The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life Part 17

THE TANDANA FOUNDATION.

build a grain bin in one of the world's poorest countries.

KANSONGHO, MALI.

You will go home absolutely overwhelmed by what you saw, who you met, what you've learned, and how your heart has expanded. You will be inspired to exceed your own expectations of yourself.

-Jim, Tandana volunteer in Ecuador.

59 Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Well, when you're down on rung one, just trying to survive, reading, writing, and 'rithmetic aren't necessarily high on the agenda. In Mali, where less than 12 percent of the population know how to read, economic activity is largely confined to farming and fis.h.i.+ng. Women get up at 3:30 in the morning to fetch fuelwood and buckets of water, much of which comes from the Niger River, much of which is contaminated.

With 72 percent of the population living on less than a dollar a day and an 88 percent illiteracy rate, Mali is third from the bottom on the UN's Human Development Index.

Yet, despite Mali's overwhelming problems, Anna Taft, founder of the Tandana Foundation, says her organization's mission is one of cross-cultural education-making friends with and learning from a handful of the 12 million people in this landlocked country. The name Tandana, in fact, is a Quechua word meaning "to gather together" or "to unite."

Anna started the Tandana Foundation after teaching at a grade school in Panecillo, Ecuador. The four months she spent teaching and living with an Ecuadorian family were followed by other projects throughout the Andes, which led her to start the nonprofit that has the goal of giving people of all backgrounds an expanded sense of possibilities. Tandana offers scholars.h.i.+ps to kids in Ecuador and grants to villages in Mali, in addition to taking volunteers to both countries. In Mali, Tandana has created school gardens and tree nurseries, built a well, and is working on a book of folktales to benefit the villagers that shared their stories.

IT JUST TAKES ONE (OR TWO).

The influence of a beautiful, helpful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.

-Collier Graham, British jazz composer.

Mary Graham may just be one person, but because of this young American woman there are villages in Mali that now have solar power and clean water. Along with co-founder Kristin Johnson, whom she serendipitously met at a New York City restaurant as she was launching PSP, Graham started Practical Small Projects (PSP), a nonprofit based in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2005 to foster sustainable enterprise in the impoverished country.

After attending a solar energy workshop in Mexico, then seeing how Nicaraguans were able to generate income by setting up microenterprises using solar energy, she was inspired to introduce this type of work in Mali, Africa. With a budget of between $150,000 and $200,000 and a grand total of two employees (Graham and Johnson), PSP founded Afriq-Power.

This Malian nonprofit brings potable water, electricity, and infrastructure to remote villages and can produce as many as a thousand solar panels per month. Together, the two groups have installed water pumps and brought electricity to dozens of villages. In turn, villagers have started businesses that allow them to stay in their remote villages and earn a living.

At Banco School, where a 35-watt solar module (Mali's first one) and water pump were installed by Graham, Afriq-Power head Daniel Dembele, and 15 locals they trained as technicians, students went from 6 out of 36 pa.s.sing the national exam to 36 out of 37. Clearly, electric lights increase the students' productive hours, allowing them to study after dark, when the day's ch.o.r.es are finished.

Graham expressed her pride in the case study she wrote describing the impressive results of the Banco project, "When I left Mali I realized that with less than $6,000 that I managed to raise, we completed the following: 1) The development of a local enterprise manufacturing solar panels and cookers locally; 2) The completion of 7 locally constructed panels; 3) The installation of two of the locally made panels in Banco that powered 6 lights and a solar pump; and 4) The construction of 6 solar cookers. We could not help but be proud that such a small amount of money involved in this project is in stark contrast to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that characterize most development projects." Practical Small Projects, 4801 Courthouse Street, Suite 300, Williamsburg, VA 23188, www.practicalsmallprojects.com.

After several days of touring, including a stop in Tombouctou (Timbuktu), volunteers with Tandana's latest project will travel to Kansongho and work with villagers to build a grain bin and anti-erosion dikes. Both of these projects will help contribute to food security for the local people.

