I’m Ellie, a 19-year-old from North East England and I have come to volunteer with MRCI in Madagascar for 10 weeks. Part of the draw to come to Madagascar was the chance to learn some new skills and experience things I have never experienced before. Being part of the marine conservation volunteer team here at MRCI has allowed me to do this and has been both more rewarding and challenging than I was expecting.

With limited swimming experience and zero SCUBA or snorkeling abilities I found that simply being submerged in water with an artificial air source was daunting and nearly caused me to give up more than once in my first session. Had it not been for the perseverance and tough love attitude of one of our instructors, Alex, it’s more than likely that I would not have continued with the course and would not be sitting here now having completed my PADI Open Water course.

Our sessions are a mix of scuba skills, species point outs and exploring the fringe reefs that surround our little island of Nosy Komba. Most sessions end with the swim back to shore as everyone reiterates the events underwater, this time with a verbal narration and justification for their actions, such as the time a fellow volunteer mistook Kyle’s instruction to mean to stop and kneel down therefore dividing our group. Needless to say, he was awarded the title of “Dick of The Week”.

As a marine conservation volunteer, we partake in seagrass surveys with Ethan wherein we randomly place quadrats and collect data on the different varieties of sea grass, the area of coverage per quadrat, sediment grain size and whether or not there is evidence of turtles feeding. Other non-scuba activities include turtle watch, which is exactly that, and requires that we record the number of turtles that are surfacing and breathing in the water in order to collect data on population size. This data subsequently needs to be input into a table and stored.

We are fortunate that surrounding Nosy Komba there are multiple reefs to explore including Turtle Towers, Verona and Tanikely, just to name a few. This provides ample opportunity to see a wide variety of the abundant species that Madagascar has to offer. Part of our roles as volunteers, upon completing our Advanced courses, will be to partake in species surveys. Therefore, we each choose a group of organisms to study – sessile, benthic or active swimmers. My choice is sessile which, although always in situ, can manifest in many different forms of hard and soft corals, sponges and anemones and within that have many growth forms, colours, and forms of colonization.

Usually we have at least one dive per day depending on conditions, tanks available and number of staff and volunteers. We’ve had the opportunity to do adventure dives such as the drift dive, wreck dive and night dives which are exciting and provide us with new environments not only to explore but to test our skills. The vast plethora of sea life is incredible and not to be taken for granted as you will see things here that you do not get to see anywhere else.

For me, one of the best parts about being a marine conservation volunteer with MRCI is how passionate, enthusiastic and fun the team are about everything that they do. Their knowledge is also unparalleled and their uncanny fervor for Nudibranch’s is entertaining.

Learn More about our Marine Conservation Volunteer Program

or Sign up Now!

The Ampoagna Clinic Will Changes Lives For The Better,

Volunteer with us in Madagascar and make a difference!

Last week MRCI began construction on a medical clinic in the small village of Ampoagna, located on the mainland. The mayor for the region, who is also the only local doctor, currently has nowhere to see and treat his patients. Twelve volunteers and staff member travelled to Ampoagna on the Spirit of Malala, bringing lots of cement, willing attitudes, and an abundance of enthusiasm.

When we let the villagers know that the Spirit of Malala was starting its journey to Ampoagna, they ran down to the beach to await its arrival despite being told the trip would take several hours. The volunteers were greeted warmly when they arrived. The local President and the village Mayor gave touching speeches encouraging the villagers to help the volunteers as much as possible and inviting the volunteers to make Ampoagna their home during their stay.

Throughout the next several days, the volunteers worked side by side with the villagers to make hundreds of concrete bricks. They accomplished so much that MRCI sent extra supplies mid-way through the trip! When they weren’t building, they played football with the children and taught English lessons.

The volunteers came back to camp raving about their experience in Ampoagna. Despite very simple living conditions and no access to any but the most basic amenities, they left feeling wonderful about their contribution and meaningful interactions with the local community. Over the next two months, MRCI is looking forward to sending several more groups of volunteers. The next group left for Ampoagna on July 1^st, with the goal of turning those bricks into foundations for the clinic.

