May 2013
1 post
9 tags
Guest entry from our Volunteer in Guatemala!
Hey everybody!
So its been an interesting couple of days, filled with snakes, baby monkeys, parrrots, and festivals. There is a festival going on in Flores for some saint (apparently all the towns have a patron saint).
I’m now cleaning a couple cages full of parrots and I still cant tell the difference between all the species. Well I can distinguish them but not whether they are fronted...
February 2013
2 posts
6 tags
How do you keep volunteers safe?
Recently someone asked us this, we thought it was such a good question, we should tell everyone the answer!
First, we believe a good defense is a good offense. We have been too all of the Placement Partner locations to inspect, participate, view and judge the transportation, activities, humane care, volunteer care and living conditions. We have met the people you will be staying with, working...
9 tags
Why do we visit field sites?
We hear about hundreds of animal projects and believe us, we want to help them all! However, we made the very conscious decision to visit all of our Placement Partners before we send AEI clients to volunteer. This means there can be a few month delay first contact with the organization and being able to send volunteers. But trust us, visiting Placement Partner sites is important for you and the...
January 2013
3 posts
16 tags
Interested in helping our Placement Partners but don’t want to volunteer directly with animals?
Many people feel empathy towards animals and are interested by them but aren’t comfortable with handling them. Whether you feel like you aren’t experienced enough or simply want to volunteer in a different capacity, we have the experience for you. Our Placement Partners around the...
10 tags
The Animal Trade
You are traveling in S.E Asia. You see an animal in a cage. What would you do? What should you do?
This is an interesting article that will get you thinking about the animal trade around the world.
Remember, when you travel DO NOT take part in animal tourism. Elephant rides, monkey activities, parrot pictures are all very damaging to the animals, the ecosystems and the economy.
Those animals...
Happy 2013!
Happy Holidays to all of our amazing Partners, Placement Partners, Clients and Supporters!! Thank you so much for being part of the AEI family this year.
We couldn’t have helped so many people realize their dreams of traveling the world and volunteering with animals, if it wasn’t for your kind and generous support throughout this year.
To all of our clients and Placement Partners...
December 2012
2 posts
In the field with volunteer Julie.
Want to know about orangutan rehabilitation and how you can help them from the comfort of your own home? Want to learn about leeches without having to meet one? Want to drink a cup of coffee while you read about a volunteer slogging through the rivers of Sumatra?
Well, here is your chance! Julie is a long term volunteer who is on location in Sumatra documenting orangutan and elephant...
November 2012
4 posts
5 tags
“Where there is a will there is a way”
– English proverb said by an AEI client about fundraising for her trip!
8 tags
Flying Foxes
I walk through the forest with a mixture of awe and dread. I am in northern Queensland – Australia’s tropics, and I am looking for Flying Foxes. I can hear them high above me in the trees in the hundreds, chattering and squealing excitedly as they socialize and squabble. This is their colony and crèche, the place they gather at this time of year, Australia’s spring, to have their babies, to...
9 tags
AEI Goes Down Under
AEI is off to Australia. As the Veterinary Coordinator I am traveling to Oz to check out some new and exciting Placement Partners for Animal Experience International. First stop will be in Queensland where I will visit Australia’s tropics, at the beginning of their hot and humid season. I am excited to be stopping in at the Bat Hospital, one of our existing partners, to see what new work they are...
October 2012
5 posts
6 tags
Everything is Connected
As the Veterinary Coordinator at AEI, I am constantly being reminded of how everything is connected. When you work with animals, especially wildlife, you come to understand what a huge impact people have on their lives. With our companion animals this impact is positive for the most part. People care for their companions, providing them with love, food, shelter and the social interactions that are...
“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.”
– Thoreau
You are important.
Love yourself. Accept yourself. Forgive yourself, and be good to yourself. Because without you, the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things.
6 tags
From the vaults. 2.0
A quick blog post from our Volunteer Coordinator: Nora Livingstone from when she was in Thailand volunteering at the elephant sanctuary we are now partnered with!
Originally written 14 February 2008:
“Happy Valentines Day to my date: a baby elephant!
WELL this sanctuary is the BEST animal sanctuary of life!! I love it. I get to wake up and rub the bellies of 16 dogs, then I go on a forest...
September 2012
6 posts
From the vaults.
In 2008 Nora, our Volunteer Coordinator lived in Nepal for a few months. We decided to go back to her travel blog and re-post some of it. Enjoy thoughts from baby Nora when she volunteered with the animal treatment center in Kathmandu we are now partnered with!
— February 2008 —
Today I started the next leg of my journey. I am volunteering with an animal centre.
Let me explain why I...
“Even if it’s a little thing, do something for those who have need of a...”
– Albert Schweitzer
“Affect= to influence (verb)
Effect= a result (noun)
MUST REMEMBER THE...”
“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the...”
– Wilfred Peterson
7 tags
Advocacy!
We are constantly being inspired by our clients.
We love hearing about their fundraising efforts, their tireless dedication to the organizations they volunteer for and the global community of advocates they are recruiting!
Right now we have two vet techs who are raising funds to get to Nepal to volunteer with the street dog populations. Their fundraising efforts are nothing short of awesome....
August 2012
2 posts
6 tags
A lesson in changing the world.
You have the power to change the world. We promise.
How can we promise that? Because the world is changed by every action you take. Sure, picking up a plastic bag on the beach won’t drastically change import and export laws in Canada but for the sea turtle who would have eaten it and died of malnutrition- his life is saved, his world is changed. You have changed a life, and therefore you...
July 2012
2 posts
“If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.”
5 tags
Fundraising and you
So you want to go on a trip but the fees have you terrified?
We understand and want to help you.
As we mentioned before, the fees aren’t there to discourage you- they are there to help you. Our fees mean that your food, housing, transport to and from the airport, carbon footprint, supplies and training (AEI and Placement Partner) are taken care of (oh and we even have a donation to the...
June 2012
4 posts
“Your life is your message to the world. Make sure it’s inspiring.”
– unknown.
6 tags
Oragnutans, elephants and your epic life!
We aren’t going to use the term opportunity of a life time very often. Many of our trips are so amazing, you will want to go again and again. AEI was created because Nora got addicted to volunteering with these great organizations and wanted to share her amazing experiences.
However, the Experience we are about to tell you about IS an opportunity of a lifetime. We just partnered with a...
7 tags
Turtleland, population: us.
Earlier this week both AEI directors went in to the wild of Central Ontario to better understand a project our Canadian turtle-y Placement Partner was working on. We were in for one of the best days of our AEI lives! We happily canoed away from our desks and towards a remote island located in the middle of a wetland. We were loaded down with bug nets, bug spray and a healthy appreciation for the...
8 tags
Nice compass, what the heck is AEI?
Once upon a time there was a vet named Heather and an unemployed volunteer coordinator named Nora. While at a BBQ they dreamed a little dream. After a lot of work, some swearing and a few beers, AEI was more than a dream- it was reality, with a website!
So what is AEI? AEI is a way that Nora and Heather can give back to the world that has treated them so well. It’s a way they can help not...
April 2012
3 posts
We are LIVE!!
www.animalexperienceinternational.com is LIVE! ALLLLLIVE!!! Go check us out and tell us how much you love it— or if there is anything you think we should change.
tumblrbot asked: WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?
“I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on...”
– Harun Yahya
March 2012
2 posts
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day...”
–
Mark Twain
