My time on the Primate Rehabilitation internship

“My experience at this project is one that I will surely never forget. The journey in Belize to get there was full of winding roads with an amazing view of Belize. With the sun coming to an end, two other volunteers and I arrived in the small town next to the project. There waiting on arrival where Paul and Zoey, with their white pick-up truck. Are journey did not end there; heading to what seemed to be in the middle of the jungle we reached the establishment. The thousands of stars lit the sky, where the mirror image was reflected from the waters of the lagoon.

The early morning rooster alarm was my indicator of a completely new and exciting day. The monkey feed where the first on the to-do-list, where chopping fruits became part of the norm. While chopping fruit everyone would engage in conversation from our night into town, to the new insect we discovered in our cabana. The only difficult question I had to ask myself was “what monkey do I want to feed”? Ramses the Manatee was the next to feed; it was always a pleasure to jump in his pool, and give him a belly rub. Swimming with him and Duke (another manatee) where my forms of daily exercise; not to mention lifting Ramses which seemed like 200-300lbs, in and out of Dukes pool for interaction.

From the morning monkey feed to the manatee feeds, everyday there was something to do. In between there is a period of relaxation, where I was determined to finish my novel. I would have to say that my favorite part of the day was walking around with livy; a howler monkey with a dislocated arm. She would calmly lie on my shoulders, and we would walk around to her favorite sites. They have done surgery on her arm, and it looks like she will have full function of her arm. I thank everyone for the donations and the support, it fills be with such happiness to know that one day she can be released.

I would, in a heartbeat recommend anyone who wants to work with primates and/or manatees; whether it is for school, or for the sole interest of working with these amazing creatures. You learn so much, have a great time, and meet wonderful people. It is one place that feels like home without actually being home.”

Primate Research & Rehabilitation Internship in Belize

TV Journalism Adventures!

“It was a late August afternoon and I was browsing the internet for some getaway opportunities. After a summer of routine waitressing, going away to a far away country seemed heavenly. I stumbled upon a‘Journalism internship in Mongolia’ ad and clicked on it instantaneously. The description seemed spot on. A career related internship in the most far away country I could actually come up with.

I went to bed that night thinking; yeah I’ll go to Mongolia!

And the strangest thing was that it seemed like a big idea that would demand a lot of planning. But somehow two weeks later I had my plain tickets and passport sent and I was all set to fly to Mongolia! I don’t think travelling to a country on the other side of the planet has ever gone so smoothly. At this moment I would say that Global Nomadic was a great organization for making the process so simple and clear cut.

The month itself went by quickly and adventurously. I became friends with a lovely girl and her family who offered me a room for the month. I taught the girl English in the evenings. She was so interested in the language and it was her passionate hobby to master it. She often used the funniest expressions such as ‘Bring home the bacon’ or ‘On the gravy train’. Her family didn’t speak English, but we connected on a different level. I managed to teach them to eat Kelloggs. When I brought home a pack of cornflakes they all gathered around the pack and tasted it as if it was a delicatessen. In the evenings we would all quietly sit and watch Mongolian TV. Since I worked in a Mongolian TV station we would sometimes spot me on the camera, which got them very excited.

My work in the TV station was very fun. I would research for some stories and write them down. Then we filmed some shots, edited them and they were shown on Mongolian TV. I almost got an interview with the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar as I was writing a story about the changes in traffic. The traffic in Ulaanbaatar was the biggest culture shock. The people, who are otherwise warm and calm, drove around like ancient warriors. I also wrote a story about Mongolian fashion. The women have developed an excellent sense of style. And by researching their traditional clothes, which were both practical and eye catching, I could see where it comes from. Women’s clothing on the dusty streets of Ulaanbaatar were definitely sights by themselves.

While I was not being a journalism intern I tried to see as much nature as I could. The highlight of my spare time was riding a horse in the valleys on a warm autumn day. The sky was clear and it was so quiet. I sat on the horse and looked at the vast landscape that was surrounding me and I felt as if I rode back in time. Afterwards we were given some Mongolian food in a little ger. The best Mongolian food was a meat pancake called Khuushuur, I absolutely loved it. Their cuisine otherwise consists of strong titles such as, sheep skull, cow’s heart, fermented horse milk vodka and other fascinating ideas for home cooking.

I also went hiking to a hilltop, which was a two hour journey through snow. Somehow the landscapes always felt magical. I have traveled to many other countries but Mongolia had a certain amount of ‘out of this world’ feel to it.

