Volunteer Experiences
Author: Accounts from past volunteers
Placement: Not applicable
Period: First volunteers came in
2003
TO VIEW THE PLACEMENTS PAGE CLICK HERE
This project has been accepting volunteer since 2003 and here are a few comments from these volunteers!
Bertrand and Céline arrived here as guests at the end of 2003, and settled in another village for a few months after that. In March this year, they returned to us and stayed for a few months as volunteer workers. They soon became an integral part of the team, and are now good friends of us all. They are French and so Céline's pet project was to help us translate all of the literature around the property, explaining our work and our systems into French. Bertrand installed our fantastic lazy bench, and made the volunteer encampment a special place to be, which has since been enjoyed by almost every guest.
July
2004 saw the arrival of Brett Wilkow and Michael
Bartelloni
,
from the USA. Having already visited us as a student for one our workshops, Michael asked if they could spend some time here as volunteer workers, to which I agreed. They became friends with everyone from day one, and were instrumental in the building of a new extension for our restaurant and bar area, and helped train some of our local staff in the use of computers.
"Hi, I'm Brett
Wilkow
and proud to say that I was one of the volunteers, here. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to contribute in the growth of this magnificent place. Although I only stayed for a month, it almost instantly felt like home. Come check out this beautiful place and these beautiful people. Three of my favorite things to do was hiking up to Grand Fond (the small village nearby) to meet local Dominicans, chatting with Jem (owner) over a great Dominican style dinner, and getting some sun along the amazing rivers.
But believe me, there is plenty more to do......see for yourself :) "
In August and September 2004, we
welcomed Andy Bass and his fiance Ehran
on board. Andy played a major role in the construction of our new tree house, and Ehran spent a considerable amount of time researching and then preparing labels for each and every plant on the property, explaining their local and family names, as well as detailing their medicinal purposes and local beliefs.
February 2005 saw the arrival
of Jennifer Fellman
, the daughter of a previous customer, who came to help our for a few weeks. Although she was only with us for a short space of time, her help in the restaurant was invaluable.
"Hey, I'm Jen, known around
these parts as The Good Green Earred Witch (Ask Jerry and Jem about that one !). I arrived at here in March 2005 as a guest, but when it came time to leave, I just couldn't bring myself to go. I stayed on as a volunteer for a few more weeks, helping train other members of staff on the computer and doing accounting work. I had to leave to continue my architectural studies in Barcelona, but hope to be back at here again soon. Jem and all the staff are great, and I miss them like crazy. My favorite part? The afternoon swim in one of the rivers."
"Hello
everyone, I’m Paul Laurin
, and proud to have been a volunteer here at here in April and May 2005. Many thanks to Jem and the staff for their friendship. We worked together in the garden and the restaurant and shared complicity. I appreciated Jem’s conversation on sustainable living initiative. This project which involve communities is the essence of the commitment in sustainable eco-development. I am happy to participate in a way to this initiative by making the first solar cooking oven."
July 2005 saw the arrival of our
first ever Dominican volunteer worker. Ozayee Robin
, from the village of Marigot, spent a month with us on work experience placement from his school, The CALLS school in Portsmouth. He became part of the crew in a very short space of time, and performed so well, he has now become a full time member of staff.
August &
September 2005 saw the arrival of Mr. Paul Osborne
, our first New Zealand volunteer. Apart from getting everyone excited about his rented motorbike, Paul proved invaluable around the place, and gave assistance to each member of staff in various topics. He has left us now to continue his South-American travels.
Then
came British born Jill , who
helped run the lodge while Jem was away in October and November 2005. She helped with most jobs around the place, and took a particular interest in the organising of the workshops.
In December 2005,
Chris Lightbody
from Canada, gave us a hand for a few weeks, and proved invaluable in helping around the bar and office. His enormous smile will never be forgotten!
In
January 2006 we had the company of Steve Lyons
, from my hometown in the UK. We met in the pub, and a few weeks later there he was, on our soil. He is a mechanic, and helped us massively with the conversion of a diesel generator to run on used veggie oil, at a local chicken farm. He also had an assistant volunteer with him called Joey, who lived in Steve's jumper for the duration of his stay.
Then came Paula and Bethaney
, from Canada. They really made themselves part of the crew, and during their month long stay in March 2006, re-painted all of our cottages so they are now shining! They also had their own private mssion to photograph themselves with a Novak's bag. None of us ever want to see a Novaks bag again!
At the same time as Paula and Bethaney were here, we also saw the return of an old friend, Mike Bartelloni from Vermont. He returned to do his university thesis on Carib building technology, and in particular using those skills to build our new SLIC education centre . With many constraints, he managed to achieve a great deal, and the building would never be there had it not been for his hard work.
"Hi, I'm Jenny Gibbs
from the
U.K. I was a volunteer at here from May to July 2006, getting 'stuck in' with just about
everything ! I spent the most wonderful time getting to know Jem and his crew, who were crazy enough to let me loose prettying up the Forest Retreat and becoming infamous for my coconut art obsession! In between working on loads of fun and varied projects, we even found time to celebrate my
21st birthday. Being a volunteer at here was the most enriching experience - I've never been so sad to leave a place!
"Hello
everyone, I’m James Pulver
, and proud to have been a volunteer here in July and August, 2006.
I got involved in a little of everything, and in particular helped Laura Zac and Jenny fix up the dormitory to new international standards - no leaks and no holes for the dogs to get through!
July 2006 also saw the return
of Zac Andereck
Having already stayed earlier in the year as part of a study group from Miami University in Ohio,he returned to Dominica to work on his university thesis: A study of landslides in Dominica. He was a great help in all aspect of lodge life.
"Hello everyone, I’m Laura Russel
, and
proud to have been a volunteer in July and August, 2006. I got involved in a
little of everything, and in particular helped James Zac and Jenny fix up the
dormitory to new international standards - no leaks and no holes for the dogs to
get through!