YWF-Kido Foundation

I am a marine biologist volunteering with Kido Foundation, my review is made based on the perspective of someone who has been working and volunteering in several projects in four "undeveloped" countries with coral reefs, reef fish, research fisheries, whale sharks and grate mantas, nurse and black tip sharks, sea turtles, mangroves, Mayan and Maldivian comunities.

The KIDO Ecological Station is a place for those willing to make real changes right now. They have several ongoing projects, the turtle project is the one I have been part of the most and the positive impact this work is making with the two most endangered sea turtle species in the world is remarkable, you can see it immediately, the hatchling rates are very high and the numbers of nesting turtles are consistent every season. The two directors of the station, Marina and Dario have a real commitment with all the programs they are running and you can tell the love and passion they have in everything they do, they are people from whom one can learn. KIDO is a place for those who want to do real conservation living in a place surrounded by nature, it is for those who can appreciate wildlife more than their own self. I can say the installations and rooms are some of the best I have lived in so far, and they have the biggest swimming pool in the world full of marine wildlife just a few steps down the forested hill of the property. I am very grateful for the opportunity of being here learning from and contributing to this project, this place and interacting with the personnel at KIDO.

While I intend to touch on the negatives and positives of my experience with the program, I will start with the latter because I assure you, it is brief.

The two directors on site-- are extremely knowledgeable when it comes to turtles; they are extremely thorough, thoughtful, and wise during training and turtle nesting. The practices and procedures they use are 100% aimed at the comfort and love for the all of the turtles that come to the beaches they patrol. While my patrol team consisted of two volunteers and a guide, the small group allowed for plenty of engagement and hands on experience; I am extremely pleased with the knowledge I was able to acquire over the month I spent at KIDO.

Although the turtle patrols gifted me with knowledge and experience, the rest of my time with KIDO was nearly unbearable for three main reason: the location, the living, and the directors.

It is important to understand that I was a young female traveller, arriving (and staying for a few days) solo.

Part 1: The KIDO Compound
While town is only two and a half miles away, the KIDO project is located in dense forest. (There are absolutely gorgeous views from the property.) Because of the sixteen dogs at KIDO, it is understandable why they chose a location in the middle of the woods. But for volunteers, it quickly makes you feel isolated, especially if you are alone, because you cannot leave the property if you are alone. When the leaders offered trips to town (mentioning it in advance), the departure time itself was often decided last minute-- making it difficult to make day plans-- and only at their convenience. The alternative was to ask our turtle guide for a ride (who lived 20 minutes away) or walk 1.5 miles to the bus stop, get a bus to town, take the bus back, and walk 1.5 miles uphill with groceries. This sounds fine but I assure you, walking with 4 grocery bags in 90 degree weather uphill before a 9 hour patrol really bites. Speaking of biting, the KIDO compound is the Carriacou mosquito breeding ground. I’m still confused why there are significantly less mosquitos once you step off the property, but all I know is that all natural mosquito repellent is a joke. While I practically bathed myself in a five star rated lemon eucalyptus spray for the first two days, I still acquired over 200 mosquito bites on my legs alone in the first few days and nearly went insane. Yes, body composition plays a role in this, but I know I’m not the only one who found it unbearable.

Part 2: The Jungle Bungle
This is a GREAT option if you are really into coexisting with nature and don’t mind cleaning feces multiple times a day. It is not dorm style living: it is an open bungalow that has a main door, two bedrooms with doors, a kitchen, and a living room (which are open to the outside). Because of the design of the house, the kitchen and living room are elevated in the canopy of the trees: the trees act as ladders for critters. I am all for roughing it-- after all, I have grown up camping, living eco friendly, and going on outback excursions. While I did not expect any kind of luxury, I simply felt misinformed: eco friendly and open housing are not synonymous.

Some of the returning critters are rats, opossums, bats, iguanas, lizards, six inch grasshoppers, and mammoth sized moths. Because of the critter population, the leaders suggest hiding the food in the cabinets so the animals don’t feast on it; while they still manage to eat the food in the cabinets, they also loved to feast on trash absent of food-- tin foil was a hit-- sunglass cases, and book bags. This became problematic, not only because of the food feasting, but they would run all over dishes, silverware, clothes, etc.-- making the house and your belongings a personal litter box. Beyond the obvious fact that it is extremely unsanitary, there is no way to completely control the situation because the animals will always be able to invade the house.

Furthermore, the directors insist that you don’t lock doors. Although the remote location provides some aspect of comfort, I don’t think I should be told to feel safe. (See Pt. 3, Bullet #1.) As we practiced their diver call system before leaving to inform them of where we were going, there were multiple times that the directors left the property without telling us their whereabouts-- once when we were seeking help and their phone went unanswered.

