{"id":17752,"date":"2019-10-23T16:49:54","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T15:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/?p=17752"},"modified":"2019-10-23T22:56:11","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T21:56:11","slug":"why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I keep coming back to BV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Roger Vaughan is a retired teacher living in Napa, USA. He has been volunteering regularly with Blue Ventures since 2008, and has visited all three of our marine conservation expedition sites in <a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/belize\/\">Belize<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/madagascar\/\">Madagascar<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/timor-leste\/\">Timor-Leste<\/a>. This is his account of how his volunteering started, and why he keeps coming back.<\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I retired from teaching, over ten years ago now, I was looking for a new way to use my skills and time constructively. I\u2019ve always loved the oceans and diving, a love nurtured from my experiences teaching in the tropics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My wife told me that I should use my new-found free time by doing something crazy, wild and far away&#8230; So that\u2019s how I ended up in the remote village of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/madagascar\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andavadoaka<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in southwest Madagascar with Blue Ventures (BV) in 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The experience I had turned the clock back 40 years for me. I hadn\u2019t been so practical with my involvement in the ocean since grad school, and now I was collecting coral reef data twice a day! To make matters even better, the volunteer group was large, diverse and full of good and interesting people. The group dynamic, both amongst the volunteers and between us and the BV team, was fantastic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That same year, BV was beginning to branch out into <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/discover.blueventures.org\/safidy-10-years\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">community health and family planning<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, alongside their existing work in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/conservation\/rebuilding-fisheries\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fisheries<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/conservation\/blue-forests\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mangroves<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/madagascar\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reef monitoring<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and it was inspiring to see the diversity of engagement with the Andavadoaka community.<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 302px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 407px; height: 306px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/dcim100mediadji_0034-jpg\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20099\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DJI_0034.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1200,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;FC220&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;DCIM100MEDIADJI_0034.JPG&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1500312800&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.73&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;107&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.02&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;DCIM100MEDIADJI_0034.JPG&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Andavadoaka | Photo: Emre Erduran\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DJI_0034-476x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DJI_0034-644x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/DJI_0034-403x302.jpg\" width=\"403\" height=\"302\" align=\"left\" title=\"Andavadoaka | Photo: Emre Erduran\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 403px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 403\/302;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Andavadoaka | Photo: Emre Erduran<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 488px; height: 306px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/andavadoaka-312-louisejasper_preview\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20103\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Andavadoaka-312-LouiseJasper_preview.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1440,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Photo: Louise Jasper\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Andavadoaka-312-LouiseJasper_preview-571x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Andavadoaka-312-LouiseJasper_preview-745x466.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Andavadoaka-312-LouiseJasper_preview-484x302.jpg\" width=\"484\" height=\"302\" align=\"left\" title=\"Photo: Louise Jasper\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 484px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 484\/302;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Photo: Louise Jasper<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This first experience was the start of something special, and from that moment on I continued to travel with BV on a regular basis in order to access remote and beautiful places, and contribute to meaningful science at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve volunteered with BV in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/belize\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Belize<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at least five times now, as it\u2019s the easiest of their sites for me to get to. Over the years I\u2019ve gotten to know some of the team very well, and the homestay families that I\u2019ve stayed with too. I\u2019ve also helped with several projects at the dive camp in the Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve where the volunteers spend most of their time, including rewiring the entire camp, clearing half an acre of land, and building a rain catchment system to increase fresh water storage capacity. I\u2019ve also helped one of the children in my homestay family with her marine biology classes and, of course, completed many underwater surveys!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve found these experiences very rewarding for a number of reasons. The freedom of being in such an isolated place, the engagement with the community in mainland Sarteneja, and the real sense of doing good and valuable work.<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 391px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 589px; height: 395px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/bcdc_ldg_2017-117_preview\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20107\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/BCDC_LDG_2017-117_preview.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1440,961\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Bacalar Chico Dive Camp | Photo: Louise Jasper\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/BCDC_LDG_2017-117_preview-535x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/BCDC_LDG_2017-117_preview-724x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/BCDC_LDG_2017-117_preview-585x391.jpg\" width=\"585\" height=\"391\" align=\"left\" title=\"Bacalar Chico Dive Camp | Photo: Louise Jasper\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 585px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 585\/391;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Bacalar Chico Dive Camp | Photo: Louise Jasper<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-2\" style=\"width: 306px; height: 395px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/roger-vaughan-2\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20095\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Roger-Vaughan-2.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"716,439\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Roger surveying the Belize Barrier Reef\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Roger-Vaughan-2-582x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Roger-Vaughan-2.