Learn More About Our Community Development Program

This month MRCI had two special volunteers on camp, Father-daughter duo, Zara and Zain. They travelled from their home in Mumbai, India, to work on our forest conservation program. During their two weeks on camp they participated in forest transects, species identifications, our lemur study, and the church walk. Both Zara and Zain brought amazing attitudes and contributed not only to their own projects, but to camp as a whole.

Zara is only 15 years old but already has a passion for conservation work. She spent months before arriving at MRCI looking for a conservation project she could volunteer on during her summer holiday. Due to her age however, she was not able to come to the MRCI camp unaccompanied by a parent, so she convinced her father to join her on this adventure! Zara felt this was the perfect opportunity to grow her own knowledge on conservation, and introduce her father to the topic.

Quality Father-Daughter Time

Zain admitted he was not sure what to expect before arriving but he agreed to join Zara so he could spend some quality father-daughter time with her. He described his time on camp as “coming out of a cocoon”. Zain stated that this trip allowed him to immerse himself in a new culture, as well as appreciate of the luxuries in his own life. He gave the example of going on the church walk, (an over night hike where the volunteers spend the night in a church). He said it was a tough hike but he was determined to get to the top. Once at the top the hikers enjoyed some traditional Malagasy food and were able to go to a juice bar which Zain and Zara both recalled as a highlight. They both agreed however, that watching the sunrise together over the ocean was one of the best memories they will be taking home with them!

When asked about their experience volunteering together both agreed that they were happy they had taken this journey together. This experience brought them closer together in ways had not foreseen and they enjoyed getting to learn new things about one another. They also shared that they were excited to take what they had learned at MRCI and apply it to their own lives, as well as share the information with others! Zain even has hopes of stating his own community and conservation projects back home!

We loved having this incredible father-daughter duo on camp and hope to see more people volunteering with their families in the future!

Learn More about our Forest Conservation Program

or Sign up Now!

Author: Alex Oelofse, Social Media Intern & Photographer

It is always fascinating to find out more about our staff, their backgrounds and essentially what brought them to MRCI. Below, we pay homage to our marine science manager, Tilo Kauerkoff. I decided there is no better way than to do a little interview with the man himself.

So, let’s get right to it, Tilo how old are you?

I’m 31.

Where are you from?

Germany.

What were you doing before you joined MRCI?

Well it has been a rather long road, including lots of studying. I guess I shall start at my first major degree in industrial engineering. I have always had a great fascination with space and after my degree I applied for an internship in the space industry where I became a trainee with the European Space Agency (ESA). I then wanted to study some more so I ended up studying a very specialized degree only available in Munich.  For short the degree goes by the name (Espace) which is an acronym for Earth Orientated Space Science and Technology. During this time, I also obtained a European scientific diving course, which teaches you specialized diving techniques making use of full face masks, dry suits, permanent buoy dives, etc. This type of diving is more specifically used for the accumulation of data for cartographies of lakes and water estuaries.  The diving was more geared towards fresh water biology, which was a field I wasn’t trained in, but found it interesting nonetheless.

Wow, that sounds like quite a long journey! Where did life end up taking you next?

I was quite sure that after all the studying I was ready for a break and some travelling and I have never been south of the equator so that was something that was of interest to me. I did quite a bit of searching and found myself lucky as I found a dive master training in Bali where I stayed for three months, after which I spent another three months in Gili Trawangan.

After this experience, I really fell in love with diving so I looked for similar jobs and that’s when I found the opening at MRCI for a marine science manager. I didn’t have enough expertise in the marine biology field as they would have liked so I started off as an intern in September 2017 and initially wanted to stay for 3 months, but I guess that didn’t happen as I’m still here. I will now be staying till mid-July where I will be going back to Europe. I guess we’ll see how that plays out.

Wow that is quite an amazing story Tilo. What would you say is your favourite part of diving with MRCI?

Well that’s a tough one. It’s not always about the spot but more about what you see, I would say, and the group you are doing it with.

And what would you say is your favourite aspect of camp?

Ah, that’s something that one sometimes tends to forget, but constantly being in nature is definitely a highlight!  Simple things like being so close to the beach, the luxury of being able to go for a quick snorkel at any time of day. Not having a car or no cars in any close vicinity and besides the generator every now and then I find myself only surrounded by natural noises, which I think is really healthy.

Check out our Marine Conservation Program