Part 3: Directors

Bluntly, I was gobsmacked at the abundance of inappropriate behavior displayed to me. As a nineteen year old girl, alone at times, I was extremely uncomfortable by one of the leader's remarks. Even after my fellow volunteer and I expressed our discomfort, we were told it was “just his ‘personality;’ rape, sex, and drugs are a part of life so [we] shouldn’t feel uncomfortable when he talks about them.” While I understand the someone's inability to change his “personality,” I would have felt better had she-- a director of the program-- taken our concerns and discomfort more seriously and understood why we felt he was inappropriate.

It would be one thing if you could interject the ramble to express your feelings, but the authoritative spiels left you vulnerable to whatever came out of his mouth, despite your discomfort. I do not think a seventy year old should be talking about sex with twenty year olds daily. Here are a few snippets:

Before my arrival, my parents dutifully inquired on the safety of the program and felt assured after emailing that it was a safe program. My parents also expressed their concern for me being alone with a male guide all night and requested I always be with another volunteer.

Three hours into my stay, one of the leaders told me about a past volunteer who was raped by a guide on patrol. Three hours into my stay, I wasn’t sure if I should catch the afternoon ferry home. Alone in the middle of an isolated island, surrounded by complete strangers, I felt quite uneasy.

The next day, one of the leaders told me I was scheduled to start patrolling the following night (alone with the guide), yet acted shocked that I was uncomfortable with the arrangement and wanted to wait until the other volunteer arrived. Even though the schedule was ultimately changed to accommodate, it shouldn’t have even been up for debate.

2. There were constantly random sexual comments:
A ten minute rant was centered around a girl who posted a picture of the lasagna she made for dinner and his belief that something about it was deeply sexual and she posted it because she lacked a sex life.
On a day trip to Paradise Beach, before leaving, he told us about the three volunteers who went there, were drugged and left on a sidewalk for three days, then were coaxed into a brothel by a man at the beach. (Why didn’t KIDO look for them if they were missing for three days? I still don’t know.)
While telling me about his trip to New York City, he said he “saw how the men would walk down the street with their heads hanging low, hands in their pockets-- probably masturbating.” Um?
How people on the island practice beastiality.
While speculating on how some people don’t like KIDO, he said “people often say that we don’t even have sex-- we do! But only if it’s kinky.”
While I wore a dress to town, he told me that I was asking for men to heckle me because I looked like a “little Easter bunny.”

In summary: I don’t really care what kind of personality you have, but as a director of an organization, there should be some fundamental filter for what comes out of your mouth. I really never wanted to hear about the KIDO sex life and how lasagna pictures are posted out of lust.

3. While my roommate expressed frustration about something, one of the leaders told her he would only allow her to complain because she “must be on [her] period.” Some kind of sexist rubbish, if ya’ ask me.

4. I don’t know where the leader felt he gained the authority to remove my water bottle from my possession while I was holding and drinking it because he thought it displayed that I’m “insecure and the water bottle serves as my safety barrier.” I don’t feel the need to elaborate on why this is inappropriate.

By the end of week three, my roommate and I found the situation unbearable and ended up moving into a local hotel for the rest of our stay. Although we continued to patrol for the organization, after our night off, the directors would tell us about how “six turtles came” but poachers killed them because we weren’t patrolling. (I question the validity because we never saw more than two turtles in one night...) Although the claim seems far fetched, I still fail to see the point in telling us that when it would clearly upset us.

After patrolling over 180+ hours for the organization, their failure to send me off at the ferry or thank me for my help perfectly epitomizes the level of respect the volunteers, in my experience, receive at this program.

Quite frankly, the behavior displayed to me was inexcusable. This was my experience with the program and I do not feel the need to justify or defend how I felt about it, despite any response to my review. I am not saying that someone should not attend this program, I am just saying they should consider the possibility that it could fall short of the glowing recommendations that others made-- bearing in mind the experience I had. Clearly not everyone has the same experience, but I know I am not the only one who had a negative experience with the program.

I have been passionate about sea turtles and conservation for as long as I can remember, and have been involved in other sea turtle monitoring and conservation programs in other parts of the world. That being said, I was disappointed in what great potential this program has, yet it is being wasted with poor program leadership and in the way volunteers are treated throughout the program.

I do see that many volunteers are incredibly happy with their stay at KIDO, which is what influenced me to come to Carriacou Island and volunteer with this organization in the first place. Unfortunately for me and my fellow volunteer I was with, our experience was quite different.