Among the places you will visit is Mali's Dogon Country, home to about 350,000 Dogons and one of the country's most popular tourist destinations thanks to the striking scenery around the Bandiagara Escarpment, a 90-foot, nearly vertical cliff. Its crevices hide the homes of the ancient Tellem people who, according to legend, flew to reach their dwellings. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, the region has caves, overhangs, and elaborate, ancient mud buildings.

Not only will you ride camels into the Sahara, but you'll sleep in the desert under the stars (if only for one night), travel the Niger River by pina.s.se, and visit the tiny outpost of Ende, famous for its mudcloths, indigo cloths, woodcarvings, and other Dogon crafts. Along the way you'll meet fishermen, nomads, wood-carvers, and textile producers.

The 16-day trip, including lodging with a local family and food, runs $2,500.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

The Tandana Foundation, 2933 Lower Bellbrook Road, Spring Valley, OH 45370, www.tandanafoundation.org.

ELEPHANTHUMAN RELATIONS AID

track and map desert elephants.

DAMARALAND, NAMIBIA.

Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.

-Motto of the Baltimore Grotto, a caving society.

60 Northwest Namibia-known as Damaraland-is one of the most isolated and scenically spectacular places on the planet. In a good year, the Namib Desert, a 15-million-year-old land of arid mountains, gets around 3 inches of rain. Drought, as they say, happens.

Miraculously, the desert elephants that roam this stark, lunarlike landscape are increasing in number, returning home to habitats they have not frequented for hundreds of years. At first blush, this sounds like good news.

But for the indigenous farmers who toil to sc.r.a.pe out a living in this remote and unforgiving landscape, the elephant herds are simply competing for precious water. The elephant population has grown from 52 about 20 years ago to more than 600 now. Less than 6 percent of this wide, reaching land is protected as wildlife habitat, so farmers reach for their rifles and think mainly of defending their resources when these giants they consider nuisances inadvertently damage windmills, water pumps, and wells.

BUSH SKILLS FOR BEGINNERS.

While you do not need any special training to work on this project, ElephantHuman Relations Aid will teach you the following skills: Camp craft: cooking over a fire, bush camp setup, safety, and hygiene Bush craft: tracking, approaching dangerous animals on foot, animal behavior, bush walking, navigation, map reading, and using a GPS Elephant identification: compiling identification kits on elephants Traditional building skills: constructing walls, fences, and other traditional structures.

NO SNOW REQUIRED.

The Namib Desert is not only the oldest desert on the planet, but it also has some of the world's largest dunes. Thrill seekers come to speed down these s.h.i.+fting mounds of sand on traditional Swakopmund "sandboards" or s...o...b..ards that have been adapted for desert use. They either slide down headfirst, maxing out at about 50 mph, or they carve the sand standing up, s...o...b..arding style (best attempted by those with some experience with surfing or s...o...b..arding).

Alter-Action, a company in Swakopmund that rents out specially adapted boards, has even set up runs that range from Little Nellie and Brigit, the bunny slopes of sandboarding, to Lizzie and Dizzie, the black diamonds of the desert. The only problem? The dunes s.h.i.+ft so quickly that it's impossible to install lifts, which means adrenaline seekers are forced to trudge to the top by foot. Alter-Action, P.O. Box 3992, Swakopmund, Namibia, 264 81 128 27 37.

In 2001, Johannes Haasbroek, fresh from his work with Damaraland's black rhinos, decided to step in to arbitrate. The ElephantHuman Relations Aid (EHRA) project was launched to respond to the escalation in compet.i.tion for natural resources between the desert-dwelling elephants and human inhabitants of the northern Erongo and Kunene regions. The Gandhi of desert elephants, Haasbroek started EHRA to find a way humans and elephants could live peacefully together.

The movements and habits of the expanding wild elephant population, still adapting to their newfound freedom, are largely unknown. By tracking the elephants, EHRA and its volunteers provide important data that Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism can use to effectively manage the herds and avoid conflicts between farmers and elephants.

