I will volunteer

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Well, regarding Earthwatch - they're still up and running at
http://www.earthwatch.org/
It's been 18 years since I had my great 5-week Australian totally tax-deductible boondoggle . I remember getting some apologies from the Earthwatch people since the research part of it - something to do with James Cook Uni in Oz and Duke here in the US didn't really pan out.
Still, it might be worth looking into. It's very easy to get onboard a project - just meet a few basic qualifications and write a check.

Now if any of you are into some serious hardcore, no diving, actually make-a-difference and change your life forever volunteering, you might want to consider:
Doctors Without Borders at:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
If this is not quite hardcore enough for you, there are:
the Missionaries of Charity, the group that Mother Teresa founded in Calcutta (now Kolkuta) at:
http://home.comcast.net/~motherteresasite/addresses.html
I'll be honest - I couldn't do it - Calcutta itself is enough of a horror, but the Mission there takes care of the worst of the worst - no play volunteer work there!
 
Tom Winters:
Well, regarding Earthwatch - they're still up and running at
http://www.earthwatch.org/
It's been 18 years since I had my great 5-week Australian totally tax-deductible boondoggle . I remember getting some apologies from the Earthwatch people since the research part of it - something to do with James Cook Uni in Oz and Duke here in the US didn't really pan out.
Still, it might be worth looking into. It's very easy to get onboard a project - just meet a few basic qualifications and write a check.

I did check them out, and I could not believe how much you have to pay to volunteer. For far less than they charge to work for them, I could stay at a pretty nice place and be pampered. I am suspicious that your "boondoggle" description might be quite apt.

So are there any real volunteer places out there? I really would like to do the work, and I prefer to avoid a boondoggle.
 
Oh man Bob - now don't go getting anyone bit by the gold bug! There's no cure for that once they start. Oh, it starts innocently enough with a little sluice pan, and before you know it, they have beards down to their navels (unless they're men - then they're a little longer) and their eyes move closer together and get all squinty. And all for a little drawstring pouch full of gleaming nuggets and dreams.
 
i just read on yahoo news that the're looking for 200 or more volunteer divers to help out cleanup the corals and stuff out of that andamann sea. A couple of friends were on phi-phi during the tsunami and recovered a few dead bodies throughout the 2 days before evacuation. They are staying in thailand and are getting over the traumatic events, and are going to help rebuild koh phi-phi (some of their family is thai)...

Does anyone know where they could get hold of some information to be part of that diver's group ? it would be a start to get closer to phi phi and to do the job they want to do.

thanks for any good information :)
 
indeed they do charge a lot for "volunteering", but really, that's a misnomer. Basically, the idea is that you and the other participants are financing/subsidizing the scientific research project you are joining. In that sense, Earthwatch is a financing organization -- they get grant requests from scientists who use the labor of the Earthwatch "volunteers" to help with the research.

I've been on a couple of projects that had a scuba aspect to them. They were both interesting and educational. Perhaps not a great value for money, in the eyes of some, but that's for you to decide.

-Simon
 
Lucky, one suggestion that I have is to contact you local law enforcement and fire departments, and see if any of them have Dive Rescue teams. Most are full time guys that do the Dive Rescue work on an oncall basis. It doesnt leave a ton of time to keep gear squared away, Dive Trucks washed. There seems to always be more gear to haul and maintain than willing hands to help out, especially on training days.

Your reward might be to be put on a callout list to respond and help with keeping divers warm and hydrated between shifts, help hauling gear to remote search locations, help keeping diver and equipment logbooks, etc, etc. We call it logistics.
It might be a way to mix your favorite hobby with some volunteer work and not have to move away to do it.
 
shaneevans1:
It might be a way to mix your favorite hobby with some volunteer work and not have to move away to do it.

I think that he was hoping to get away from the local diving in his area. I would recomend trying dive rescue to see if it is for you though if you think that you are up to it.

-Rob
 
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