In conclusion the month was a beautiful experience. From the smooth planning to a relaxing stay, it was an experience to remember for a lifetime!”

TV Journalism Internship in Mongolia

Mix Fieldwork with Archaeology and Community Outreach

“Volunteering at WCS Brazil does not solely mean doing fieldwork in the Pantanal and Cerrado regions. It’s much more than that: in fact, you not only get the chance to interact with wild animals, but with people, too. Both from our century and past ones. What happens when wildlife conservation, community outreach, and archaeology mix in the same melting pot? That’s what I experienced in the past days.

We have been driving our beloved pick-up truck for hours, all across Colorado. No, we did not get to the United States. Colorado is an immense fazenda in the municipality of Corguinho. The owner of the ranch allowed WCS to conduct some fieldwork there, i.e. setting cameras and cages. The area seems to be remote and -despite the ranch fences here and there- free from colonisation. But someone was there before us. Somebody was hiding in some of the caves around. While we stumbled upon a puma footprint, we spotted some other tracks around. Human ones. The caves were all covered by rock paintings. Beware: not graffiti, ancient paintings.

I have to admit I indulged imagining myself like a modern Indiana Jones, walking in the forest with my hiking shoes, the flashlight and a Swiss knife in my pocket. Then I remembered Indiana Jones is the nightmare of any good archaeologist and felt the urgent need to tell everyone not to touch anything. One of my colleagues explained me that some archaeologists already managed to do a preliminary survey of the area. The rock paintings depict different animals and human beings, and are mainly made with a red pigment. These features are typical of the Panalto tradition, and can be found in different regions of Brazil, like Paraná, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul (where we are), Goiás, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Bahia. Unfortunately, the archaeologists couldn’t further study the site and gather more information on our ancestors from Corguinho.

Wildlife conservation work must go on, so we left the caves. Our minds were still wondering about these ancient civilisations as we got back on the pick-up truck. But another kind of civilisation was waiting for us. A much more recent one, whose members can still orally communicate with us. In fact, it was the community of Taboco.

On April 22^nd the World celebrated the Earth Day. WCS couldn’t miss the opportunity to organise an event and engage the community in environmental issues. Advertising the Festival Amigos da Terra was filling all of our out-of-the-field time, being it at school or at the assentamento’s party. What is an assentamento? It’s a rural settlement resulting from a Brazilian agrarian reform process. It’s basically a governmental land property rights reassignment to underprivileged families.

After putting so much effort, it felt great realising that on the 24^th everyone from Taboco was at the Festival. After a small marathon, we planted trees, and enjoyed a traditional Brazilian meal. While eating a tasty farofa, I met Maria and Pedro, two young kids curious to explore the world and craving to know more about my time at WCS. This is outreach, too. Work never ends, but it can be extremely pleasant. Later, the students from the local school performed a short play to promote sustainable farming. Even more, in the evening a group of students from Chatham University (Pittsburgh, US) arrived. They would join WCS for two weeks, and they contributed to the event with a soccer match Taboco vs. Chatham. The WCS crew is getting bigger, what will our next adventure be?”

Sources

Aguiar, R.L.S., & Lima, K.M. (2012) A arte rupestre em cavernas da região noroeste de Mato Grosso do Sul: discussões preliminares. Revista Espeleo-tema, 23(2), 117-125.

Paschoal, B., Werneck, C., & Guillot, J. Student Paper Series.

My report – Veterinary Internship on Rarotonga

Sunday May 29th: Arrival

“The flight was uneventful with not much of a view. As far as I could see there was only vast stretches of ocean. It began to look more like a magnified snapshot of blue canvas than water. I felt very small.

The island appeared very unexpectedly and the pilot turned to prepare for landing. It was absolutely beautiful. Towards the center of the island jutted three peaks, which tapered down into magnificent forests. The beaches were surrounded by gleaming turquoise water which ringed the whole island.

We exited the plane directly onto the tarmac. The weather was lovely, slightly humid and only about 80 degrees. The weather has stayed fairly constant, with a few sprinkles of rain here and there. It’s hot during the day, but as long as there’s a breeze coming off the ocean it’s quite nice out.

I got through customs without incident. Jo, the foundation manager, picked me up with one of the other volunteers, Melissa. A lot of people here drive interesting little trucks. The front looks identical to a large white van with two seats. They have a low bed only about a foot high. Jo drives in the front while we all ride in the bed. I often see people travelling around the island like this.