Volunteers on this two-week project (you can stay up to three months, however) work from remote field camps in the vicinity of the Brandberg-Namibia's highest mountain-and the ephemeral Ugab River, immersing themselves in pioneering conservation work. They track and map wild elephants, but they also mend fences, both figuratively and literally. Starting early in the morning, before the desert heat becomes unbearable, volunteers construct fences that protect windmills and other structures that thirsty elephants tend to get into.

Besides working to protect scarce supplies of water, volunteers here also support local schools, doing everything from building them to teaching students the importance of preserving ecosystems-even broaching the idea that maybe, just maybe, elephants could become an economic a.s.set. Volunteers have even been known to teach local women the fine art of making paper from elephant dung. Your duties will vary according to the needs of the project and those of the local community: You might be on camp duty one day and help build a tourist camp the next day.

Sandwiched between the Skeleton Coast and Etosha National Park in the east, the harsh stretch of burned mountains and rugged semidesert known as Damaraland has been described by some as the land G.o.d created in anger, and by others as the last great wilderness on Earth. You'll share its open plains and gra.s.sland with giraffes, gemsboks, springboks, hyenas, lions, leopards, baboons, and ostriches.

You'll camp under the stars, eat meals around a campfire, and pay just $720 for a two-week stay.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

ElephantHuman Relations Aid, P.O. Box 2146, Swakopmund, Namibia, 264 64 402 501, www.desertelephant.org; U.S. contact: c/o Doreen Niggles, P.O. Box 272, Wainscott, NY 11975.

AMANZI TRAVEL LTD.

bottle-feed orphaned lion cubs.

VICTORIA FALLS, ZAMBIA.

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe, the less taste we shall have for its destruction.

-Rachel Carson, American author and environmentalist.

61 In 1972, when Living Free-the sequel to the influential, Oscar-winning 1966 movie Born Free-was released, more than 200,000 lions roamed the African continent. Between feline tuberculosis, poaching, and diminis.h.i.+ng habitat, that number today has dwindled to fewer than 15,000. If something isn't done soon, this icon of Africa could well be extinct.

That's why Amanzi Travel, a British-based travel company, offers volunteers the chance to work with, and hopefully save, the "king of beasts." Gemma Whitehouse named her company Amanzi after the lion cub she helped rear on her own volunteer vacation to Africa. So it's fitting her company would give its customers the same chance.

A former international marketing director in the United Kingdom, Whitehouse offers adventure expeditions, luxury safaris, and more than 30 volunteer vacations to Africa, one of which includes babysitting lion cubs. She likes to say, "Everyone at some point in their lives deserves to do something amazing."

On this volunteer vacation with a work base at Thorntree Lodge near Livingstone, you will, for all intents and purposes, be the pride for orphaned lion cubs, ranging in age from several weeks to 18 months. You'll bottle-feed tiny cubs and take the older ones for walks in the bush, giving them a chance to observe, smell, and feel the wild and improve their hunting skills. You'll also be involved in feeding, cleaning, and data-collecting that will enable the lion rehabilitation center to better care for the animals until they're released into the wild, the ultimate aim for each of the cubs there.

Located along the Zambezi River within Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, this project is close to the park's namesake, Victoria Falls. The locals call the falls Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means the "smoke that thunders." Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989, this enormous cataract also consistently appears on lists of the world's seven natural wonders compiled by authorities ranging from ABC to CNN to the Guardian newspaper.

SOMEWHERE OVER THE MOONBOW.

Although some people prefer to take in the majesty of Victoria Falls from the safety of the viewing platform, excitement addicts may choose to microlight overhead, white-water raft below, or bungee jump betwixt and between.

And if you happen to time your visit to coincide with a full moon, you can view a lunar rainbow. Victoria Falls is one of just four places in the world where they occur. Also known as moonbows, these spectacular arcs attract thousands of people to the national parks on both sides of Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia and Victoria National Park in Zimbabwe). The parks stay open late just for the spectacle. The light of the full moon is refracted through the same mists that cause the perpetual rainbow during the day. If you go during January through March, when the water is highest, be sure to take a raincoat.

