GVI: Volunteer in Costa Rica

I did a 3 month child care programme in Costa Rica and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Everyday was so much fun, and I have made so many amazing life long friends from all over the world. I have also had so many great experiences and learnt so much from the amazing community that we worked in.

The staff at GVI always went the extra mile to make sure that everyone was making the most of their experience both in project and outside of it. Inside of project they always encouraged volunteers to do and contribute more, and outside of project they organised fun nights like Trivia night and Salsa night.

It was also amazing to be so welcomed into the community where we worked, and to be so immersed in a new culture. I have learnt so many things from the kids that we worked with, even when our only form of communication was a mix of broken spanish, english, and sign language!

The whole experience has helped me grow so much as a person, and I really have left a massive piece of my heart in Costa Rica!

Gvi changed my view of life. In Jalova I respected nature as he is. I learned so much about animals and their habitats. The monkeys for example where so crazy. When we where surrounded by them in the jungle I felt like I was in the zoo but then the monkeys where the tourists and we where the animals.
It's been a month since I left Jalova now and I really miss this place already! I wish that one day I will return back to Base. It's such a beautiful place with nice people. So happy I've done this adventure,

My volunteer experience in Quepos, Costa Rica with volunteers ages 18 and above was an amazing and unforgettable experience. The program consisted of organizing activities for local children and promoting sustainable development in their community. I can safely say that I made an impact on the locals and the community where I volunteered. By designing educational activities for the children, participating in beach cleans, and helping organize a community surfing event, I know that I have made a long lasting impact. I highly recommend this GVI program. It was such a wonderful experience!

I can pin many of the things I have done in the past few years and much of the person I have become today as having stemmed from the time I spent with GVI in Costa Rica. It was such a formative experience for me, in the way I now see the world, my own personal development and even the people I have in my life. I really did make friends for life, I'm still in contact with people I was away with and one is even my best friend three years down the line! I learnt so much from the homestay, construction work and adventure week and Costa Rica will always be a very special place to me, all thanks to GVI!

I was at Jalova for a month and everything I did gave me a feeling of pride and accomplishment; simply put, my time there was life changing.

Foremost is accommodation, which for me was a pleasant shared dorm, with kitchen and shower facilities, all of which located on the coast of the beautiful and secluded Tortuguero National Park: don’t expect a five star hotel, we’re here to take part in jungle, beach, and canal research as a Jalova volunteers, and not to be shown around as tourists by guides.

As for ‘events and entertainment’, it would be hard to put a price on the amount of time spent canoeing and hiking the jungle, or the education that was provided by the experienced and engaging staff members. And the food? It was awesome. Everybody there cooks with an emphasis on making exceptional meals for everyone.

I literally couldn’t list all of the incredible animals I saw in my month here, so I’ll give you a couple of highlights:

I first saw a great curassow in a zoo and thought they were a flightless bird – our legendary boat driver Jorge spotted one for us perched in a tree, and it quickly flew to another. The forest came alive for ten minutes when our survey was interrupted by a herd of at least 25 white lipped peccary – the canopy was wild with bird calls and monkey howls until something big (perhaps a tapiir or a jaguar) scared them away. On a quiet and serene canal survey, three neotropical river otters popped up and studied us not more than five meters away from the canoe – for five seconds, before they submerged again like little furry submarines, we were in the presence of animals so shy and rare that a lot of the staff hadn’t even seen them. During a night walk (a survey where you hike the beach without torches looking for nesting turtles) we spotted a leatherback disguising a nest – we were even able to measure her before she returned to the sea.

I will conclude with something a holiday cannot provide: the valuable Conservation experience and education you can gain here. I’ve been told that employers love to see voluntary work on a CV, but my month at Jalova gave more than just a nice paragraph for my CV: it gave me the frame of mind that I can actually achieve whatever I set my mind to. This new frame of mind is of course something personal to me, and everyone will have a different experience, but based on my experience I would advise anybody thinking of volunteering to go for it and join the adventure.

