G’day again! This one is a little bit off topic from pet & house-sitting, but thought i’d put it out there anyway.
As well as pet & house-sitting, I love volunteering with animals & have done so already in several parts of the world. I was wondering if there are any other fellow volunteers here & if so, where you have been, any recommendations & experiences. Particularly in the Central & South American regions, as that’s where i’m heading & hope to eventually settle down, if that’s even possible lol.
I know @Amparo in in South America so maybe she knows of rescues that she could recommend to volunteer at? @Julie_A Is very involved with the rescues here in San Diego…and knows of some across the border in TJ/Mexico…so maybe she could connect you to them? I’m sure she’ll share whatever information she has next time she is online.
So wonderful that you have a volunteering and giving spirit!
Hi @cath_the_explorer
There are a great deal of volunteer opportunities throughout South America with a varying degree of programs. Some even offer accommodations through programs like Work Away.
Some are smaller more regional and localized with specific animal focus like cats, horses, turtles that are not big global organizations but privately operated by dedicated individuals.
I would recommend do a general search and narrow it down as you go, search on Google but also on social media sites.
In South America, focus one country at a time and also search in Spanish. You will get more of those local results. Don’t be put off if you don’t speak Spanish either. Being a speaker of a foreign language, English is a foreign language here, is also a good bartering skill if you are willing to teach.
PS it is totally possible to settle down here. I literally just got my residency in Uruguay.
Hi @cath_the_explorer !!! That is awesome you want to give back and volunteer. I am very involved with volunteering here in San Diego. The dog rescue I volunteer for does a lot in Mexico as well. If you ever find yourself in Mexico or California I would be happy to share some organizations with you. But like @Amparo mentioned, searching on google and social media is a great start!
Hi Julie,
Thanks so much for your kind words. It’s just in my heart to help the animals where & when I can. I shall be in San Francisco June/July, then I’ll be heading to Vegas, New Orleans & then Mexico…at this stage anyway, so that would be great, if you could share some organisations with me as I’d love to help while i’m there. Being a moderator, do you have access to our email addresses? Maybe you could email them to me?
G’day Amparo,
Thanks for your response & the helpful information, much appreciated. And congrats on getting your residency in Uruguay. It’s on my list of places to see too!
Yeah my main focus is smaller organisations, as I would rather my money go directly to them, then the big organised ones where the management takes a fair cut.
I shall do some searches in Spanish too & keep my ears open as word of mouth from other volis seems to be a good way to go too. Just thought there might be a few on here too!
Hi @cath_the_explorer I don’t have any connections with rescues in San Francisco, Vegas, or New Orleans. I do know of some in Mexico though. Do you know what part of Mexico you’ll be visiting?
Wow what an amazing question. We joined THS to help in our charity pet work we do when traveling. Not sure how much I can say in this forum about what we do but we can usually find projects wherever we travel.
We combine our days around a city by visiting a handful of stops and doing a bit of good. We meet so many wonderful people and learn so much about a place. If you can I highly recommend giving it a go and seeing what opportunities you can find to do good while on a sit. As we find out more about the THS, I hope we can share what we do so others can find their own charity traveling finds.
Hello, @CharitySitters That is awesome that you can combine housesitting with charity work. Feel free to share where you have volunteered as it can be very inspirational to other members and give good ideas on where and how to help along the way.
Here is another thread where sitters discuss working at charity shops etc along the way and might be an interesting read:
I don’t have any connections with rescues in San Francisco, Vegas, or New Orleans. I do know of some in Mexico though. Do you know what part of Mexico you’ll be visiting?