Also within striking distance of Victoria Falls are Matobo National Park (where you can see rhinos), Hw.a.n.ge National Park (it's roughly the size of Belgium), and hippo-dodging canoe and kayak trips down the Zambezi.

Another activity for volunteers here is giving conservation lessons at nearby schools and providing a.s.sistance in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, where you'll walk dung transects and take game censuses, perhaps of elephants or buffaloes. Other species found here include African wild dog, greater kudo, and waterbuck.

Volunteering at Mosi-oa-Tunya, including simple but comfortable shared rooms in the volunteer house in Livingstone (there's even a swimming pool) and three meals a day, runs 1,195 ($1,785) for two weeks or 1,895 ($2,830) for four weeks.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

Amanzi Travel Limited, No. 4 College Road, Westbury on Trym, Bristol BS9 3EJ, England, 44 1179 041924, www.amanzitravel.co.uk.

AFRICAN IMPACT.

rebuild a storm-demolished coastal town.

VILANCULOS, MOZAMBIQUE.

Volunteer work has revolutionized my life. It has, in the best possible, most dramatic and rewarding way, turned my life inside out and upside down.

-Ashley Judd, actress.

62 Mozambique, which was exploited for centuries by Portuguese colonialists, emerged from decades of civil war in 1992 as one of the world's poorest countries. While humans have caused problems in the country, nature has not always been kind here, either.

Vilanculos, a popular beach destination on Mozambique's Indian Ocean, had just recovered from devastating floods that left 80,000 Mozambicans homeless and 30 dead when it was socked again by Cyclone Favio, a powerful storm that delivered its knockout blow on February 22, 2007. The roofs of the hospital, the schools, and 80 percent of the homes were blown off like the seeds of a dandelion.

African Impact (AI), a family-owned, Zimbabwe-based travel company that offers volunteer excursions in 12 African countries, provided much of the initial relief work. And they're still there, rebuilding homes, working in rural orphanages, and teaching English, all with the help of their trusty volunteers.

The homes in Vilanculos, four out of five which lost their roofs, were lucky in contrast to their more remote neighbors. In the rural areas outside of Vilanculos, people live in thatched huts, many of which were completely flattened by the storm's fury. AI, based in Vilanculos, is currently building about two new homes in these rural areas per month. Building simple, rustic structures can be backbreaking work, but volunteers find it extremely rewarding interacting with throngs of curious children who come to watch and challenge workers to pickup games of soccer.

At the orphanage, volunteers provide English and Portuguese instruction with visual aids and an interpreter, partic.i.p.ate in developmental play with the children, engage them in sports such as Frisbee and soccer, provide one-on-one attention, and teach crafts, such as making rag rugs and sh.e.l.l mobiles or decorating pots. In the community-based project, volunteers teach in a rural preschool using songs, games, and crafts; teach English, life skills, and soccer to youth; and a.s.sist an outreach program that empowers local women who are HIV positive by teaching them trade skills. You'll also have the opportunity to learn some basic Portuguese and Xitsua-the local Mozambican language.

VAMIZI DOES IT.

The Zoological Society of London (along with the Mozambique government, a bunch of marine biologists, and a cotton gin entrepreneur) recently opened a small eco-resort in the Quirimbas Islands, just off Mozambique's north coast. The goal is to preserve the island's biodiversity (marine biologist Isabel Silva says there are more species of coral here than in the Great Barrier Reef) and to support the local community whose fishermen monitor the green and hawksbill turtles, dugongs, and humpback whales. In return, the lodge buys their fish and funds the local school and health clinic.

The resort has 12 thatched wooden bungalows perched on stilts. There's no television or air-conditioning (cell phones do work, though), but to make up for it, guests enjoy sunken marble showers, expansive verandas, and hand-carved Mozambican furniture and screens. Nelson Mandela is among the lodge's guests who have hiked out to the island's old Portuguese lighthouse, past yellow-bellied sunbirds, Samango monkeys, and huge Friar b.u.t.terflies. Vamizi Island Lodge, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, 258 272 21299, www.vamizi.com.