When I was a T-Shirt in Malawi

Dispatches from Nora’s field journal.

In late 2017, I volunteered at a wildlife centre in Malawi. The small southern African nation hosted me as I volunteered with yellow baboons, scops owls and servals. However, the thing that will always stick with me, the thing that always sticks with me when I travel, is the people. I was lucky enough to meet some incredible people in Malawi, it was really a united nations of volunteers hosted by friendly and enthusiastic Malawians. That's the amazing thing about volunteering with animals, you meet some equally amazing people. 

When I was leaving the wildlife centre in Lilongwe and saying good bye to everyone I had Alice say one of the nicest things every said to me - I of course, spoiled it by running away (to be explained). 

Earlier in the week I realised my perfect lightweight merino wool shirt was not long for this world. After being in 18 countries it was ripped, smelly, sun bleached and stained. I loved this shirt and it was in fact, my most favourite shirt and I didn't know what I was going to do with it/with out it. Enter Alice... literally. She came into the volunteer sitting room chatting about how hot it was and how finding a breathable and lightweight shirt is quite difficult. Alice is a cool ass woman. She is a wildlife veterinarian from France who rides a motorcycle to work in Malawi. She plays a whole wack of sports, dances salsa and always looks chic as. Positive and hilarious she is so cool, she barely seems real. But she is real. And so caring it's not hyperbole that I wanted to give her the shirt off my back. 

On the day that I was leaving the centre I hung up my favourite shirt on the clothes line with a note to her, saying that while it was a bit ripped it would be a perfect shirt to stay in Malawi for someone who would use it for savin' animals, runnin' through the forest and playin' frisbee. In the note I explained how incredibly rad she was an how I wanted to give her something that I really loved so she could feel how much love I had in my heart for her. I poetically explained that she was a bad ass and while she deserved a new shirt I selfishly wanted to believe someone as inspiring as her would be wearing my shirt while she lived her best life, out loud.  

Lies. I just wrote: Sorry this is ripped but maybe you could run in it? 

When it was time for me to walk to the front gate to get a ride to the airport Alice came over, gave me a hug and thanked me for the shirt and she told that me that saw me. She saw who I was in this kind gesture and this kind gesture was who I was. Someone who tried to make things better and tried to make people happy. At that moment I realised I forgot an envelop of notes from other volunteers and my water bottle inside the living room. I also am incredibly awkward and realised if I didn't run to get them, I would forget them or it would seem that I wasn't listening to what lovely Alice had to say. I ran away, ruined the moment and came back to try and tell her how much those words sincerely touched me. 

I did tell her how special that moment was and how much her words sincerely touched me. How I had a really rough year and her words meant so much coming from a strong bad ass woman as this was a year I had lost one of the best bad ass women I knew. I told her how I appreciated all she did for the animals and volunteers. I also told her I thought her living her life as a bad ass was so incredible because it was giving other women to live their lives like total bad asses. 

Lies. I snotted myself while I cried behind my sunglasses and I said, thank you.

It may seem like nothing, she just said that I was a nice person. But in that moment it meant so much more. That whole year, I felt like I was that t-shirt: ripped and faded, old and tired. She looked at the t-shirt and at me a like we were brand new. She said she saw me, the real me and it wasn't ripped or tired or broken or sad. I was someone who wanted to make the places I went better and she thought I was doing that.

Sometimes travelling is hard. Sometimes emotions are hard. Sometimes gifts are hard. But sometimes they all come together and you find yourself seeing you in an old t-shirt, making the world a little better for someone you admire. And the cool thing about that is they see you, too

Want to come to Guatemala with us?

Our wildlife centre partner in Guatemala always could use the help but next summer we are going back!! Summer 2024 you can travel with Nora for 10 days while volunteering, visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites and enjoying the best food Guate has to offer.

Want to come, follow this space or send us a message! More details, dates and prices to come.

Come Be Part of Something Big

While you can always travel solo with AEI we wanted to highlight two group trips, one with AEI and one not officially with us. We don't normally highlight trips that aren't run with our official partners but we can't think of a more important project right now. 

