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Our placements are designed to immerse you in a different culture, living and working with local people. There’s plenty to gain personally from this challenge – a sense of achievement, broader horizons and some wonderful memories. But we make sure that local people benefit too.
Meeting local needs - The whole project is geared towards helping the local community. Romania is not wealthy and institutions like the bear sanctuary rely on volunteers. We have been running programmes in this area for 10 years and have long-standing relationships with local people. This means we have a good idea of where help is needed, and can ensure volunteers make a real contribution.
The project also helps the local economy. Our participants spend money on food and leisure; we pay rent and employ a local Romanian as our representative. In addition, we donate money regularly to the various projects in response to their needs.
Cultural sensitivity - Our pre-departure briefing includes a special session entitled ‘Responsible Tourism’ where we discuss cultural differences and sensitivities as well as advising volunteers on appropriate conduct. People are given a Romanian language course and briefed on what is considered polite in terms of eating, greeting and dressing.
Environment - Our company takes an environmentally responsible attitude towards recycling and reusing of waste products. We also offset carbon emissions in our office (gas, electricity, business mileage) and encourage all participants to offset their flight emissions via a carbon offset scheme run in conjunction with Tree Aid. We also offer the option of travelling there by train to cut down on carbon emissions. Our volunteers are given a pre-departure briefing where they are encouraged to minimise waste and to live in a way that will not have a detrimental effect on the country.
The organisation was founded in 1999 by Roger, whose own travel experiences have taken him to unclimbed mountains in Greenland and leading treks through the Peruvian jungle. Today the company offers highly original volunteering projects ranging from worthwhile animal welfare to life changing teaching and childcare placements in many diverse countries. Their trips are an ideal way to enjoy both short breaks and longer trips, and have been personally experienced and enjoyed by the members of the team. They specialise in getting you off the beaten track and into the heart of conservation and education efforts, whilst fully enjoying the culture and lifestyle of the country. You can expect to return home physically tired but mentally refreshed.
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