What a privilege it was to spend a week volunteering with Jemma and the team at Elephant Valley Project in 2026.

In 2007, the Elephant Valley Project was launched as an elephant sanctuary developed to create a home for injured and overworked elephants.

Situated in Mondulkiri, Cambodia, the Elephant Valley Project is a sanctuary set up for elephant care, local employment and is an ecotourism site for international and local visitors.
The main aims of the Elephant Valley Project are to:

Provide an alternative approach to elephant care in their natural environment.
Offer options for local families to bring their elephants to the sanctuary for rest and recuperation. In exchange their owners can receive monthly compensation, preferential working conditions and world-class elephant care.
Retire and rehabilitate working elephants.
Provide employment for local people, good working conditions and assistance in protection of their land and resources.
Have visitors who get to spend time observing these elephants in their natural habitat.

The Elephant Valley is 1,500 hectares of natural elephant habitat that is surrounded by farms and protected forest. It allows them to simulate the same environment that mahouts look after and care for their elephants, while providing a large area of forest for elephants to escape human activity for the longest period of time possible during the day.

During my time I assisted the team with
– Elephant health checks
– Various maintenance tasks
– Working in the plant nursery
– Snare and trap sweeps through the park

If you’re ever in Cambodia and would like to volunteer with elephants, or just take a day tour, please get in contact with the team.

Elephant Valley Project

https://www.instagram.com/evpcambodia?igsh=eTEzcXJ2dGd6d2Nv

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Thank you Horses of Gili for having me ❤️

If you’re visiting the Gili Islands, just off Bali, dropping in is an absolute must.

When I first visited these islands 10 years ago, it was heartbreaking to see the condition many of the working horses were in. Fast-forward to today and the improvement is incredible. The dedication and tireless work of this organisation has played a major role in transforming the welfare and wellbeing of the island’s horses.

I spent four days volunteering alongside the staff and long-term volunteers — brushing, grooming, helping with stable duties, and joining the morning and afternoon beach walks.

Even if you’re not an experienced horse person (I wasn’t!), you’re guided every step of the way and made to feel part of the team.

It was a privilege to contribute, even in a small way, to a group making such a meaningful impact. I absolutely loved the experience and highly recommend visiting, taking a tour, or spending a few days volunteering if you can.

For more information check out www.horsesofgili.com

 

I’ve spent a lot of time volunteering with dogs, but Kampot Dog Shelter absolutely stole my heart. In 2025 I spent a week helping Joe and the team with the 70+ dogs in his care.

Along with rescuing and rehabilitating, Joe tirelessly strives to enrich the dogs lives. The time he puts into each individual dog is so beautiful to watch, and it’s no surprise he’s attracted such a dedicated team around him.

During the week, apart from spending time with the dogs and helping the staff with general duties, I was able to put my construction experience to use and build a new shelter for the dogs. I loved the variety of roles and how accomodating the team was to get me involved.

The sanctuary operates out of the High Tide riverfront Cafe. If you don’t have time to volunteer, you can still come to the cafe, enjoy a drink and get to know all of the dogs. It really is a dog lovers paradise.

If you’re travelling through Cambodia, Kampot Dog Sanctuary is a must.
You can follow along or get in touch via their socials
https://www.instagram.com/hightidekampot

https://www.facebook.com/hightidekampot

In 2025, whilst Kitesurfing in Vietnam, I stumbled across an English school just outside of Phan Rang.
The school is run by Mr Phin and provides English classes for Primary and Secondary students. The school is also involved in community projects like beach clean ups and decorative painting around the neighbourhood.

I spent a few days helping Mr Phin and his team of local teachers. They run evening classes from Monday-Friday, and morning classes Saturday and Sunday.
My roles included-
•⁠ ⁠Assisting teachers with class presentation
•⁠ ⁠Educating the students on life in Australia, and other countries around the world
•⁠ ⁠Having general conversations to improve their conversational confidence.

Mr Phin is always looking for volunteers so if you’re around the Phan Rang area, be sure to get in touch: WhatsApp ‪+84 91 113 11 10

Shelter for Lombok Dogs is a legally registered foundation, is dedicated to reducing the number of street dogs and alleviating their suffering from sickness and illness. Their forward-looking approach strikes a balance between providing critical, urgent care and implementing sustainable preventative measures and programs.

The centre is based in Kuta, Lombok, Indonesia and along with a dog shelter, they provide medical care, neutering as well as educational sessions.

In 2024 I spent 2 weeks helping out the local staff at the dog shelter.
My duties included-
•⁠ ⁠Feeding the dogs
•⁠ ⁠Taking dogs on large walks through the hills
•⁠ ⁠Spending time with the dogs individually and providing affection

For more information on how you can help the team at Shelter for Lombok Dogs, please visit https://shelterforlombokdogs.org/volunteer 

SAE LAO is a sustainable development project located in Nathong Village, near the city of Vang Vieng, Laos.

The project aims to achieve the following:

• Provide free English classes for the community.
• Create high-quality employment opportunities, including job training.
• Model sustainable technologies and practices.
• Create meaningful cultural exchange through a volunteer program.
• Offer sustainable market alternatives such as a farm-to-table restaurant and sustainable building practices.
• Involve locals in the project as leaders, employees, students, teachers, consumers, and idea-generators.

