Laura's Love the Oceans Mission to Mozambique

Laura Welch Start Date: Mar 28, 2016 - End Date: Aug 31, 2016
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Mozambique
  • Guinjala, Mozambique
  • Inhambane, Mozambique
  • Kruger Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa

My Travel Story

by: Laura Welch Start Date: Mar 28, 2016 - End Date: Aug 31, 2016
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Volunteer Trip
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever!" - Jacques Cousteau

 I have been given an amazing opportunity to intern overseas with an organization by the name of Love the Oceans in Mozambique, Africa and would love your help and support in getting me there. I look forward to challenging opportunities that allow me to learn and grow as a person, inside and outside of the classroom. While I look forward to this incredible opportunity to make a positive difference in the world, it is not something I can afford to do without your help.

 The main goal of Love the Oceans is to achieve a marine protected area for the Inhambane province in Mozambique and achieve higher biodiversity while protecting endangered species. Over a six-week period beginning September 11 and ending October 21, as an intern with Love the Oceans, I will be working alongside professional divers learning to dive and with marine biologists to record data on the wildlife in the area. The following is a rundown of what Love the Oceans and their volunteers will be doing from September 11 to October 21.

Love the Oceans focuses on research, education and diving. There will be days during the trip allocated to fisheries research, coral reef diving surveys, whale shark photogrammetry, humpback whale sightings and pod dynamics and teaching marine conservation at the local schools.

We will spend two weeks recording data from the local fishermen’s catches with hands-on experience, including our findings on sharks, rays, fish and crustaceans. A portion of our time will be spent attending schools to help build classrooms and teach the children about sustainable fishing. We will also have the responsibility of putting together presentations that the local adult fishermen can attend and learn about the effect their fishing is having on the local area and the implications for the future.

We will be diving and snorkelling every day, twice a day, excluding the weekends while in Africa when not teaching in the local schools. We will be identifying the fish and coral seen on the dives (after sufficient training) and will have the responsibility of logging the data into the scientific logs at the end of each day.

Our final week of the program, we will be leaving Guinjata Bay to travel down to Kruger National Park, South Africa. We will do safari drives and bush walks and learn about the main animals, their behaviour and how to act with them in this area before returning to our home countries.

As I mentioned earlier, I cannot afford this wonderful trip to Mozambique without your help. The program cost, a total of £1995 (approximately $3000 USD), will cover my accommodations, meals, and research equipment necessary for our work. The cost of airfare from the US to Johannesburg is approximately $1000. I also need to raise $350 for the cost of SCUBA lessons. All together, I need your help to raise a total of $4350 to afford this once in a lifetime trip, where I will be making a positive difference in my life and in others lives.

Love the Oceans and I are extremely grateful to and appreciate anyone who is able to donate and support us in protecting the marine environment in Guinjata bay. You can donate and support us by:

> Clicking the donate button towards the top of this page, on the right hand side, and following the prompts. (Anonymous donations are allowed, for those worried about privacy or would prefer anonymity).

> Sending your payment via Paypal to lwelizabeth@ymail.com.

> Signing up for email updates about my fundraising and work in Africa by clicking the link above, or through www.speakinupnow.com. I will be producing my first weblog while in Africa, so be sure you stay tuned in for that!
  • Mozambique
  • Guinjala, Mozambique
  • Inhambane, Mozambique
  • Kruger Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Updates

5

  • Breathing Underwater, Day One

    Breathing Underwater, Day One
    After our first day of confined water dives and open water dive one, I wrote about my experience with earning my PADI Open Water Diver Certification through Scuba Monkey Dive Center in Alachua, FL. You can read it here: http://wp.me/p76SzJ-4n

  • Just An FYI...

    Just An FYI...
    If you'd prefer to send a check by mail, message me (lw.dreamer@gmail.com) for an address. Please put Save the Seas or Africa Trip in the subject line.

    You can also donate via PayPal.

More Travel Information

Adventure Registry

  • Flight Tickets/Airline Miles

    $ 1,500

  • Prescription Lenses Dive Mask

    $ 75