The Overseas Volunteer Program
Bally Vaughan animal sanctuary hosts a popular and rewarding volunteering program that brings people from all over the world to live and work with us at our sanctuary. We charge a reasonable fee to volunteers to pay for room and boarding ($35 per day), and these fees also help us in our mission. We are a small and dedicated animal sanctuary, taking in any kind of animal in distress, from lions and leopards, every species of bird, and abused and unwanted farm animals (even chickens need a little help sometimes!). We are not a zoo or a profit-making business, but strictly a haven for animals in need of a safe place either to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild, or to live out their lives with the comfort and dignity that they so deserve.
You Never Know
A day at the sanctuary seldom runs to schedule. We can spend the day catching crocodiles or pythons, carry out emergency surgery on an animal, fight bushfires, collect a truckload of food, or just spend a quiet afternoon supervising a baby baboon swimming in the paddling pool. Among all this activity volunteers also feed animals and check their condition, care for any orphans, clean and repair enclosures, help with educational school visits, help out in the restaurant and kitchen if needed, and most importantly, spend time with those animals that need hands-on love and care, such as Smeegal the serval, Kadiki the lioness, Khan the leopard, Blossom and Kylie the hyenas, our little free-roaming mongoose family and all our loyal dogs and cats.
Rescues and Releases
You will need to help us with rescues and releases if these happen during your stay, and they can happen on short notice. For example we had to organize a zebra rescue in just 2 hours, and a cross-country hyena relocation in 24 hours. We may have to hop into our trusty little truck and brave the lumpy roads of rural Zimbabwe to save an injured donkey, or perhaps a neighboring villager arrives carrying a pangolin!
A Rewarding Experience for You
There’s never a dull moment here and all our volunteers agree that their time at Bally Vaughan has changed their lives. We are forced to operate in an environment where funding and resources are so limited that you have to rely on initiative and adaptation to achieve your goals, and it’s this challenge that some many find so rewarding. And all our efforts, all our plans, all our sweat and hard work is done in the service of providing care and love to some of Zimbabwe’s most unfortunate animals. You will never regret your time with us. Here’s some comments from just a few Bally Vaughan volunteers.
How You Become A Volunteer
We’d love to have you as a Bally Vaughan volunteer! We accept
only 2 volunteers at a time, with a minimum stay of 2 weeks and a maximum
of 2 months. You’ll stay in our pleasant guest house (possible
with another volunteer, and definitely with Alice and Strauss, the cats)
and we’ll provide you with your meals. Our days start early (thanks,
roosters…) and usually everyone retires not long after dark, exhausted
but happy. The volunteer fee is $35 per day. For more information,
send an email to Sarah Carter
Other Volunteer Projects in Africa
For information on other volunteer projects in Africa, try the Volunteer4Africa
website or send them an e-mail.
Read some volunteer comments below about their Bally Vaughan experience.
Gina Everson, USA
I'm sitting in Washington airport waiting for my final 6 hour flight…
but as it is now 7.15am I know so well what you are all doing, I would
much rather be feeding the goats across the river or playing with George
(monkey), scratching Kadiki (lioness) , grooming Jerome & Jefferson
(donkeys).
Thank you for an amazing and unforgettable experience. You should be proud
of your accomplishments making Bally Vaughan such a place of safety and
calm for all those animals.
Janina Bäckström, Sweden
I stayed six weeks at Bally Vaughan animal sanctuary and I had an amazing
time! I didn't know what to expect from the country, the people or the
animals, but it's been even better then I could have asked for.
The people that work at the sanctuary are wonderful and I've learned so
much from them. And I'm so glad that I've had the opportunity to share
a few weeks with the most beautiful animals. They all have their own story,
some of them have been through so much pain and it's wonderful to
see them happy again. They all give me so much inspiration! During
my stay I've done and seen things I've never thought I would do. Just
a few examples: fed the lions, spent time with a serval and a jackal (had
no idea what a serval or a jackal was when I arrived), bottle-fed a duiker,
took care of two owls that after a few weeks were let go into the wild,
spent time with the beautiful and playful leopard Khan, the hyenas and
ms Kadiki the lioness. I got to know the funny parrots and monkeys on
the daily morning cleaning and feeding. The dogs and the donkeys who followed
every step made my time even better, miss them!