The clinic is quite different than I expected. The front door (which is on the side of the building) opens into the kitchen. We’ve got a full kitchen with stove, oven, sink, and microwave. West of the kitchen is our dining room/office. The shower and bathroom are right off of the dining room. There’s a living room to the north which the three bedrooms come off of. I’ve got a bedroom all to myself. Outside, there’s a separate building with a consult room, two storage rooms, a food room where we prepare meals, and the surgery. The dog run is right behind the surgery, and the backyard is lined with pens & crates for our various patients. Some of the healthier dogs are allowed to be chained up outside so they can roam more freely.

There are four volunteers here currently. Myself, Melissa, Katherine, and Angela. Melissa is a pre-Veterinary student from the U.S. she’s been very kind and helpful, answering my many questions and making sure I know where everything is. Angela is a second year Veterinary student as Washington State University. Katherine, who we call Cat, is a Veterinary Nurse. She knows so much more than any of the rest of us. We rely on her a lot to help us diagnose and treat the animals. We don’t have a vet right now, so we have to do most everything on our own. We can’t perform any surgery or prescribe heavy medications, so we’re doing our best to keep them comfortable until we get a new Veterinarian. I’ve heard that there might be one coming on Wednesday.

For dinner, we went out to the Sunday market in Muri. The food there is amazing and generally cheap. There’s a good mixture of tourists and locals. The lo
cals will often dance and put on a small show. It’s very fun. Melissa tells me it’s tradition for the volunteers to eat there every Sunday night. I think I’ll rather enjoy this tradition.

I haven’t seen any patients yet other than the house animals. Mamma is the house dog. She’s very old and very sweet. She sleeps most of the day, but still keeps all of us in check. Alan, Jo’s dog, is very sociable. He often jumps up on the couch with us to be pet and tracks sand all over the house. We’ve also got three house cats; Moustache, Judy, and Terry. Moustache is very sweet, and often comes in during meal time to hang out and receive scratches. Terry likes to hang out in the food room on top of the fridge. Judy spends most days at the neighbour’s house, but comes back at night I’m very excited to get out and see patients tomorrow. I can’t wait to get started.

Monday May 30th: Day 1

This morning we had a weekly meeting and Jo walked me through where everything was, what the different jobs and assignments entailed, and my duties for the day. Jo confirmed that a Veterinarian would be arriving Tuesday night and would start working Wednesday morning.

At 8:00AM every morning, we begin feed and cleans. This usually takes about an hour or so. We check on all of the animals and note any significant changes. We clean out everyone’s kennel and give them the proper food. Once we’ve finished with all of that, one of us will walk the stray or lost dogs (the one’s that aren’t injured or sick). After that, people usually start coming in for consultations or to purchase supplies and treatments.

At 4:00PM, we begin feed and cleans again. The clinic officially closes at 5:00PM, but one of us will be on-call in case of emergency and sometimes people will come in afterwards.This morning during feed and cleans, the neighbour across the street informed us that a stray dog had been hiding behind his shed since the night before.I grabbed a leash and walked over with him to coax it out. The dog was a young male puppy, and he’s one of the most beautiful little (actually not so little)things. The dogs on the island are their own breed,everyone here just calls them Raro dogs. The puppy reminds me of a German Shephard/Lab mix, butt here’s something else in there that I can’t quite put my finger on. He was very scared, but extremely friendly. Once he warmed up to me he was very excited. I brought him back over to the clinic and we set him up out in one of the dog houses. He was very healthy, looked well-fed, and had a collar on so we think he’s lost instead of stray. He’s also been trained somewhat. He’ll sit when asked and when I took him for a walk that evening, he was phenomenal. He stayed right on my hip the whole time. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I can’t do much since I’m not qualified and we don’t have a Veterinarian to observe. I mostly cleaned.

Tuesday May 31st: Day 2

This morning and afternoon was pretty much the same as yesterday. We did feed and cleans in the morning, a few consults for flea treatment, and feed and cleans in the evening. I’m being eaten alive by mosquitos. They seem to be impervious to bug spray after it’s been on for 30 minutes. I’m so glad I’ve brought a mosquito net for my bed.