I will start by addressing the fact the program leaders are incredibly knowledgable and passionate about what they do, and their initiatives to save wildlife and preserve the presence of these amazing creatures for future generations does not go without notice. I learned so much within my month at KIDO about sea turtles and was able to assume a more hands-on role in every aspect of measuring sea turtles, recording data, relocating eggs, helping with hatchlings, etc, than in my previous volunteer programs.

That being said, I felt incredibly mis-leaded very quickly after my arrival at the KIDO compound. At first glance it looks like a wonderful place to stay, with an ocean view and an open to the outside atmosphere nestled in the woods of the island. It wasn't "dorm-style" living as they claimed it to be on the site, but I thought it would be even better upon arriving.

I was wrong. The spot we stayed in had doors to the bedrooms, but the outside living area and kitchen was completely open to the outside. Each night we had to hide all of our food in the oven and lock our trash in a cabinet because we spent the first week cleaning up the leftover trash the rats and possums would dig through and then create a mess of all over our kitchen. My roommate's backpack and sunglass case was also chewed through by the excessive amount of rats. Beyond the creatures, the bugs do not create a nuisance, but more of a complete and utter full fledged swarming zone. I have traveled to a remote location and lived in a poor village in Costa Rica and would gladly take that over what I dealt with at Kido. Because the vegetation seeps into the house do to the fact there are no doors, it is a breeding ground for mosquitoes who live in the vegetation. We went anywhere and everywhere exploring on that island and no place was worse than our very own bathroom at Kido. Be prepared to take a towel to swat with when you use the restroom and leave the shower, I had up to 15 swarming me at once at times leaving the bathroom and just simply resting in the common area. My roommate had 130 bites after just four days there. Deet might help, if you were allowed to use it at Kido. They do sell it in town for a whopping 16 bucks if it becomes unbearable, and trust me -- it will.

Beyond the bugs, iguanas live freely throughout your bedroom and living space. And be prepared because they will poop on anything you own and everywhere you breathe. Everyday I would pick off the iguana poop on my bed, on my mosquito net, in our dish drying space, as well as throughout our cabinets where we kept food. Because there are no doors it is easy access for these creatures to create their own home. It wouldn't be an excessive bother except picking up hundreds of iguana droppings throughout your living space gets tiring -- and not to mention incredibly unhealthy, especially since the poop (and rat poop) accumulates where you keep your food.

This might have been bearable for me and my fellow roommate except coupled with the management of this program it became utterly ridiculous. You will spend the lead-up to your arrival in Carriacou conversing with the director -- who is a pleasant and nice lady that anyone would assume would be your go-to when you get to KIDO, and heavily involved in whatever responsibilities you're doing while you're there. Except from the time of my arrival to my departure I dealt with a different contact who turned out to be an incredibly frustrating and at times incredibly inappropriate individual.

This leader would often tell me and the other volunteers about stories of other volunteers -- one that apparently was raped and another 3 that joined a local brothel and were lost for three days. Stories that would make any current volunteer wonder why on earth they were being told of horror stories of previous volunteers within the same program. Why any program director would want to jeopardize the success of their program by going into vivid detail about past years gone wrong I have no idea. I guess it was an attempt to keep us safe and aware, but it was an attempt that completely backfired. We couldn't leave the place without telling them where we were going, and then before we could leave he would launch into an hour long explanation about why we shouldn't go, then stemming into 6 other odd topics he would then delve into for no apparent reason. The man likes to hear himself talk, and he will go hours if you don't stop him. The topics range from crazy to just plain inappropriate.

He would also be incredibly hard to work with in situations when we needed him, like on turtle patrols. When a turtle would nest, he would say things like "Get the measuring tape, take the picture NOW!, no, get this, now do that, quickly!!" When we tried to scramble to get everything done, he would yell at you for doing the job he asked you to do and then ask you to do something else. Taking measurements and helping relocate eggs became a battle because he would often get frustrated with how you did something when you were just trying to figure out which thing he wanted you to do first out of the 6 things he yelled at you to do. You'd be leaning over trying to collect the eggs from him and then he would ask you to do something else and when you did that he would then question you and ask you why you stopped doing your original task. It would become very taxing because while you are trying to learn and absorb as much as you can, he makes you feel stupid if he's in a bad mood himself. One time I made a comment about the sock he put over a turtle's head to keep it calm and he told me "Don't make any more comments, This is what would happen to you if you got abducted."

