Volunteering in Malaysia
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world.
Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
How this vacation makes a difference
Environment
We are partnering with Reef Check Malaysia to install a biomate composting machine and running a community recycling and composting scheme. This will help to reduce waste created in the islands reducing the issue of waste in the sea. With the compost we will be creating a Community Herb Garden and Nursery. The plants in the Nursery will be used to build up the beach front vegetation on beaches where it is needed.
On a weekly basis we will be organising a village clean up involving interested villagers and tourists, cleaning the village will have several benefits not just environmentally but it will increase the health of the village and also make it more attractive to visiting tourists.
Increasing the children's environmental awareness is paramount as they will become the future resort employees, snorkel guides and boatmen. Each week we host a Environmental, English and Eco Snorkel clubs for the school children going to the primary school in the Perhentian Islands. The volunteers are given a thorough briefing regarding Malay culture and are encouraged to take part in extra cultural experiences like learning to speak Arabic or learning the basics to the Malaysian martial art silat.
The volunteer house holds a maximum of 4 volunteers at any one time and all visiting are given a thorough briefing regarding cultural sensitivities. At the volunteer house we have started recycling and some of the villagers are starting to take note. Once a week we run a village clean up where we encourage the villagers and tourists to join in. We provide free drinks for all.
Community
The aim of the project is to increase the quality of life of the villagers and to instill a sense of stewardship towards the islands environment in the villagers. The project is developing various opportunities for the villagers to gain an extra income for example Malay Dinners, selling of compost and plants to resorts, improved restaurant menus and a cleaner village to attract more tourists to visit the village. In July 2012 we are inviting a successful community based group who come from a similar cultural background to share their story and what they do. The purpose of the visit is to encourage a similar community group amongst the villagers of Perhentian.
Our volunteers benefit the villagers not only through paid services (volunteers eat at village owned restaurants, eat once a week in a families home, use local snorkel guides a total of RM11,000 was spent in the village in 2011) but enables the village children to improve their English and allows volunteers to culturally immerse themselves facilitating respect. We also have funds to redecorate 5 houses in the village, we will support only the most needy of families.
We work closely with the villagehead and one project he wants us to conduct in 2012 is to restore the beach so beach sports such as volleyball and football can be played once again by the youth in the early evenings.
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