Tonight was quite the adventure. I had started making dinner at about 6:00PM when we got a call that a dog had been struck by a car on the other side of the island. Cameron, the SPCA volunteer who hangs out with us a lot, took Melissa and raced over to pick it up while the rest of us scrambled to get everything ready we thought we might need. Cameron and Melissa got back about 40 minutes later with the dog. It was a puppy, only about 5 months old though he was still fairly large, probably about 15 kilos. He was in shock so we rushed him into surgery, laid him on the table, hooked him up to an IV, and began administering oxygen. There wasn’t anything else we could do for it without Veterinary supervision. Cameron and Melissa ate and then ran over to the hospital to develop the X-Rays. I swapped places with Kat, and then Angela so they could take turns eating. I monitored and recorded the dog’s heart rate, breathing rate, capillary refill, mucous membrane color, breath sounds, and temperature every ten minutes. When Cameron and Melissa got back with the X-Rays at 7:30PM, it wasn’t good. The dog had a fractured left hind leg and there was fluid buildup in the abdomen. We used an IV tube to measure the swelling of the abdomen. It was growing about 1 cm every half hour. We knew it was a pretty hopeless situation. By now, Jo had arrived and we were trying to do everything we could to keep the dog alive for another 2 hours until the Veterinarian’s plane landed at 10:00PM. Jo had called the owners and informed them of the situation. Cameron switched me places and I went inside to help Jo get ahold of the airline. We tried to contact the airport and get permission for the Veterinarian to skip the line and get fast-tracked through Customs. I was frantically flipping through airline paperwork looking for a 24 hour hotline phone number when Kat ran in and asked for CPR protocol. The dog had passed away. Kat and Cameron performed CPR until the owners arrived, but there was nothing left to be done. When they’d lifted the dog up to open it’s airway, blood had poured out of him until the drain of the surgical table overflowed onto the floor. The owners took him home. He was the first dog I’ve treated personally that’s died. It was sad, but I’m glad the dog was no longer suffering.

Thursday June 2nd: Day 4

A dog came in today with fish poisoning. When dogs eat fish that come off the reef, they lose weight very rapidly and lose muscular function. They are essentially paralyzed. The dog was a female with 4 puppies. Luckily, the puppies are already 6 weeks old, no longer nursing, and sleep through the night. One of them has already been claimed by the neighbours, hopefully the other puppies will go fast.

I consulted today for a dog that had a growth on its hind leg. Chris suspects it’s a benign tumor and I’ve scheduled it for removal on Saturday. I’m learning really fast to be efficient in filling out forms and completing reception work. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding the locals over the phone. They have very thick accents. I suppose they have the same problem with me.

Friday June 3rd: Day 5

We got 7 more puppies today. The mother has died and the owner is not able to take care of them. They’re about 3 1/2 weeks old and need a lot of care. I’ve volunteered to take care of
them.

I finally got to observe surgery today! I got to watch an amputation. The leg had fractured through the joint and would not heal properly. It was really exciting! I learned a lot about dissection, tying off blood vessels, suture techniques, and anesthesiology. After Richard got the leg off, he handed me a scalpel and let Angela and I dissect it to find the fracture. Whenever I cut through a nerve, the toes of the severed leg would twitch and flex.

We went out to market tonight. It was the 30th anniversary of market day and they had a huge celebration. There’s a booth therethat makes ice cream from fruit right in front of you. It was so good. Local bands were performing while people danced. It was a welcome break from scrubbing kennels and running back and forth between the admissions book and the consultation room.

Saturday June 4th: Day 6

I think I got about 2 hours of sleep last night. I normally like taking care of puppies and kittens, even young ones, but having to take care of 7 at once is extremely taxing. None of them seem to get hungry at the same time. As soon as I finish with 2 or 3 of them, I’ll get about 5 minutes in bed before another one starts crying. 1 of them insists on wrestling all night with his siblings. He’s constantly growling and chewing on tails. I finally pulled him out and stuck him in a box by himself just to get him to shut up. I’ve managed to make it through the day, but I’m on-call tonight which means I’ll have the puppies again.
I got to observe the tumor removal today. It was really interesting to watch the vet dissect it out. It was a perfect sphere, and Richard taught me a suture technique called Simple continuous sub cuticular suture that leaves all the sutures beneath the skin, so you don’t have any visible knots. He said that it’s good to use this suture in tropical climates to prevent the attraction of insects to the wound. I’m learning a lot.

I’ve got a nice set of teeth marks across my hand from a dog this evening! I can’t blame the poor dog. She came in with a swollen belly. We thought she might be pregnant, but x-ray showed that her abdomen was filled with fluid. We drained 3 liters out of the poor animal. She’s very nice now, she’s one of the most well-behaved dogs at the clinic.

Tuesday June 7th, Day 9

Well, we no longer have a Veterinarian. Richard and Chris have gone back to New Zealand, and the new Vet we were supposed to get last week has never arrived. Apparently
his flight was cancelled due to bad weather and he hasn’t rescheduled a new flight. I don’t think he’ll be coming.

