I was on the Pioneer program for a total of eight weeks and loved almost every minute of it! The construction work challenged me just enough to drive me to improve my own skills, and if there was something I did struggle with the local construction team and the guides were always there to help. I found that the nature of our work meant that the volunteers worked together well as a team and therefore I have now made (hopefully) friends for life from across the globe.

One of the aspects I enjoyed the most was the chatting that we all started when we were working, because it wasn't just the volunteers and the Malagasy guys in separate groups, there was a lot of overlapping between everyone, resulting in me learning a lot of Malagasy while I was there.

Another benefit of doing the Pioneer program is that if you are volunteering for 6 or more weeks, the last two weeks are spent at the conservation permanent location in Saint Luce, which meant I was able to get a view of the consvation efforts that SEED undertakes as well as making an immediate difference in the construction side of the program.

It is weird to say that I loved my experience here, because the experience included a stark view of the world; it is difficult to believe that the poverty of this country and its citizens can coexist in a world with other developed countries of affluence and wealth. However, I found myself completely immersed in the experience of understanding the complexities of these issues and excited to help with the current work. I really enjoyed my experience working in the Pioneer program and then participating in the Conservation program. Each program immersed you in a community and I was able to learn about Malagasy culture in a respectful, yet participatory way. You experience the poverty that you help to alleviate, and it is clear that you can see SEED's tangible impacts throughout the community.

I had the most amazing experience with Seed Madagascar, the staff were all friendly and helpful and although living at the rural conservation project camp in Ste Luce was often challenging the support network between everyone there was incredible. I learned so much from talking to staff as well as when participating in the surveys being conducted at that time. Some of the most important things I feel my time at the project taught me however, were less academic and defiantly more personal. It taught me not to give up because the people of Ste Luce always managed to smile and laugh and get through the day no matter what was thrown at them, and also to appreciate what I have at home. After just 6 weeks I nearly cried when I came home and actually got to sleep on a proper bed, was amazed at light bulbs and switches, western toilets and food that did not contain rice! The last 3 things are actually in fact present in the town camp but as I spent 5 days there out of my 6 weeks and honestly enjoyed the rural camp more (spiders and all despite being at total wimp at home when it comes to them) I really did come to understand just how much I had taken for granted up until that point in my life.

In my opinion it is vital that more people do volunteering like this and I would recommend it to anyone. Westerners live in a society that takes many things for granted. Often life its self. Working in this part of Madagascar will be a harsh but seriously needed reality check for some people and I hope that they will accept the challenge to open themselves to how the rest of the world have to live, while also helping to improve things for local people and the environment while there. I have definitely come out of this experience a stronger and I believe a better person.

Spending ten weeks in Madagascar meeting such wonderful people, doing such amazing work and enjoying such a beautiful place is one of the best decisions I have ever made - join the programme!!

The variety of tasks that the charity is engaged in and which I was able to assist with is truly staggering and paints a picture of an organization which understands the interconnectivity of the problems affecting the people of the region. During the pioneer programme I assisted with conservation and climate change research, reforestation projects, community consultations, English teaching, sanitation projects, construction and probably more which I have forgotten. One particularly memorable task involved trekking up a remote river system in search of a critically endangered water palm to assist in a doctoral thesis.

I volunteered with SEED Madagascar in the Autumn/Winter of 2011 for 10 weeks. In this time I was part of a team helping to build a school in a rural village outside of Fort Dauphin, and towards the end of my time, we built fuel efficient stoves in remote communities in the surrounding area. Living in the areas where the projects were based, we met and worked with the people that these projects directly effect, making the work ever more rewarding.

I cannot recommend this programme enough, having come straight from sixth form at the time, I did a lot of developing and learning, the experiences I had will stay with me forever. The teams in the UK and Fort Dauphin are very supportive of all staff and volunteers before and during their time in Madagascar, they are always happy to help. We learnt the local language with lessons from our local guides, whilst getting involved with the local communities and culture. In short, I wouldn't think twice about returning to do this project again, this experience above and beyond anything similar.

Volunteering with SEED Madagascar was an eye-opening and rewarding experience. I went
in order to gain experience of ˨eld conservation projects and learned a tremendous
amount. The other volunteers, staff and guides were friendly and helpful. They were most willing to share ideas and discuss conservation issues which was a tremendous learning experience.

The work was varied and interested. We did transects searching for lemurs, reptiles and amphibians and bats, as well as tree counts. It was a fascinating insight into the biodiversity of the region.

Camp life in St. Luce was bliss. It is a beautiful environment, the food was excellent and there was a friendly and warm atmosphere. I would highly recommend volunteering with SEED.

I've been back home now for the past 4 weeks, and I'm still missing Sainte Luce! Being out there for 4 weeks you get into a routine so it was sad to leave the people and the beautiful landscape and wildlife behind. I decided to do my dissertation research whilst I was there, and had great support from both the London and Madagascar offices in helping to organise it and the good working relationship that Seed has with the local people made it easy to find participants!

I also joined the surveys and was amazed at how close we were to the local wildlife population, with a forest fragment only across the road from camp, and frequent visits from brown lemurs trying to steal bananas! The Malagasy guides are very informative and friendly and seem to have a natural ability to spot wildlife from a mile away- even from a moving taxi! The programme was very flexible allowing you to choose what activities you participated in and more importantly giving you plenty of time to take photos!

Although the idea of staying in a tent for longer than a week may put you off, investing in a good camping mattress meant that honestly you couldn't tell much difference, whilst the food was varied and there were plenty of opportunities to change it up a bit, including buying lobsters for £5! I think if you are considering volunteering in Madagascar but are a little bit hesitant about travelling alone, it is worth it in the end and was a lot less scary than I was expecting. More importantly, I knew that the money I was spending was genuinely going to the projects. My only regret is not organising to travel more around Madagascar, but this gives me an excuse to go back!

As a slightly older volunteer (43!) I wanted a teaching role for six weeks to ‘recalibrate’ from the work routine and the teaching English project was exactly what I needed; with the right combination of challenge and travel. It was huge fun to go in to such different teaching environment from classes of 75 smiling students to the local dedicated NGO staff, everyone was so engaged in the learning the language. I hope they will remember their English lessons, especially our tongue twister challenges! I’ve come back energised by the people and the place and I wouldn't hesitate to go back for another project.