My stay at the sanctuary gave me new inspiration and ideas of what I want
to spend my life working with or for, and that's animals.
Thank you again for giving me this experience, I'm so grateful!
Katarina Bijlsma, USA
I have been missing terribly Edward (a duiker) and Bardot (a rehabilitated owl) since leaving. Looking at the photos of them and the changes in the time they were in my care the transformation is unbelievable, Edward with his sweet gentle nature and gorgeous face and the tiny noises he made. They gave me enormous pleasure and I'm sure will continue to do so with others who encounter their personalities.
My routine each morning (was) walking across the river to feed the goats
and donkeys as they butted in making loud clonks with their horns
if they felt they were being left out of an extra mouthful of grains,
surely giving each other a headache. Making fruit salad for the marmosets
and chatting away to them in their cages, the wolf whistle from the grey
parrot and the sweet quiet hellos from the sulphur crested cockatoo.
Not forgetting the posing and flaunting of chests to be tickled with the
baboons. The battle to keep the monkeys in one place while Collin (game
ranger) sought the moment to enter and offload breakfast fruit and vegetables;
a brave move. Hand feeding Sweetie and Paddington (servals) in the afternoon
and actually having stroked Khan the leopard. The familiar comforting
noises at night: who could outdo who with the roars and cries, and the
crowing of roosters from around 3.30 am, long before dawn.
Thank you for an amazing experience at Bally Vaughan. I will definitely be coming back.
Romy Leliveld from The Netherlands
Hello Sarah!
Thanks again for everything. I had the time of my life!! I felt so welcome. Thanks for your trust and everything you have taught me. Please say hi to everyone, and of course to my babies!
Thank you!
Sheila Hutchison from Canada
I have gained invaluable experience here. Loved the staff who were so
gracious and helpful. Sarah has done amazing things with what she has!
Suzanne Trautzche from Germany
I think this is a very special place because they just give the animals
a new home and they do it with love and care. It's not a place for making
money, but a place to help animals. Just great! I am glad and happy that
I came here.
Zach Hancock from Canada
I have definitely got to do some exciting things during my stay! It surprises
me just how well I've gotten to know the animals in a short space of time
and how much I am going to miss them all. I have learnt so much from everyone
working here. Sarah is doing such a great thing at Bally Vaughan and everyone's
passion for the animals is amazing. See you next time!
Mary Swift from England
My time here has been incredible. Getting to know all the animals has
been unforgettable, especially the lions and vervet monkeys. I raised
a baby goat during my stay - such a special and unique character! The
guys who work here are all so dedicated and the work Sarah is doing has
really inspired me. I have learnt so much and really hope to return. What
Bally Vaughan is doing under such difficult circumstances has given this
small community of animals their lives back. The only bad thing about
my stay is leaving!
Chris Palmer from Australia
Working side by side with the staff has been very cool - educating and
rewarding. The animals in Sarah's care are incredibly lucky - the love
and care she gives them, and the people involved in her project is astonishing.
From shovelling manure to catching crocodiles, pythons and puff adders,
hand-feeding predators, building lion enclosures, petting hyenas and leopards,
dodging zebra kicks, and after all that being bitten by a marmoset and
breaking a rib falling out of a tree is the worst thing that happened
to me! What you make of your time here is up to you - I had fun with it
all. My memories of Bally Vaughan are precious and I wont ever forget
my birthday - seeing all the staff singing and dancing. To Sarah and the
guys - I don't want to say goodbye because I will be back. Your patience
and generosity has been heart-warming. So "Tatenda" and keep
up the amazing work - the world needs more people like you.