A dog came in this morning that had be hit by a car. It had road rash across its face and its right hind leg was badly lacerated and broken. Since we don’t have a vet, Angela and Kat got to stitch him up. They did a fabulous job and Angela taught me when to use the different kinds of sutures. It was great experience for us.

The last puppy hasn’t been doing so well. It was the runt of the litter and hasn’t gotten as much food as the others. I’ve been keeping a close eye on it and today we discovered it has some sort of ring worm. It’s too young to treat, we have no idea how it’s gotten it. I don’t know what we’re going to do with it.

Today we went down to watch a plane land. They have a jet blast zone at the end of the runway. As the plane came it, it was wobbling quite a bit in the wind and was very low. By the time it was about 15 meters away, we were staring straight at the nose of the plane. At the last moment the pilot pulled up and went around for a second go at it. It was very exciting. They made a perfect landing the second time.

Sunday June 12th, Day 14

We’ve gotten a 2 week old kitten that was found stuck in a drain pipe. It needs feeding every 3 hours. Barbara and I have been rotating feeding session with the puppy and kitten so we each only need to do it every 6 hours.

Tuesday June 14th, Day 16

Tuesday nights, we traditionally go to the Tumunu bar for the local dart tournament. I’ve never really played darts before until last week, but my partner and I made it to the final! We lost by 4 points and I got a fancy medal since I made it to the final and I’m a foreigner. The owner of the bar is a good friend of Jo’s and he gave all of us black pearls while we were there. I’m hoping I can find somewhere on the island that I can get it made into a necklace without blowing my budget (which so far, I am under).

Wednesday June 15th, Day 17

Not much happened today. It’s been pretty slow without a vet around. I started taking a scuba diving course which has been extremely fun.

We did have a cat, Mikaela, come in that had been bitten by a dog. The wounds were minor, the dog was probably playing and got too rough rather than maliciously attacking the cat. We did however, discover that the cat was actually a male. They’d gotten the cat as a very young kitten when it was hard for the Vet to identify the gender. So Mikaela has now become Mikael.

Saturday June 18th, Day 20

Jackie, the owner of one of the dogs we’re currently treating, runs the boat shop in town. Today, she sent us on one of her speed boats with a group of tourists. It was amazing! I don’t know what the boat is actually called. It’s like a banana boat where you have a seat that you straddle (much like riding a horse), but it was an actual boat, not an inflatable towed behind a boat. We zipped around the reef, jumped waves, and learned about the local folklore surrounding black rock.

Black rock is the remnants of a landslide that came all the way down the mountain and into the ocean. It is the islanders belief that black rock is the point at which the souls of the dead exit this world and make their

way into the afterlife. According to legend, every full moon, the souls of the lost and dead follow the setting sun from the center of the island towards black rock, which they then jump off as an exit from this world. No one will build along this spiritual highway. Also during a full moon, cars on the road will stop just outside the boundaries of black rock as the sun sets to allow the spirits to pass undisturbed. The traffic jam clears as soon as the sun sets and people go on their merry way.

Sunday June 19th, Day 21

Today we had a bit of a lazy day. Sundays we usually close at noon but hang around the house in case of emergencies. Today after we closed, Jo took us to the hidden garden where we got a fabulous lunch and wandered around. It was really beautiful, and the food was amazing! I got a salad that was a mixture of shredded coconut, lettuce, diced pineapple, banana slices, and chicken. I haven’t had a meal here on the island yet that I didn’t like! There’s so much fresh fruit and everything is seasoned to perfection.

After lunch, we went to Manui resort, one of the luxurious hotels on the island that allows Esther Honey Volunteers free use of their pool. The view was extraordinary and we got to swim/tan as the waves crashed in the background. It was very relaxing.

Thursday June 23rd, Day 25

We had a lot of consults today. A dog came in that had a cataract in its left eye, we got several cats in for desexing, a lost puppy and a cat with perhaps the largest abscess I’ve ever seen. The owners brought it in worried that it was being lethargic and grumpy. It had a huge mass on its side near the hip with a red hole in the center, most likely the result of a cat fight. The owners were the funniest people I’ve met here; two lovely men who insisted that even though there were a lot of cats who fought around their house, there was no way their precious little girl would have gotten involved in a fight. Well, I could definitely understand why the cat was grumpy, Holly, the new vet, cut into it and about a pint of pus and blood came flooding out. The owners had also asked if while their cat was anesthetized we could de-sex her. Well, it turns out that their precious little girl was actually a castrated male. Boy were they surprised.

