The Three Goddesses

The Three Goddesses

Goddess Inspired Jewelry, Folk Art & Gifts

PO Box 426

Riverdale, MD

20737-0426 USA

HOME

Looking for a Volunteer Opportunity? Try one of these "Volunteer Vacations"
May 28, 2005

1. Blazing Trails
Wilderness Volunteers
Acadia National Park, Maine

Located on the rocky shores of Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park is filled with granite cliffs that tower over sand and cobblestone beaches; mountains carved by glaciers rise from the sea. Acadia has more than 100 miles of hiking trails and 45 miles of old carriage roads for hiking or mountain biking.

Projects include working with the park staff to repair retaining walls on the carriage trails.

About $200 a week; camping gear is not included.

There are a wide variety of jobs for all strengths and ability levels -- but expect to get dirty. At night, you'll camp in tents in the park.

For more information, call 928-556-0038 or try www.wildernessvolunteers.org

2. Protecting Wildlife
Earthwatch Institute
Pantanal, Brazil

The Pantanal is the world's largest wetland and home to more wildlife than any place outside sub-Saharan Africa. Thirty million caiman alligators share this Utah-sized swamp with anteaters, anacondas, jabiru storks, giant otters, hyacinth macaws, rheas, capybaras, tapirs, piranhas, and the world's largest jaguars. Volunteers are part of a research and conservation program coordinated with Conservation International to help keep the endangered parts of the Pantanal safe from modern threats such as agriculture development and the black market trade in rare species.

Volunteers help scientists collect data about the habits of the wildlife. Tasks include everything from cooking meals to weighing turtle eggs.

For a one-week trip, the all-inclusive rate (room and board, plus transportation to and from the nearest airport in Brazil) is about $1,800.

The beautiful nineteenth-century Rio Negro ranch house, where most volunteers stay, is plush (translation: there are showers and good local cuisine), and the work is fairly simple, but it's ina remote part of Brazil.

For more information, call 800-776-0188 or www.earthwatch.org

3. Preserving a Piece of History
Sierra Club Red Rocks,
Sinagua Archaeology Research
Verde Valley, Arizona

Tucked away in Arizona's Coconino National Forest, the Verde Valley has been home to Native Americans for centuries. Now sightseers and movie producers have discovered it, and the archaeological treasures need to be preserved.

From a base camp, volunteers assist Forest Service archaeologists in surveying, mapping, and photopraphing prehistoric sites.

One-week trips are $495, plus a one-time Sierra Club membership fee of $25.

The work isn't hard, but you'll need to be in good shape to move around the sites, which are spread across the canyons, and to outrun he mountain lions (haha).

For more information, call 415-977-5522 or www.sierraclub.org/outings/national

4. Saving the Whales (and Dolphins)
Volunteer Vacations Hawaii
Waianae, Hawaii

The warm, shallow waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands are an important habitat for the North Pacific humpback whale -- and the only place in the United States where they reproduce. One of this conservation program's goals is to get the study area designated as a marine sanctuary by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Also on the agenda during your stay: collecting data on dolphins and learning about sustainable farming.

There's something different for each day of the program: November through April, volunteers spend a day out in boats fitted with GPS devices to help staff members track the whales and record their behavior, including breeding; another day, they log environmental conditions for Hawaiian Spinner dolphins. The program includes lessons on modern Hawaiian practices in organic farming.

One week is about $750, which includes room and board and program-related transportation.

The oceanside living conditions are dormlike, but this is far from strenuous work. And hey, it's Hawaii.

For more information, call 808-277-8347, and don't forget the time difference! or try www.volunteer-vacations-hawaii.com

5. Building a House
Habitat for Humanity -- Women Build
Braga, Portugal

On this adventure, all-female volunteers build homes for the underprivileged. Braga, one of the oldest cities in Portugal, has bustling cafes, outdoor theater and concerts in the summer, lush gardens, and beautiful buildings covered with ceramic tiles.

As part of a women-only team, you'll help build a cement-and-brick house with a tiled roof.

The 16-day stay is $1,500 and includes lodging, food, ground transportation, cultural tours, and a donation to Habitat Braga.

You'll be doing hard work, but without men, there won't be any of that macho one-upmanship found on some volunteer vacations.

For more information, call 229-924-6935, ext. 2326, or www.habitat.org/gv

6. Restoring a Buddhist Temple
Cultural Restoration Tourism Project (CRTP)
Baldan Baraivan, Mongolia

This adventure begins with a 55-hour trip from New York City to Mongolia by plane, train, and van to a lush hillside where a 300-year old Buddhist temple is being rescued from near-total destruction at the hands of a Soviet-influenced communist government between the 1930's and 1990.

A six- or eight-day stay at Baldan Baraivan runs from $1,080 to $2,000 and includes meals and round-trip van transportation from Ulaanbaatar to the site included. CRTP has also just started a November-to-January program in Nepal.

Volunteers stay in gers, tent dwellings like the ones nomadic Mongolians have lived in for centuries, and eat the native foods, usually something "goatlike". Hard labor, but immensely rewarding and spiritually regenerative.

For more information on their restoration projects in Mongolia and Nepal, go to www.crtp.net

featured in Organic Style, March 2005

We accept Visa MasterCard PayPal, and cash for all orders.

To place an order just click on order to send an email. Be sure to include a description of your selection in the message, along with shipping and payment information.

________________________________________________________________________________________________