The lack of support from the program leaders became incredibly frustrating. You are over 3 miles from town, in an isolated area with little to no neighbors, but good luck getting a ride to town for groceries if you're desperate. Your best bet is to walk a ways and then pay 6 bucks US total for a bus that will take you some of the way. Everything is on their time. If you ask for a ride, they will just tell you the times they are able to go, which sometimes isn't until later in the week. Never once did they ask if we needed a ride to get something, and never once did they just take the small time out of their day to just help us get to town. Most of the time we walked 3 miles carrying bags and bags of groceries because no bus goes up to KIDO -- it is too isolated and the roads are too bad.

When we approached the leadership about how frustrated and uncomfortable we were with how things were going, and with dealing with the program manager -- she did nothing but defend his actions. We told her how we felt uncomfortable with the way he talked and acted around us and she just blamed his personality and offered "some people can't deal with him and some people can." Never once did she ask us what she could do to make it better, but instead brushed off our concerns.

So, me and my roommate made it two weeks before we packed up and moved to John's Unique Resort in town. We wished we were there the entire time. For 30 bucks a night we got breakfast and supper included, and the meals were incredible. After the multiple warnings from the leadership that townies would drug us, and try and involve us in all their wrong-doings, the best part of the trip was staying in town. Not once did we feel unsafe, as they often told us that the town is seeped in danger. We met locals who cared about us, ensured our safety, helped us get from A to B and individuals who made our last two weeks the best time of the entire trip. Despite leaving KIDO, we did not give up on the program. We still patrolled nightly and did what we both set out to do -- save turtles. It's a shame that the conservation efforts and the passion that you find for saving these turtles could be clouded by the way the program is run, but I did not let that inhibit my ability as a volunteer.

I would suggest to anyone going that they try and find somewhere else to stay in town, as we heard from all the locals that so many other volunteers did the same thing. Many could not make it the entire time due to the leadership's antics and the living conditions at KIDO. Despite this, I'm at the very most just disappointed that this program has the potential to do so much more, have so many more volunteers and help save so many turtles, but I am afraid that the way it is run right now and at least in my experience staying there I am deterred from coming back and participating as well as recommending it to any future volunteers.

My hope is that maybe the leadership can calm down, learn to listen to the concerns of the volunteers, and maybe have someone else take more control of the program -- as she is who I thought I would be dealing with the whole time. But even then, she wouldn't listen to my concerns and simply defended her colleague. I wish that there would be more support, and more understanding from these directors but it seems they are stuck in their ways and little can change as is.

I've been part of the volunteer program four times for periods of 4 weeks to a year between 2010-2012 and every time I've left wanting to go back. Marina and Dario are extremely conscious, loving, caring, genuine, talented and knowledgeable in every aspect. I've been the only volunteer and I've been part of a group, always feeling safe and appreciated. Project is more than just patrolling the beaches, it's about education, about respect, about community and love towards all living creatures. Rehabilitating and understanding the nature. These people will do and give anything to save an innocent life. My needs were met when I was sick or injured, questions were answered and I was offered support in my needs and worries -personal or program related- and freedom to be part of the island life if I so wished. When I was the only female, I was patrolling the beaches with a local guide and a dog so my safety never was at stake. I had so much fun which is why I returned so many times. I am willing to give you more information of the project and my experience, feel welcome to contact me!

In response to some of the negative comments posted by Danny above. I’m not sure exactly why he has suddenly decided to write his review 9 years later?

My name’s Tom and I worked with Kido as a volunteer for almost 2 years from 2010-2011. If you have any questions regarding the project or the work Kido do, feel free to send me a question through this website.

Ok let’s get started:
1- “Little actual support from the hosts”

My response:This is not the experience I had or any of the many volunteers I worked with had over the 2 year period I worked with them. I can remember on one occasion when I got sick, the hosts gave me 2 weeks off, took me to the doctors, regularly checked on me and even offered to pay for a flight off the island if I got worse. Similarly, the hosts would always offer to drive me to the beach or pick me up if I was feeling tired.

2- “Placed in potential dangerous situations”

My response: Maybe he has never worked for any other conservation projects in the Caribbean or around the world. If he had, he might know that no project is 100% safe. Other projects I have worked on have had serious incidents. In my experience there has never been an incident on a Kido project and that is down to how seriously they take volunteer safety.

In my opinion you are always going to take a risk when working abroad and to be honest, I don’t think that risk is any greater than walking down the road in your local town or city after hours. I have had my bicycle stolen out of my hands in broad daylight, been threatened verbally and physically, attacked etc all in my home city of Chester. I think the worst thing that happened to me at Kido was that I got hit on the head by a turtle’s flipper. I had some other minor injuries - all my own fault!

