Program Reviews

It was a great privilege to work as a volunteer for the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) at Sepilok for four weeks. My first day commenced with an induction by the Sun Bear keepers. I was introduced to all Sun Bears, safety procedures were explained and the keepers demonstrated how to perform the work required. I assisted the keepers by preparing food, cleaning pens and making enrichment for the bears. The keepers were a pleasure to work with and my enrichment ideas were welcomed. The bear house is well designed and easy to work in. The neighbouring outdoor enclosure is a large primary forest area with many tall trees and plenty of shade. This area allows the bears to exhibit natural bear behaviour e.g. climbing trees, digging, breaking apart rotten logs searching for insects. As a volunteer you really get to know and recognise the bears individually. They all have different pale orange-yellow markings on their chest and all have their own personality. I particularly enjoyed observing the bears in their forest enclosure and during their enrichment activities.

While working as a volunteer I observed first hand the hard work, long hours and dedication of Siew Te Wong (CEO and Founder of BSBCC) and Wai Pak (BSBCC Project Manager). They are great ambassadors for the Sun Bear. They are extremely committed to helping the Sun Bear. I feel extremely privileged to have worked with such dedicated people and remarkable animals. I will miss the people and the bears but look forward to coming back and seeing how the bears have developed and progressed to their final destination, their true home, THE FOREST.

It is hard work in the hot humid jungle environment, but i love hard work, so it was perfect. You get to see & know so much about the bears everyday. We saw all kinds of other animals in the rainforest there too, orangutans, red leaf monkeys, macaques, snake, hornbills & countless other birds. You can learn so much about the precious eco system of the rainforest, both flora & fauna, from the centre's founder wong. You also learn lots about conservation & other wildlife issues from all the other people there. It is an experience i will never forget & will cherish till the day i die. & also a really important cause to support.

This was the first time I had done a volunteering program and I was really surprised by how much i got out of the 7 days.

The organizers and fellow workers at the conservation are just fantastic and extremely helpful to ensure that you get the most out of your experience.

I went with a friend and she had done a lot of volunteering in the past and classed the accommodation as the "hilton" of volunteering programs - so in short excellent accommodation and facilities.

Each day consists of something different and essentially involves you in the husbandry of the various animals. The week before we arrived, a baby sun bear "Badue" was bought to the center and its hard not to fall in love with an animal like that. So if you are animal lover, this is for you.

You also get to do some manual labor, which for me was the most enjoyable, being stuck behind a computer for 15 hours a day at work means not a lot of time to get my hands dirty and the cage enrichment/building was really enjoyable - i.e. start something from the beginning and watch something get built from the ground up.. if i went back i would probably take a power saw though! A lot of wood to cut!!

I would highly recommend this to someone who enjoys animals and wants to give a little something back to well deserved cause.

I am a HUGE animal lover, so to be able to work with/learn about/take care of a variety of wild animals was an amazing experience. The staff at the Center are super friendly, the program people want to make sure you get the most out of the experience, and working with the animals is truly priceless. I can not say enough good things about this experience. Each day you will help clean and feed a different type of animal so you can learn about each one (birds, monkeys, baby bear, and of course the amazing orangutans).....and you only have to participate at the level you are comfortable with. I truly recommend this program if you are interested in wildlife and would like to help/contribute in some small way to their daily happiness.

When I first saw the advert to teach English as a volunteer in Thailand, I was a bit apprehensive
because it meant that I would be arriving in a foreign country on my own. I need not have worried
because June the Volunteer Organiser met me and she was so friendly and quickly put me at ease.

We travelled to Surin the following day to the volunteer accommodation. The house is lovely, it's only
about three years old, very modern with lovely wet rooms. June the Volunteer Organiser only lives 3 minutes walk away. In the evening we would go to June's house or she would bring us home cooked
food. The food was lovely and June is an amazing cook. June did everything to make my trip as
worthwhile as possible and would take me out in the evening to sample the area's attractions.

Each day the volunteers would be driven to the school where we were teaching. The Director and
the teachers of the school made you feel most welcome and had great respect for you.
The teaching wasn't difficult and the children were most respectful. They really enjoyed the lessons
and the input from foreign teachers.

I would recommend volunteering to teach English to everyone. It's such a worthwhile experience and
I am so pleased that I did it and will never forget the wonderful children that I taught

This is the first mountain I climbed and I loved every minute of it. I felt like with the people I climbed with we became a little family, looking out for each other! If you want to do a volunteering holiday/trip I would recommend this. The staff was very friendly and very helpful.

In September 2012 I was given the opportunity to assist with the work preserving wildlife, and in particular Malaysian tigers in Taman Negara, Malaysia. From the moment we were first picked up from the train station, until we left we were looked after by the wonderful staff at Ecoteer.

Upon arrival at the accomodation centre, we were greeted with a nice comfy bed in a large gender split dorm room. The next day our group were led into the jungle to look for signs of animals and animal poaching, in particular traps which we took the pleasure of destroying. Many interesting footprints, critters and stunning scenery along the way. Just be sure to watch for the leeches!

A wonderful swim in the local fresh water pool was the perfect cure after a sweaty days' trekking. At night we were able to enjoy a meal and a few cold beverages talking about all the action of the day.

Next morning up bright and early to find some more traps and reset the camera traps used to capture the animals in their major animal "highways", seeing pictures of tigers that have been walking on the same path as you only a few days before was pretty special. We were taken to a viewpoint overlooking the whole area. Very cool. Finally the day was finished cooling off in another fresh water stream. Perfect ending.

It was a great weekend, and I definitely learnt a lot. It is great to see that there is people out there that care about our world and the dwindling numbers of important animals to the ecosystem. Keep up the good work!