During the summer of 2018, I was fortunate enough to travel alone to Costa Rica to participate in a two-week wildlife and marine conservation under 18’s volunteering program with GVI. Alongside ten other people from different parts of the globe, we came together to form a team to fight against the heat, the thunder storms, the language barriers and the constant smell of dirty laundry, in an effort to support the future for Costa Rican bio diversity.
The work that we assisted and observed on was carried out in order to help the preservation of the conservation of endangered species, but I also learned a lot about myself and where I would like to expand my skills as an environmentalist. My experience has had a positive impact on myself, allowing me to grow and learn more about the world that we live in! Volunteering enabled me to increase my confidence in meeting new people, being in unfamiliar surroundings and taking on new challenges whilst surrounded by an amazingly diverse rainforest.
I can't wait to return to the jungle for another eye- opening experience!

This summer I went on the Under 18's wildlife conservation trip in Costa Rica. I loved the experience of being completely immersed in the jungle and the culture of the area. I felt safe and comfortable with the GVI staff and volunteers whilst I was there which added to my enjoyment of the trip. I was lucky to have some incredible encounters with sloths, monkeys, turtles, crocodiles, snakes, an abundance of birds and many other vertebrates. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and I hope to return to the Costa Rican jungle with GVI in the future.

I was just a normal teenage girl who enjoyed normal teenage stuff, I loved to dance in fact I was pretty good at it.
I can remember when all that changed like it was yesterday.

Me and my mum sat with the UKs top othorpedic consultant who told me I had a genetic condition in my feet, which in the worst case scenario would change my whole life.
I was in constant pain, pain which over the years grew to be excruciating! I was unable to do normal things - I couldn’t focus on school, friendships and certainly knew I would never dance like I used too. The pain was to much.

I became withdrawn and depressed and was under many teams who tried to help me cope.

After a few years of surgery, the worst case scenario happened - I was to have the joints in both my feet fused together.

I am lucky to have an brilliant mum and dad and three crazy sisters who was with me every step of the way! The first foot was operated on and I was in a wheel chair no weight bearing for a long long time. I felt more and more isolated, my mum often gave me things to focus on. We spoke about the world and it’s issues. I began to read and read and learn about animals and conservation! My mum forever telling me this part of my life will one day be over and I could dare to dream again.

I eventually learned to walk again with help from amazing physio team .

My mum decided I needed a hobby and took me and my sister Bella to kayaking lessons. I didn’t have to use my feet and so felt free and at home.

Soon it was time for the next foot to be done. This one didn’t go so well. I got an infection in my foot and spent a long long time in hospital. I remember being re-admitted to the hospital on New Year’s Eve and didn’t believe this would ever end. I was on endless medication and my parents could only take me out of the hospital for a few hours at a time as I had to be back on the IV medicine to control the infection in my bones.

As my mum said, day by day I got better and better and was able to use my wheel chair less and less!

From such a dark place, my interest in conservation was born. Me and mum would often visit the GVI website and dare to think maybe one day I could actually do a program because you see, me and family are not from a financially privileged background and so we know it would be a mission impossible

And guess what... with help from my mum, dad, grandparents and my Sunday job, we did it.

I visited Costa Rica and met the amazing most inspirational people from GVI team. I didn’t let my condition stop me - sometimes I couldn’t keep the pace of the rest of the team but they stayed with me and kept me motivated.

I dreamed of seeing amazing animals in the wild - and i finally did. I was felt like I was at home and a part of a team who shared the same the ideas as me. And what we did actually counted, for example we did rainforest servays most days and the data we collected went to local people which can helped them improve there growing business. I also took part in a beach clean - and I was absolutely mind blown due to the amount of litter we picked up on the beach near GVI’s base. 215Kg of litter was collected in just over one hour! Collecting the litter made me feel even more determined to dedicate my life to conservation.

I did it! I actually did two weeks without my parents my wheel chair or waking aids! So if u are reading this and life had thrown you a curl ball - like my mum says these days will pass and if it’s something you dream today - GO FOR IT