Volunteering With Global Vision International
I remember my very first day diving with GVI in the Seychelles. Not having much experience in the field, I remember being excited to get on a boat and roll into the ocean I loved so much. What I didn’t see coming was the nausea that came just before hitting the water. Watching everyone throw on their kits with ease, I struggled to fit my arm strapped with my dive computer, a compass and of course my arm slate through the BCD. Nausea quickly set in and my heart ran rampant. Luckily, the 3-2-1 ROLL! came and I was soon floating on the surface of the deep blue abyss. I signaled the skipper that everything was okay and sunk below the horizon line. My heart slowed down, the nausea was gone and my nerves no longer existed. There wasn’t a day of diving that I didn’t look at my watch and say to myself - oh no, the dives almost done. With all the ocean has to offer; dead coral and all... there was never enough time in a dive. The moment I deflated the air from my BCD and the ocean line climbed from my chest, up my mask and over my head, nothing else mattered.
Life on base in Cap Ternay.
At home we have the luxury of having anything we want with a snap of our fingers but on base, we live off of only the necessities. Say goodbye to warm relaxing showers, clean clothes, wifi and in my case breakfast smoothies.
For the first few days, life on base seemed very difficult, with daily base duties, new people and classroom lessons, I was unsure how long I could keep up with it all. I felt as if I was never going to have any free time to decompress. We worked, studied and went diving. Going to bed around 9pm was considered late. This was a new lifestyle that I was not used to. Thankfully, after only one week, helping around the base became habit - a lifestyle, studying became knowledge and our dives seemed too short. Life on base was no longer a stress but a new lifestyle I enjoyed.
With time flying by, I had made life long friendships and learned more than I ever thought possible. Not only about pushing my boundaries into comfort zones but also about learning new ways of working well as a team. Whether or not the job at hand was hard or gross, working together in a fun environment made everything better.
Part of me was excited to go home, back to a regular life and part of me wanted to stay there forever. Life time opportunities are as such, so I’ll lived and loved each and every day as one.
GVI has done an absolutely wonderful job providing the volunteers with proper lodging and necessities needed for daily activities. The staff made an incredible impact with all their work in surveying the reef and teaching proper techniques to all those that volunteered their time. I will be forever grateful for this experience. The weeks may have gone by quickly, but my memories will last a lifetime.
At home we have the luxury of having anything we want with a snap of our fingers but on base, we live off of only the necessities. Say goodbye to warm relaxing showers, clean clothes, wifi and in my case breakfast smoothies.
For the first few days, life on base seemed very difficult, with daily base duties, new people and classroom lessons, I was unsure how long I could keep up with it all. I felt as if I was never going to have any free time to decompress. We worked, studied and went diving. Going to bed around 9pm was considered late. This was a new lifestyle that I was not used to. Thankfully, after only one week, helping around the base became habit - a lifestyle, studying became knowledge and our dives seemed too short. Life on base was no longer a stress but a new lifestyle I enjoyed.
With time flying by, I had made life long friendships and learned more than I ever thought possible. Not only about pushing my boundaries into comfort zones but also about learning new ways of working well as a team. Whether or not the job at hand was hard or gross, working together in a fun environment made everything better.
Part of me was excited to go home, back to a regular life and part of me wanted to stay there forever. Life time opportunities are as such, so I’ll lived and loved each and every day as one.
GVI has done an absolutely wonderful job providing the volunteers with proper lodging and necessities needed for daily activities. The staff made an incredible impact with all their work in surveying the reef and teaching proper techniques to all those that volunteered their time. I will be forever grateful for this experience. The weeks may have gone by quickly, but my memories will last a lifetime.