Project Red Shed is looking for volunteers in June to help rebuild and better the infrastructure at a domestic animal rescue at the boarder of Hungary and Ukraine. This shelter was already poorly funded, under-resourced and overcrowded BEFORE the war. It is now unable to cope with the amount of Ukrainian animals it has been asked to take in and Red Shed is looking to help them. If you are good at building, carpentry and getting your hands dirty, this is a project for you. Again, you won't be travelling with AEI but we believe in this project so much, we wanted to help anyone who could volunteer, learn about this opportunity. For more details please visit:  https://projectredshed.com/

If you want to volunteer *with* AEI in 2022, you should come to Nepal with us to volunteer with dogs, cats and cows!

This will be our 4th Expedition and this time we are going to the roof top of the world. Come with us to Nepal for 10 full days of volunteering with dogs, visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites, hiking through terraced fields and taking part in activities that don't just help animals- they help the local population, too.

For all accomodation, meals, in-country transportation, access and administration to all UNESCO sites, fully guided day trek, full volunteer fees and donations to the centres, the trip will be $2495 Canadian. 

Doesn't sound like your thing? Remember that you can sign up to travel independently throughout the year. Most of our programs are offered year round, so you can plan an adventure that works best for you. We help with your airport pick up, pre-departure training, accommodation is always included and remember we have visited all the placements first to make sure we know they are safe, ethical and authentic. 

Want to learn more about Expedition Nepal?

Anyone Can Help Animals

We have a lot of people asking if only vets can volunteer. And we always say: *NO*, in fact most of our volunteers are not veterinary medical professionals and we like it that way. Why? Because there are so many ways to help animals! And by encouraging people from all walks of life to volunteer, we ensure that local professionals stay employed by good and trustworthy conservation programs. We aren't taking jobs from members of the community and this means the professionals that helped animals before we were there will continue to help them once we leave. 

What kinds of volunteering could you possibly do with animals that isn't high level medical volunteering? Actually some of the most important volunteering opportunities are the things that take the pressure off vets, freeing up their time so that they can provide the more specialized care. Making enrichment for animals who are in temporary enclosures before they are released into the wild, socializing dogs who have been rescued from the street, making breakfasts for elephants in sanctuaries. All of these are things you can do right now - and if you do them you are helping these animals AND the team members who have been there throughout, and even before, this pandemic! 

If you want to help animals the best way to help are the easy but time intensive tasks: cutting up mangoes for orphaned howler monkeys, sweeping out elephant paddocks, scrubbing (empty) bear pools, handing out dishes of kibbles to hungry dogs - YOU can do this and you should! Giving back while you go on vacation isn't just a nice thing to do for the animals, it can be life changing for you. Volunteering changes how you feel about yourself, the world and your place in it. 

Travelers have a massive role to play in stopping the trafficking and exploitation of animals. We have been thinking a lot recently about imposter syndrome and how it can show up in conservation. Travelers, recreational adventurers, and volunteers can be just as big proponents for conservation as biologists. Travelers spend their whole lives learning (when they travel with their eyes open) and through this experiential education they can be witnesses to the very best and very worst of humanity. If you don’t have formal training in conservation, you may discount yourself and pass at the opportunity to be an advocate. But you don’t have to be an animal professional to recognize that animals in cages and on tethers aren’t happy. Oftentimes it’s the traveler who is limiting their own voice, not speaking up because of feeling like an “imposter”. People don’t think they know enough, or feel that it’s not for them to say anything – but violence is violence and we don’t need a degree to recognize it and speak up against it. In fact we need all the stakeholders to come together so that we can conserve our natural world!

We encourage every traveler this year to think about the voice they have and how they use it. You do not need to have a formal education to change the world, you just need to speak out about injustices you see and throw your support behind organizations that are doing positive things. There are no imposters – everyone has their lived experiences and we should speak up for what we believe in. Do you need to be a vet to help animals? No. Do you need to be a professor of animal behavior to help animals? No. Both of these professions WILL help animals but so will you if you are willing to volunteer, observe and share what you learn with the world. 

I want to apply right now!!

Travel is once again within your reach – you will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, then we will help you with the rest! You can safely travel to Costa Rica or Guatemala starting this month, and to more countries in 2022 (Mongolia, Malawi, Costa Rica, Thailand...) – many of them with us leading the trip! We look forward to helping you plan your animal experiences as travel starts to open up again.

Virtual Volunteering WIN!

During the summer we teamed up with Fanimal to help get more people remotely volunteering on international programs (https://fanimal.online/how-to-virtually-help-all-animals-remotely/).