In 2024 I spent 2 weeks at Sae Lao. The program runs an extremely effective volunteer program that draws in hundreds of volunteers every year.

The main endeavour of the project is to provide English classes within 3 schools for children of various ages. Monday to Thursday we would prepare the days lessons and then present the class as an elective, after regular school hours. Friday is  game day, which is everybody’s favourite, and this involves bringing games in for the children.

As the classes only take place in the afternoons, the morning involves other activities that support the community. During my time I was lucky enough to:

• Assist with the renovation of the school facilities
• Plan and build a new compost area
• Work in the volunteer garden
• Plan a build a recycle centre at the local restaurant run by Sae Lao
• Provide general maintenance around the restaurant and volunteer facilities

The team does a great job of providing roles for everyone, no matter what your skill set is. I have a construction background which was reflected in the jobs I chose.

The beauty of the surrounding area was completely unexpected. The lagoons, caves and viewpoints are absolutely stunning and I regularly made the hike up for sunrise and sunset.

If you’re looking for a well organised program, where you can make a big impact in the local community, then reach out to Peter and the team at https://www.saelaoproject.com/

Founded in Chiang Mai, Thailand in the 1990s, Elephant Nature Park rescues, treats, rehabilitates and provides refuge to thousands of animals.

Along with 120 Asian Elephants, they also care for some 2000 cats, around 500 dogs, buffalos, horses, pigs, rabbits, cows and many other species. I was completely taken back by the amount of animals being cared for during a 1 week volunteering stint in 2023.

Along with the running of the park, the founder Lek is at the forefront of the animal rights and conservation movements within Asia, winning many awards, including Asian Hero of the Year by Time Magazine. Her team work tirelessly to halt horrific practices like Elephant driven logging, Elephant circus performances and Elephant riding by tourists.

During the week I learnt about the plight of the Asian Elephant in an ever-changing world. It was so refreshing to also learn about the many ways in which this particular organisation is pushing back by providing education, fighting for policy change and expanding the sanctuary capacity.

My duties and optional extras through the week included-

• Food preparation
• Cleaning the elephant night enclosures
• Playing with the cats during breaks
• Walking the dogs (all of which were in buggies due to accidents to their back legs)
• Assisting with another elephant organisation a short drive away

This was such a special week and I loved to mix of practical work, coupled with the educational components. Along with 1 week+ volunteer programs, the park also provides 1 and 2 day visit experiences.

If you’re ever in Northern Thailand, the Animal Nature Park is a must. To learn more, visit https://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

I stumbled upon Koh Koh Pups whilst diving on Koh Tao, Thailand in 2023.

They rescue and rehabilitate unwanted, neglected and stray dogs of all breeds and ages & are committed to finding forever homes for the dogs.

Koh Koh Pups is completely volunteer based and does not take any money for personal profit. All donations, adoption fees and fundraising goes directly back towards the rescue dogs in their care.

I spent four days with Lara, helping out with the dog walking which is done twice a day. The volunteer schedule is completely flexible and any time you can provide is greatly appreciated. During my time with Koh Koh there were around 15 dogs, with the project looking to expand.

If you’re ever on the beautiful island of Koh Tao and would like to lend a helping hand, please get in touch with Lara.

www.kohkohpups.org

The SES are volunteer-based organisations within Australia that work with communities to prepare and respond to severe weather events. They are the lead agency for flood, storm and tsunami throughout Australia. They manage responses to these emergencies and help communities prepare through planning and education. Each state and territory within Australia have their own SES and between 2019 & 2021 I was volunteering within NSW Northern Rivers region.

The SES is a great way to assist the community during a crisis and they provide an extensive amount of training along the way. The bulk of our work was storm and flood preparation, response and recovery. The training provided ensured that people from all backgrounds would be able to assist within high-risk situations.

To find out more about SES volunteering in your area simply search SES followed by your State or Territory.

Soi Dog Foundation (Soi Dog) was established in 2003 in Phuket, Thailand, to help the street dogs and cats who had no one else to care for them. Over 70,000 strays roamed the island, with the numbers growing alarmingly due to a lack of spay and neuter programmes to control the population. Soi Dog was created to provide a humane and sustainable solution to managing the stray population and to address their medical needs. Funding then, as it does now, came entirely from individuals who shared, and continue to share, the vision of their founders.

Their work with street animals consists of spaying and neutering to prevent unwanted puppies and kittens being born into short lives of suffering, along with the rescue, vaccination, medical treatment, sheltering, and adoption of those that cannot be returned to their territory.

In 2023 I spent a week at the Phuket Shelter. At that time they were housing over 1300 dogs and close to 500 cats. Many were undergoing or had undergone serious medical treatments and I was astounded by the efficiency of the operation given the number of animals at the facility.

Each day we were assigned a group of dogs to walk. We were able to take most into the off lead & pool play areas where they could run around and you were free to interact. It was a beautiful experience to see how much joy this time brought the dogs.

During lunch we were free to go into the cat sanctuary and play with the cats who crave the attention. It was such a beautiful, relaxed environment.

Soi Dogs reach extends right across Asia and they’re fighting the good fight on many fronts. For more information, visit

https://www.soidog.org/