And I did happen to meet the ‘local poacher’. He waved at me and smiled. He did have a machete in his hand, but it’s important to mention that ALL local guys carry machetes on the island – it’s perfectly normal as they use it as a tool for day to day tasks.

3- “An example of the danger the volunteers were placed in was when I was stopped by a local smuggler & poacher holding his machete and I told I should get of his beach now. I called the hosts who informed me to 'man up'”

My response: I think I’ve addressed this point above, but I would like to add that every time I felt that I wanted to raise an issue of safety with the hosts, it was taken VERY seriously.

4 –“Several other volunteers who were young females were patrolling these beaches at night either in pairs or on their own which was incredibly dangerous.”

My response: In my experience females NEVER patrolled on their own. All females patrolled either with myself or a trusted and experienced local guide.

I’m surprised that he actually managed to last more than one night on the beach, seeing as it was “incredibly dangerous” he must have been terrified!

5- “The hosts saw themselves as some sort of wildlife guardians but in reality they were more interested in the publicity and looking good in front of the tourists.”

My response: This is just absolute nonsense – completely ignorant of all the wildlife Kido foundation have protected, saved, rehabilitated, nurtured over the years they have been active. You only have to read the biography of Marina Fastigi to know this is not a person who is just concerned with “publicity” and “looking good”. In fact, it’s the complete opposite of Marina’s personality. I think the truth is most people who meet her see her as a wildlife guardian. She does what she does because she is passionate about it.

6- “One example was for a photo opportunity for a paying groups of tourists dragging a female Hawksbill back up the beach to allow all the groups to have they photo taken with her.”

My response: This is completely taken out of context. Kido have rescued countless turtles and have ensured that turtles can lay their eggs safely on the beach. Turtles are often moved to and from the beach, to boats, to and from the project site – for measurements, to check their health etc. When tourists are present at the beach, it is important that they get a chance to take a picture with the turtle – and this in no way harms the animal. I’ve worked for many other turtle projects where turtles have to be handled for scientific data to be recorded – sometimes pulling them out of the water, dragging them up onto boats and even carrying out surgical procedures. This isn’t ideal of course, we would like to just leave them alone, but without handling them sometimes – how do we get any scientific data? Turtles are pretty tough animals: they can survive shark attacks, hurricane force seas and crashing waves, they swim thousands of miles…. I’m sure a turtle can survive a photo opportunity. Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s ok to “drag one up the beach” for a photo opportunity – but in my experience, I never saw a turtle handled in this way.

Additionally, I never saw hosts at Kido charging tourists for pictures with turtles. Sometimes tourists were so moved by the experience of seeing a turtle that they insisted on making a donation. However, on many occasions no donations were made by tourists – but they did go away with a picture and story to tell their family and friends and spread the word of turtle conservation.

7- “A Spanish volunteer who was there at the same time as us who had agreed to stay for 1 year felt he was being treated like a slave and joked 'I'll die on this beach'.”

My response: Again, not my or anybody else’s experience I know of. On some other projects I’ve worked on in the Caribbean, Greece and Thailand you have to work 6 days a week. On some occasions (on other projects) when volunteers were short, I had to work as many as 14 days straight. In contrast, for Kido, I only worked 5 days a week. Even though the beach was walking distance – and a beautiful walk at that - they drove me to the beach and picked me up whenever I was feeling overtired. I got time off whenever, no questions asked, when I felt sick or unable to work. They left me to rest in the day time, unless one of the hosts came to deliver me some delicious cake he had bought! Or he didn’t want me to miss out on an experience rescuing a turtle.

8- “If you want to work with sea turtles there are many other areas better to do it. Sorry for the negative review but I felt it important for potential young students keen on gaining experience know what they could be letting themselves in for.”

My response: For a start, I would like to know which other projects he has worked for. I’m not sure how he can make such a comparison. I’ve worked on many other projects and have found them to be in line with what is expected of you – and in fact, Kido allocates volunteers more in terms of free time for sure.

Finally, I’m not sure why he’s apologizing for such a negative review 9 years later and then justifying it by showing how concerned he is for potential young students? What happened to his concern over the past 9 years? How many vulnerable young students have been in potentially dangerous situations during that time according to him? Jeez! More to the point, how has he been able to sleep at night?

To round off – I would like to let potential young students know what they could be letting themselves in for: The experience of a life time working with dedicated wildlife conservationists who are compassionate and inspiring people in a breath taking environment that is pristine. Enough said…..
Again, mail me if you want to know more details.