We had a bit of fun tonight. We went to Ti Vara Nui Resort for dinner and a show. It was spectacular! The food was absolutely amazing; an all you could eat buffet of the best local dishes. The show was mainly dancing, drums, and fire twirling to songs that told the story of the early Rarotongan people. Afterwards, they had another all you could eat dessert bar which was fantastic! There was so much fresh fruit I didn’t know what to try first. It was the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been on the island.”

Veterinary Internship in the Cook Islands

Report from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Week 1 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

I arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 9 early in the morning. Exhausted from jet lag, I managed to get a few hours of sleep before starting my first day abroad. I live in an apartment owned by an employee at New Choice, the organization in which my internship goes through. The accommodation is nice with everything I could need to be functional during my five weeks here. My first day involved a currency exchange and retrieving a sim card so I could communicate with other people in the city. I also met some of the other volunteers.

In my first weekend, I was able to do a lot of sightseeing before I was scheduled to start. I went to quite a few museums as well as other landmarks the city has to offer. It did not take long for me to get my bearings.

I was scheduled to begin working at NTV, a local TV station in Ulaanbaatar, but found out quickly this would not be the case. With elections currently underway in the city, NTV would not be allowing interns to work with them. As a result, New Choice paired me with other volunteers, Lara and Caitlin, to make videos about climate change, ecology and sanitation that would end up airing on TV. The whole project seems to be very, intern-oriented with little assistance coming from New Choice past the lending of a camera.

With this in mind, Lara, Caitlin and I decided to amend the outline provided to us as we saw our version as the superior one. The idea pitched to us involved 10 videos, each five minutes long about the previously listed three topics. Unaware of how to provide 50 minutes worth of the same three topics, we decided to put the majority of our effort into the climate change video, striving for 10 minutes. We have currently finished a rough draft, shooting schedule and have already begun shooting. A few problems have come up with the transfer of clips to the editing software. The camera we were given uses actual tape. Which is fine, but needs to be digitized in order to edit. And as of now, the workers at New Choice cannot locate the device required to digitize the clips we have shot; delaying our actions.

Luckily, Lara and Caitlin told me about a project they’re working on outside of New Choice, something they started when they were without work for about a month. It is a documentary of sorts about a local, professional football club called Bayangol FC. They are a newly developed team that just recently qualified for the Mongolian premier league. And as they currently struggle with acquiring foreign players and providing accommodation for them, we thought we would expand our work with the one given to us by New Choice moving sluggishly.

I see a lot of promise in the video with Bayangol and I am excited to see how it turns out while also awaiting an advancement in the climate change video

Weeks 2-3 on the project

I am more than half way through my placement in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Nothing much has developed since my last post. My group and I are still making the climate change and football video. The filming has been completed and we are now in the editing stage. With the climate change video, since we had to use a camera which records on tape, the only editing software we are able to use and accepts the format is Movie Maker, a remedial editing software.

I did have the best time of my placement this past week when I went to a camp near Batsumber, Tov to document a scout training camp. I interacted with many of the campers and befriended a few. I was there from June 25 and returned on June 29. I got a good taste of the Mongolian country side.

Then when I returned to the city, I was reminded of were I left off. Mainly, the nonchalant attitudes of the New Choice workers regarding our needs to complete our videos they asked us to make while we wait to be placed at a TV station, the real reason I came to Ulaanbaatar. I was completely content to make videos for New Choice while I waited to be at the TV station. I am not, however, content with what has gone on since. We’ve received little to no help from them in regards to completing our videos. My group and I usually need to remind them about things three times before anything happens. We’ve sent our entire script multiple times including voice overs to shooting locations and it seems as if they have not read it.

While I try to remain positive and just take in the experience of living in a foreign country, my roommate and group member makes this very difficult. He constantly complains and has a bad attitude in regards to our work. He’s stubborn, brings negative energy to the workplace and is overall very hard to tolerate in and out of the workplace.

I’m here for two more weeks and I am supposedly supposed to start at the TV station next week, but I’ll believe it when it actually happens.

TV & Print Journalism Internship in Mongolia

Project Summary – Updated Solar System for the Centro Solar – 2/3/16 to 31/4/16

“This project was kick-started on Wednesday the 2^nd of March during our Solar Mini Course. Initially the idea was to only replace a few of the broken panels from the system located behind the Solar Centre but quickly it became clear all the panels would gain from a look-over. Soon the project had extended to a complete rebuild of the sixteen panels as well as installing a new system of wires to hook up all the panels up to the building.

