | Maria F. |
| Project Attended: | Island Marine Conservation with International Diving Certification |
| Country Attended: | Thialand |
| Volunteer Bio: | Maria Fredriksson is from Sweden and has been working in the field of purchasing and logistics for the past 5 years. She decided to volunteer as she had lost her passion for her job and felt she needed to do something that might help her find a new direction in life. |
| What made you choose Kaya? | Finding the right organization to go with proved to be the most difficult thing after I made the decision to do a more challenging holiday by going a a volunteer holiday for 4 weeks. After a lot of searching the internet and a lot of e-mails to a couple of both Swedish and other European organizations where I asked a lot of different questions about the projects, their organization, etc, I finally choose to go with Kaya Volunteer. I have not regretted that decision. I highly recommend everybody reading, printing and bringing the welcome pack. |
| Can you tell us a bit more about your role on the project? | We worked closed with the team of divers doing the marine conservation. My role was both doing the different tasks assigned for each day but also coming with my own ideas and suggestions. If I for instance saw a beach needing cleaning, we’d put that up on the week’s “to do”-list.The work was really interesting and educational; you also got a good insight to the local community. All the different tasks were connected to each other, by doing conservation and land you help the sea and vice versa. |
| Did you have any worries before you left? | My worries were how to manage the living conditions, the physical aspect of working in the heat and also the social life. After meeting the team at the Diving School and also the fact the Kaya team contacted the project manager at the Diving School to make sure I’ve settled in, all my worries were quickly put to rest. |
| What does travelling as a volunteer mean to you vs travelling as a tourist? | What a difference! When volunteering you get to see all the wonderful things you’ll never see as a tourist and also experience things you normally don’t do as a regular tourist. You also get the opportunity to get involved in the culture and community, and get a greater understanding for those, in the country you’re visiting. |
Testimonial
“There were a lot of highlights these 4 weeks, but what stood out the most was learning more about that what you do on land effects the ocean and vice versa, but also working with amazing people who had such a passion for the conservation of both land and ocean. Learning new skills such as mixing concrete, EM composts etc. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to find out what I want to do with my life. Without this I would still wonder what I want to do, now I know.”
Recent comments