Travelling in University with a Purpose

By Kianna LaBine

Studying abroad is the first thing I think of when anyone mentions travelling while in school. It is a popular program in universities across the board; and honestly, sounds like a great time. The University of Alberta --where I went for my degree, offers many programs in tons of countries, including a South Africa field program. Once I investigated more, I realized that this was definitely something I could not afford. At the time the summer program was $15,000 for the International student fees alone, plus flights and living expenses.  

I began looking for international internships and volunteering in basically any country that had animals.  Since I had never traveled alone before, I wanted to go through a reputable third-party group to ensure I was in good hands. Some of the larger organizations that I was looking at were Volunteerhq.org, gvicanada.ca and goeco.org. My search began with each website, time commitment, price, duties, requirements, and the countries average temperature at the time (I really did not want to spend weeks outside in 40+ weather). I weighed the pros and cons of each opportunity and ended up with my choice – Cango Wildlife Ranch in South Africa offered by Goeco.org.  I applied and right away they reached out to me to get more information as well as see what my expectations were. They helped with planning flights, pick-up from the airport and settling my nerves.  I also managed to get a leave from work because it was beneficial to my education.
It was my second year of university; I was still living at home and when I told my mother I wanted to go to South Africa she almost fainted. After a lot of convincing, she decided I could go but she would be joining. She had contacted Goeco to see if she would be allowed to volunteer for a short time as well, and they said yes. So that’s how my mother and I ended up in South Africa together. We explored some of the country for a couple weeks before the volunteering began. Once we got to the town where the Cango Ranch was, we were picked up from the airport and transported to the home where we were to live --the beautiful home of the Ranch owners, it even had a pool! There was someone cooking for us and cleaning up after us too; honestly, it was a dream situation. We spent our days feeding and cleaning enclosures of many of Africa’s animals, including large cats, lemurs, meerkats, bat-eared foxes, and fruit bats! After 2 weeks my mother had left, and I was moved into a different house where I lived with 8-10 other people of similar age. We had a blast; we were going out to bars in the evenings and exploring the country on the weekends. At 19 years old my body still functioned on no sleep.  This was a very luxurious volunteer experience to say the least.

My mother and I with cheetahs after they were exhausted from their enrichment activity

Suppertime for the groundhog.

During my third year of university, I thought I would find an internship to do with animals that was a little more “work” per se than the South Africa one.  Most countries require a visa to stay for longer than 60 or 90 days and most internships are about 4 months, this left me in Canada. As a pretty broke student used to living at home, I knew I couldn’t afford both food and accommodations. Luckily, I had found a few Internships in Canada in wildlife rehabilitation that offered accommodations and that’s how I ended up in Ontario for the summer at Wild at Heart Wildlife Refuge.  When I first arrived, it was baby season and it was a huge adjustment becoming a functional zombie and feeding baby animals until 3 in the morning every day.  It was totally worth it to see the progress of baby animals growing into the adult versions we are more familiar with! As they grew up, it was fascinating to see their personalities change, but a part of them always stayed the same. I had cared for a multitude of species from turtles to birds to deer while I was there. Identifying bird species was surprisingly a very fulfilling task for me. Before coming here I had very little knowledge about birds and was not particularly interested in them. This experience gave me so much more than just hands on experience with the orphaned, sick and injured wildlife.

​Living on-site with the other interns was a whole other experience. We all came from different backgrounds of experience, education, and for some of us even different countries; but at the end of the day, we all shared the same love for animals. We could communicate and work together as a team not only regarding animal welfare, but also life in general. Relationships grow very fast when you not only work together each day but also live in the same area and even room with one another. We became one big family.
 
After I graduated university I planned on travelling -- big surprise right! Australia was the place of choice, mainly to see koalas. I figured if I am flying halfway across the world I might as well volunteer and learn more about exotic species. Australia has many opportunities to volunteer or intern with wildlife, so I began applying everywhere and emailing every wildlife centre I could find. I ended up getting quite ill in Australia and volunteered for just over 2 weeks’ time at a koala hospital in Adelaide. This still allowed me to learn so much about Australian species and their very interesting marsupial animals.

Waiting for Jonathan the Koala to wake up from anesthetic for his burnt foot treatment.

Benefits of volunteering and interning:

• Find out if this is the career for you
• Gain valuable work experience
• Learn a new culture
• Gain confidence and life skills
• Advance academically
• Opportunity for academic credit such as co-op
• Improve language skills

 
Tips:

• Take your student card-- you never know where you can get a discount
• Transportation tricks:
  • Ride share
  • Shared rides with companies like Uber or Lyft
• Accommodation tricks
  • Hostels – a great way to meet people, but don’t forget ear plugs
  •  couchsurfing.com - do your research with hosts because I once ended up in a trailer with 4 people and no bed
  • Work for your accommodation - work for stay, Workaway, Help X, WWOOF, skill stay & internships

Kianna LaBine has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Alberta, and has always had a passion for animals. She is currently working at the Edmonton Humane Society as a Programs & Services administrator; two of their main programs are the PALS (Prevent Another Litter Subsidy) program and the TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) program. The PALS program allows low-income families an opportunity to have their animals spayed or neutered at a discounted price to reduce the community’s homeless pet population. The TNR program helps feral cat colonies by humanely preventing unwanted litters and helping to combat pet overpopulation. 

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