What kind of volunteering: some looked through camera trap photos to identity animals, others took over social media for a month and others helped with translation and editing. Often times centres need their plaques and guidebooks to be in English. Many centres we work with have non native English speaking scientists who can translate documents from their native language to English but need native English speakers to look over everything and do some edits.

A brilliant and wonderful volunteer helped edit these signs to make sure they were 100% correct and 100% AP style guide approved. Now these conservation plaques will be up for years and years and help THOUSANDS of visitors to Mongolia understand the natural history of the area.

How cool is that? If you want to help with translation or anything else that can take place remotely, let us know! We can’t wait to help more animals with your help.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

The snow is falling, the air is cold and it's hard to remember that there are animals (IN VERY WARM PLACES) that need our help. Sea turtles in Costa Rica, wildlife in Malawi, dogs in Mexico.... all of them are being rescued by locally lead and run programs that could use a helping hand. We aren't looking for vets or doctors, we are looking for people to help and support local vets and doctors. We are looking for people like you who can go to the (WARM) plains of Southern Africa and help cut up fruit for baboons. We are looking for families like yours, who can walk on the (WARM) beaches of Costa Rica to replant mangrove trees. We are looking for people like you and your friends who want to help with the socialization and rehabilitation of rescue dogs in a (WARM) city in Mexico. Basically, we want to help you help animals and since we are Canadian too, we want to make sure you are warm doing it. Stay cozy, volunteer with animals this winter.

Expedition 2020: Nepal

This will be our 4th Expedition and this time we are going to the roof top of the world! Come with us to Nepal for 10 full days of volunteering with dogs, visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites, hiking through terraced fields and taking part in the most wonderful of days: Kukur Tihar. That's right, we will be in Nepal for the blessing of the dogs! We will be arriving in Kathmandu on November 10th 2020 and staying for 10 full days!

Included: carbon balancing, all accommodation, meals, in-country transportation, access and admission to all UNESCO sites, fully guided day trek, full volunteer fees and donations to dog rescue centres. $2495 Canadian.

Want to learn more about Expedition Nepal?

AEI empowers animal lovers, students, professionals, and adventure seekers to travel and make a difference by volunteering with animals.

Our exceptional experiences are safe, ethical and unforgettable. Join our team of international volunteers and explore the world while doing what you love. It doesn’t matter who you are, we will help you make a difference.

Tired of competition? Join forces to change to the world!

It can seem sometimes that our world is geared towards competition. Throughout our education, during our quest for the perfect job, while searching for the perfect apartment, in the workplace - it can feel like everyone is pitted against each other. And this can create a culture of scarcity. We can begin feeling like we need to fight for what we want, or settle for something less and feel not so great about ourselves.

In my life I have experienced these feelings first hand. Unfortunately, veterinary medicine is a fairly competitive field. For me this meant I was competing with my university classmates for a spot at vet school. Once in vet school I was competing with my classmates for placement opportunities in my field. My interest has always been in wildlife conservation, and it seemed we were constantly told that there weren't enough spots, not enough opportunities, not enough jobs. 

This feeling of famine can make us close ranks, stop sharing, focus on our own best interests.

But what if we turned this idea on its head - began to look at the world from a place of plenty. What if there was more than enough for everyone?

This is the philosophy that was behind the founding of Animal Experience International. We set out to create a space where people are encouraged to participate. Where there are opportunities for all! Everyone can get involved! There is no shortage of places you can visit and ways in which you can help! 

Creating a culture of bounty means we are collaborating and creating together. We are sharing and joining forces to make the world a better place. When we remove the pressure of competition and the fear of failure, we see people soar, their hearts open, the possibilities become endless. This is where true growth begins, true innovation, true change making. 

Join us at Animal Experience International and embrace collaboration and abundance. You can make a difference today!

Expedition: Guatemala, recap by Lauren

Why Volunteer in Guatemala?

Did you know that animal trafficking is the third largest illegal source of commerce worldwide? Wildlife trafficking, along with unsustainable forestation, over-hunting, and human population growth are the leading causes of species extinction. Illegal trafficking is primarily for the pet trade. Sadly, the survival rate of animal contraband is as low as 15%. Birds are the most commonly trafficked creatures; it’s estimated that two to five million birds are illegally traded worldwide each year…..

Want to read the rest? Check out Lauren’s blog: Justin Plus Lauren