Volunteering in Petén
Volunteering at the Rescue Center in Petén
Depending on the time of year, the Rescue Center in Petén hosts anywhere between 5 and 25 mostly international volunteers, ranging from veterinary students looking to gain practical experience working with tropical animals, graduate students carrying out research in wildlife management and rehabilitation, and backpack travelers (mochileros) who simply want to contribute their tourist dollars and sweat to the conservation of Guatemalan wildlife.
The Rescue Center gives these volunteers the hand-on opportunity to work with such beautiful tropical animals as scarlet macaws, mealy parrots, kinkajous, spider and howler monkeys, peccaries, coatimundis, margays and jaguars. (See Animal Inventory, 2006 for a more complete list of the animals we work with). However, volunteers need to realize that the priority at the ARCAS Rescue Center is the welfare, rehabilitation and reintroduction of the wild animals received there. Volunteers should be willing to adjust their schedules, habits and attitudes to meet the needs of these animals. For example, it is often not in the animal’s long-term best interest to be handled or shown attention.
Volunteer activities
There are certain responsibilities at the Rescue Center and everyone is expected to pull their own weight and work as a team. The animals do not work on our schedule, rather they follow their own internal clock which insists that they eat early in the day. The time for your rest and relaxation is later in the day when high temperatures usually demand it.
A typical day at the Rescue Center might consist of the following.
TIME DUTY
7:00 Get up, feed the animals, clean cages
8:30 Breakfast
9:30-11:00 Chores around the center
11:00 Pick up food bowls, clean cages
12:00-14:30 Lunch & siesta
15:00-16:00 Feed the animals, clean cages
16:00-18:00 Individual projects, swimming, hiking, construction...
18:00-21:00 Dinner & socializing
21:00 Bedtime
Much of the work that takes place at the Rescue Center is in the Quarantine Clinic and cages, where recently-received animals need immediate attention and special diets and medicines. Parrot chicks must be fed with syringes by hand. Baby monkeys still in shock and depressed by their separation from their mother must be cuddled and fed by hand.
In addition to the regular daily feeding and care of the animals, ARCAS usually has special on-going activities in which volunteers can participate. These activities include:
- construction of cages or extra buildings;
- trail maintenance;
- gathering of wild foods for the animals;
- research into the wild diets of the animals;
- giving tours and creating educational exhibits at Kinkajou Kingdom, and;
- participating in additional environmental education activities and community projects.
Volunteers also make cage and enclosure improvements or “enrichments” by adding toys, perches and other stimuli that help the animal in their rehabilitation process.
Depending on your experience and skills, you may also be asked to help in veterinary medical treatment and operations and well as in the periodic blood and feces samples we must take to monitor the health of the animals.
Perhaps the most satisfying work we carry out at the Center are the animal releases which we carry out 2-4 times per year. Volunteers may assist in identifying appropriate release sites (with sufficient water and food and few nearby human settlements) and monitoring released animals. Contact us if you are interested in participating in one of these releases, but space is limited and timing depends on approval from CONAP.
In general, we expect volunteers to become a willing part of the Rescue Center team and to take an integral part in the day-to-day operations of the Center. We also expect that, barring physical limitations, all volunteers take an equal part in performing all tasks at the Center regardless of background, training or educational level. At times there is a lot of work, especially during the breeding season (June-August) when we receive the majority of our seized animals; other times there is very little to do.
Likewise, at times we have 15 or more volunteers and you will have little to do; other times you will be the sole volunteer and will be asked to carry a heavier load. We ask for your understanding and cooperation in these matters.
In addition, volunteers are encouraged to develop their own individual projects. If you see potential for such a special project, let us know and we will work with you to translate that idea into practice. In the past, volunteers have taken on projects such as developing interpretive exhibits and trails, studying the behaviors of animals in the Center and conducting educational activities in neighboring schools. It’s great to have ideas, but sometimes the difficult part is translating those ideas into practice.
Petén volunteer guidelines
It has been ARCAS’s experience - both in its volunteer program at the Rescue Center in Petén and its Sea Turtle Conservation Program in Hawaii - that the best way to avoid misunderstandings and ensure that the volunteer experience is rewarding for both parties is to adhere to several general guidelines. The following are the guidelines for the Rescue Center:
- About food The soils of Peten are poor, and most food needs to be imported. Therefore, food costs are high and the cook has to work miracles with a very limited selection. Meals at the Rescue Center are delicious and healthy, making full use of the Guatemalan staples of hand-made corn tortillas, black beans and eggs, as well as vegetables, meats and fruits. Many of the volunteers we receive are vegetarians so we are used to meeting their needs. You may consider bringing snacks such as granola bars, chocolate and canned fruit. However, PLEASE don’t bring food into your rooms as it attracts rats, ants and other critters which then destroy mattresses, screening and furniture, and in general, make things unpleasant for all concerned. Bottled water is available for drinking.
- Drugs and liquor are prohibited on the Rescue Center! The ARCAS boat makes special trips into Flores twice per week for volunteers that want to get dinner, drink a few beers or go to the internet cafe. You are welcomed to get modestly tipsy there, but please do not bring any alcohol back with you. We’ve had too many problems in the past.