Hence we began taking down all sixteen panels. The panels are 18V, 3A, 60W. Two systems are in place at the Centro Solar. Four panels link to a charge controller at 18V from which the lighting of the building is run. The twelve other panels are connected to a second charge controller at 36V which runs to an inverter to provide sockets with electricity to run computers and charge phones and tools. The panels had been installed in 2007 and little to no upkeep had taken place since then. We were surprised to find ten still working since the rust and corrosion had turned many of the wires into dust. This signalled to us they not only needed a repair but a redesign.

The repair of a panel goes as follows. Firstly the aluminium frame and the lona (hardened cloth) backing would be removed. From there, the old silicon holding the lona on would need to be rubbed off. Once the glue had been removed the fault (or impending fault) would become clear. Normally water had reached under the back of the panel and corroded away at either ends of the connections to the cells. We cut off broken or corroded metal, soldering on new pieces to take their places and then replaced all the wiring with thicker twelve gauge strands.

Finally a new coat of silicon was applied to the back and after new lona was cut a fresh aluminium frame would secure everything back in place. This process was slow and it took two and a half weeks to eventually get through the entirety of the panels. Admittedly our progress was sluggish but we were hampered by rusted through bolts holding up the panels, false delivery claims of new materials and I suppose a lack of coordinated work on our part due to the other couple of projects that were on-going at the time. However the day before Easter break all sixteen panels were up and ready to be wired.

We had discussed wiring plans before Easter and we spent an afternoon writing up a project budget for the system. Essentially, tubing would be used to add structural support to the wires as well as it being visually pleasing. The newly soldered connections would be surrounded by ten centimetre pieces of PVC tubing filled with silicon glue to act as a sort of waterproof resin and prevent further penetration of rain into the delicate copper connections. Two long PVC tubes would run along the tops of the panels collecting all the wiring and, once they joined, a single tube would run from the panels over to the building.

A couple of days after Easter the budget was complete and the parts had come in. We setup the long PVC tubes, soldering up as much as we could before it as to be raised up into its final resting place. Once up, hours were spent on ladders slowly soldering together all the connections, mounting the tubing onto the metal and stuffing the gaps with silicon. We had few problems save broken drill bits and short wires running from the panels. Bits could be replaced but annoying the only way to fix the less than adequate wires was to add extensions which themselves required a small PVC piece to cover the newly formed connection in order to maintain the systems impermeability.

It took us four extra days to reach the final product including half a day of beautification of the wires and PVC. But what we have now is a much improved system with working panels, clean wiring and increased protection against water and corrosion throughout.”

Renewable Energy Development Internship in Nicaragua

Daily report from each week on the Primate Rehabilitation project

Thursday May 19^th

I woke up at 3:50am for morning feed. That’s when we take the food/pourage/water bowls and put them in the marms (marsupuals) cages. It’s pretty easy but I had to wake up early, and it took me from about 4 to 530 am. I did morning feed with Rosey and she told me what to do and then went off to do another section. Lourie the French woman/volunteer woke up once I finished and started helping Rosey. After giving all the marms their food I had to fill up some hot water bags for some of them to sleep on since it gets cold here at night. I went back to sleep after that for a few hours until I got up for work at 9. I started the day giving the marms their supps. That part is easy and honestly pretty fun. After that I went around with Rosey to check bowls and do top offs which is just topping off the food to the monkeys that need it. After that I can’t remember exactly what I did, I think I fed some capuchins and then we had lunch by that time. After lunch I cleaned the house and then we had monkey time. Monkey time is once a week when the short timers, like me, get to go into the cages and just play. I went into the Gold handed tamarins and they were so fun. After that work was over. (or so I thought). After work I decided to shower and then shortly after it turns out I had to do bowls at 6. This is when I have to go around to all the marms cages, remove the bowls, and then bleach clean and then soap wash them.