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/08\/Roger-Vaughan-2-302x185.jpg\" width=\"302\" height=\"185\" align=\"left\" title=\"Roger surveying the Belize Barrier Reef\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 302px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 302\/185;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Roger surveying the Belize Barrier Reef<\/div><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/sarteneja_ldg_2017-233_preview\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20111\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Sarteneja_LDG_2017-233_preview.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1440,961\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"A homestay family in Sarteneja | Photo: Louise Jasper\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Sarteneja_LDG_2017-233_preview-535x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Sarteneja_LDG_2017-233_preview-724x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Sarteneja_LDG_2017-233_preview-302x202.jpg\" width=\"302\" height=\"202\" align=\"left\" title=\"A homestay family in Sarteneja | Photo: Louise Jasper\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 302px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 302\/202;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">A homestay family in Sarteneja | Photo: Louise Jasper<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I had just turned 70 at the time BV established their new site in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/timor-leste\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timor-Leste<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but that wasn\u2019t going to stop me from going, and I had another terrific experience! The setting is remote and utterly beautiful, I could walk out into the seagrass beds from my homestay before swimming out onto the reef. During my expedition I also saw six species of whale and a 60-strong school of dolphins \u2013 remarkable experiences for anyone!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I found the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/talking-tara-bandu-witnessing-marine-milestone-atauro\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">early discussions about <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tara Bandu<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> laws very encouraging too, having seen the effectiveness of similar community-based laws during my time in Madagascar&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/celebrating-3000-days-coral-reef-protection-agnorondriake-reserve\/\">Velondriake Locally Managed Marine Area<\/a>. It\u2019s been a sincere pleasure to read the blogs from Timor-Leste over the last couple of years detailing how the communities are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/taking-control-with-tara-bandu\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">using <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tara Bandu<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to manage their marine resources<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 267px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 479px; height: 271px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/atauro-2_preview\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20115\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Atauro-2_preview.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1440,809\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Atauro Island | Photo: Vik Mohan\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Atauro-2_preview-635x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Atauro-2_preview-745x419.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Atauro-2_preview-475x267.jpg\" width=\"475\" height=\"267\" align=\"left\" title=\"Atauro Island | Photo: Vik Mohan\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 475px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 475\/267;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Atauro Island | Photo: Vik Mohan<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 416px; height: 271px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/why-i-keep-coming-back-to-bv\/blue-ventures-timor-leste-marine-conservation-76_preview\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20119\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Blue-Ventures-Timor-Leste-Marine-Conservation-76_preview.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1170,757\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Photo: Martin Muir\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Blue-Ventures-Timor-Leste-Marine-Conservation-76_preview-552x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Blue-Ventures-Timor-Leste-Marine-Conservation-76_preview-745x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2019\/10\/Blue-Ventures-Timor-Leste-Marine-Conservation-76_preview-412x267.jpg\" width=\"412\" height=\"267\" align=\"left\" title=\"Photo: Martin Muir\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 412px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 412\/267;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Photo: Martin Muir<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before I go on for too long, I\u2019d like to take this opportunity to speak to anyone out there who\u2019s considering a BV expedition. Truly, it\u2019s an adventure like no other. Anyone can and should learn to dive safely, and BV enables you to dive in some of the most stunning locations on the planet. Diving with scientists is also much more fulfilling and educational than diving with tourists. Blue Ventures empowers you, the volunteer, to contribute to meaningful science and conservation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"pull-right\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diving with scientists is also much more fulfilling and educational than diving with tourists. Blue Ventures empowers you, the volunteer, to contribute to meaningful science and conservation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Age is not a factor, don\u2019t let it put you off! I met a woman who was learning to dive at 68 and now goes diving four or five times a year all over the world. The warm water in Belize, Madagascar and Timor-Leste is wonderful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the younger folks, BV offers an opportunity to see things that you\u2019d never be able to see otherwise. Getting to know people and places in a country very different from your own can really change how you view your lifestyle, and increase your appreciation of other cultures and environments. The group dynamic is also like nothing else in terms of making friends. I still keep up with people from my first BV expedition!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve found the BV experience so immersive and inspiring that I\u2019ve taken lots of opportunities to stay involved even after expeditions have ended. I\u2019ve <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/support\/donate\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">supported the education programmes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Belize and Madagascar because I know that the money is going to get to the people I saw. For me, I\u2019m happy I can stay engaged, stay connected, and <\/span><a href=\"mailto:info@blueventures.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">keep in touch with BV<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world is changing, and a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BV expedition<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could be the next step on your journey to help change it for the better.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/volunteer\/\">Apply for a marine conservation expedition today!<\/a><\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roger Vaughan has been volunteering with us for over a decade, and says a Blue Ventures expedition is an adventure like no other<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":20091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,622,587,471,478],"tags":[690],"class_list":["post-17752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belize","category-madagascar","category-timor-leste","category-volunteer-expeditions","category-volunteer-stories","tag-scuba-diving"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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