- About personal hygiene In the past, we have had certain volunteers who - perhaps feeling that their unique body odor would allow them to more closely commune with their friends in the animal kingdom - have gone days without bathing. However that unique odor sometimes becomes offensive to certain members of the species Homo sapiens (especially the sub-species latinus) since everyone must use the same facilities and work and live together closely. Please try to keep yourself and your clothes as clean as possible. If you find washing your clothes at the “pila” too bothersome, you can send them to Flores on to be laundered at your expense.
Depending on how full we get, you will be sharing your dorm room with three other volunteers. It is very important that you keep your part of the dorm room clean.
- Don’t waste water! The Volunteer House is equipped with full “western” bathrooms with showers, sinks and flush toilets. Please try not to waste water as it is a scarce commodity in Peten and part of the ARCAS experience is learning to live within our own sustainable limits.
- Critters There is mosquito netting on the walls, but some volunteers bring individual nets for added protection. Apart from those sunny afternoons on the swimming docks, we recommend long, light cotton clothing and sneakers, light hiking boots or rubber boots. Keep an eye out for snakes on the trails. Shake your clothes out before putting them on in case of scorpions.
- Comedor Volunteers are expected to wash their own dishes at the dining hall. If you have spare time, you might ask the cook if she needs any help. Learn how to make hand-made Guatemalan tortillas.
- Equipment Making sure you put the tools and equipment you used back in their proper place after each use. It is a hassle to constantly have to look for tools strewn throughout the compound.
Volunteer work is a two way street: the project and the wild animals it supports benefits from the assistance of the volunteer, while the volunteer gains valuable knowledge and technical skills. At the Rescue Center, you will have an opportunity to see first-hand the difficulties of conserving endangered species in a developing country and this will help you understand the immensity of the work still to be done. The Center may encourage your imagination and creativity in coming up with ideas for better caring for the animals in the resource-poor conditions that exist in Guatemala.
You will also spend time working with Guatemalans. Not only will there be an exchange of ideas and culture but also an understanding of how to better communicate with another culture that is in the process of defining what conservation means for them.
For Veterinary Students
As a student of veterinary medicine, it is important to remember that your stay at the Rescue Center will involve more than just veterinary work. You will be expected to perform the same types of chores as everyone else, including house cleaning, cleaning cages, manual labor and washing dishes.
The majority of the animals received at the Rescue Center are in poor condition having been confiscated from illegal traffickers who cram them into small boxes without food or water, and who sometimes drug them. As a result, much of the veterinary work we carry out involves emergency and trauma medicine at our quarantine clinic. Before coming to the Rescue Center, it is important to familiarize yourself with techniques of avian trauma and pediatric medicine. It will also help if you understand concepts of avian and wildlife nutrition. While the majority of the cases are birds (psittacines), there are also reptiles and mammals. Please check the animal inventory above and in our annual reports for a complete list of species received at the Rescue Center.
Please note that although we do perform medical procedures on the animals, opportunities to take part in such procedures waxes and wanes with the number of animals we receive and their conditions, and we cannot guarantee beforehand that you will be able to participate in such procedures. Generally, our most active period is during the months May-July. However, even during the slow times it is still possible to have a meaningful veterinary learning experience at the Rescue Center by focusing on practical physicals, cage design, enrichment options, project design or becoming involved with outside community programs with ARCAS. Remember, it’s up to you to create your experience.
Participation & costs
The fees paid by volunteers are used to support ARCAS’s conservation activities. The volunteer cuota in Peten is $125 per week which includes food and lodging. For volunteers who want to participate under Plan Completo, an additional non-refundable deposit of $150 is charged which includes a reservation at the Rescue Center, airport pick-up at the Flores airport and a two-day trip to Tikal. For longer term volunteers, we usually make discounts after the first month, and there are free volunteer coordinator positions, but we ask that all volunteers first come as regular volunteers for at least the first month.
Although we are posting these prices, they are also subject to change, so please contact us at arcas@intelnet.net.gt for up-to-date information.
How to get there
When you have made your travel plans, please send us a short e-mail letting us know your itinerary.
To get to Peten, take a bus (Linea Dorada, Tel: 2232-9658, 2220-7990, 8hrs, very comfortable luxury buses!) or plane (TACA airlines, Tel: 2470-8222, 2279-8222, 45 minutes) from Guatemala City to Flores. The free ARCAS boat leaves for the Rescue Center at 8AM & 3:30PM from the arch on the causeway that connects Santa Elena with Flores, but we recommend that you confirm with the staff in Peten as times may change. Call Fernando (5208-0968) or check in at the café at the arch for boat confirmations. Apart from the free ARCAS boat, you can rent a tourist boat going to the Petencito Zoo for Q20-40. Please note that the local boatmen will sometimes claim that there is no ARCAS boat that day just to get your business, so it’s best to ask around and check with ARCAS staff first. The Rescue Center is also accessible by car taking the dirt road 18kms past the Villa Maya Hotel