Thursday May 26^th

Today was long. I had to wake up at 350 for morning feed. Woke up before my alarm though so I had a small bowl of cereal for some energy. Rosie was getting the water ready for the hot water bottles we set up at the end of morning feed. After my cereal her and I went outside for a cig, discussed what we had to do then got to work. I gathered the marm food bowls (for all 26 enclosures) together and went to do that while she did the bigs. After I finished giving all the marms their bowls I look in the container to find that I forgot one. And I knew Rosie wanted to finish quick and go back to sleep so I ran past all the enclosures to see what I missed. Couldn’t find any so I was about to give up, did one more check and found it. I also forgot to open a trap door so it was good I made extra rounds. After that I helped rosie give out some of the bigs’ food bowls and then I went to fill up the hot water bottles. After that we put them in together and I went back to bed for a couple hours. When work started around 9 we only had 3 people on staff but we still got a lot done. Skipped marm supps today. Immediately started with top ups for all the bigs and littles, going around checking what they all need. Got back, mixed pourage and prepped fruits and veggies for the enclosures that needed it. Usually everyone eats except the one rhesus macaque, Spartacus, we have and the squirrel monkeys. Everyone else usually isn’t so picky. The barbs love their green the most but eat well. Everyone picks out grapes. The spider monkeys and capuchins are pretty picky but if they don’t see their favorites they still eat. After food prep Caitlyn and I topped off all the food bowls. After that Caitlyn went to clean Ambers’ enclosure, our papas monkey. Rosie and I each cleaned a Mona monkey enclosure, she did shapken I did Braxen. We scrubbed and scraped all the hard surfaces. We also had to replace all the hay on the ground and any dirty blankets if they had any. I helped Rosie before starting mine so rosie was done before me then her and Caitlyn started on Spartacus’s enclosure. After cleaning all that it was lunch. We took our two hours. I had a salad and a couple sandwiches. After lunch we did after noon rounds and top ups and then since it was Thursday us short timers, Caitlin and I, had monkey time and we both chose to go in with treats into the squirrel monkey enclosure. That was fun. After monkey time I helped Craig give a few supps out to the bigs. We did one last late afternoon top ups and then we were done. I was on bowl duty today though, so after work around 520 I went home to eat, then Rosie and I went back to collect the marm bowls. We let them soak and then washed them all to be used again for the next day.

Tuesday May 31^st

Today was a good day. One week left before I leave. Time flies by. When I first came here I thought three weeks was going to be too long, but the closer I get to leaving the more I appreciate everything here, the people, the atmosphere, the monkeys.

Today started out like most. Go around and check enclosures for top ups. I took Biaa and we cut food together and did top ups together. After top ups Rosie took the new girls to do marm supps, during that time I was doing something else, I can’t remember, when I got back they were already on their way to top ups so I began doing some dishes and then I helped Craig do the bigs’ supplements, preparing and distributing. Then I went around with Craig to distribute some medication to the some of the big monkeys. We do this by putting the medicine into treats like marshmallows or Cheetos. The medicine is usually for joint aches some of the older monkeys have. A couple get anti-biotics after seeing the vet. After everyone got their supplements and medications all the volunteers helped clean the lowers’ enclosure, all three new girls, Rosie, Louise and her boyfriend who was visiting, and Craig and I. Although Craig didn’t do much and neither did I as far as cleaning goes. Craig came in a little bit just to instruct to me what to repair, as in hammocks, swings, and other enrichment toys/things for the capuchins. That took us about an hour to an hour and a half and took us up until lunch. I took down the last wheel barrel of rubbish to the trash hole, past the rescues, and on my way back I said hi to Randy who is one of my favorites. He was friendly as usual. Lunch passed and then Biaa and I did afternoon top ups and then after that I fixed some of the marmosets’ food platforms that were causing trouble. That took me about an hour, and by that time it was 4pm, time for pellets. I did the bigs’ pellets today which I never did before. Almost the same as doing marms, just with the big monkeys, and not hand feeding like we do for the marmosets, instead I put them either in their food bowls or special trays they have. After I finished that I fed some pellets to a couple marms and then I was done for the day.

Primate Rehabilitating Volunteer Project in South Africa

Rehabilitating Manatees in Belize

“I have had some pretty amazing experiences living in Belize for a month at Wildtracks. Bottle feeding the younger manatees was definitely a highlight of my days. To be able to get in the water with these endangered animals and actually feel that I am aiding in their recovery was an amazing feeling. Four times a day, each day, we would make a certain formula for each of the manatees and then get into the water with them to bottle feed. The feeling of a manatee coming up to you and resting it’s front flippers on your leg to help leverage the bottle into it’s mouth was truly incredible.

Bottle feeding wasn’t always the easiest as they are wild animals and have many moods and temperaments. It was not rare for one of the manatees to decide they didn’t want to be fed at a feed, which meant it was time to be very patient because the wait and persuasion to finish the bottle of formula could be quite the ordeal. It was amazing to learn each of the personalities of these animals and begin to realize how to handle each of them when it came to the feeds. The close and personal connection you create with these animals is something I will never forget and has motivated me even more to want to help and rehabilitate animals in need.”

Manatee Rehabilitation Internship in Belize