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Up to the SCUBA PADI* levels of Rescue Diver and Dive Master, scuba education generally revolves around looking after yourself and your dive buddy; making sure you the diver are comfortable and confident in the water. However once one reaches the Rescue Diver and Dive Master levels something changes – mentally. Your focus is now on your fellow divers (looking after them) and the environment around you. In 1987 Chris Tabor (founder of Volunteer Compass) qualified as a PADI Dive Master.
In 1989 Chris qualified as an Open Water Scuba Instructor and soon after bought (with a partner) a long established scuba dive centre – Trade Winds on the island of Sint Maarten, in the Dutch Antilles. As the scuba business increased Chris and Tom opened (in addition to the dive centre) an eco-dive-friendly retail store (in Philipsburg) and an education centre on Mullet Bay – not just a Scuba Diving Training Centre but place where divers could learn and talk about marine conservation amongst other things.
As Chris’s enthusiasm for Marine conservation grew, he climbed the PADI Instructor rung to Master Instructor; giving lectures, classes and hands-on practical advice and help to various projects around the Caribbean from Grenada, Anguilla, Belize and many other islands that needed conservation help. The more he learnt the more people asked him to ‘lend a hand’ from turtles to reef conservation, wreck mapping and conserving to dolphin research.
On returning to the UK, Chris continued to volunteer his time and effort to marine and wildlife conservation, however it was not until 2008 that the idea of a global Marine and Wildlife Conservation volunteer focal point using his knowledge, enthusiasm and experience could be put to good use – Volunteer Compass was born.
Volunteer Compass
Eco-tourism is becoming ‘big’ business but only goes half way to solving the conservation problems we all face - globally. Volunteer Compass is NOT about tourism. We want YOU to help, guide and be part of a real-life ethical solution. You won’t singularly change the world (as perhaps other Volunteer organizations would have you to believe), but you can help change our fragile world. Unfortunately time is running out (global warming, over-fishing and so forth). There is so much work to be done, the more people that volunteer for the ‘right’ projects the sooner we can turn-the-corner.
Chris and his small team are dedicated to sending people to help on worthwhile projects around the globe. Unfortunately we do not send people to orphanages in Africa, help with HIV in India and other causes. We concentrate on our expertise. You will notice we also do not have dozens and dozens of projects as some other volunteer companies have. We believe in small is beautiful, being ethical and doing the right things. Hopefully you’ll agree.
Our commitment to you, your family and friends
Volunteering abroad can be daunting, exciting, thrilling and a FANTASTIC experience for YOU the volunteer (we know we’ve done it ourselves for a long time). However, volunteering also affects those around you: Your family, your friends, your relatives – They may want to know where you are, who is looking after you, they will be concerned about your safety and so on and so forth. This is where we like to be different - we will keep not only you informed but we will be a contact person for you and for your family and friends. We will gladly (with your permission) keep in touch with them, reassure them and give them any information they require.
Ethical Volunteering
There are a number of companies on the Internet’ that will gladly take your money and on the whole not give a great deal in return. If you visit the web site www.ethicalvolunteering.org, an ethical charter has been laid out. Review it and then come back to us. I hope you will see we fulfil all the criteria and more. After all, if you have a fantastic and worthwhile time, YOU will be our biggest advocates and ambassadors; the best word-of-mouth advertising for us and, for what we are striving to do – Marine and Wildlife Conservation!
* PADI - Professional Association of Diving Instructors. A SCUBA organization based in California, USA, that has a network of independent Instructors around the world that teach people to scuba dive; from open water level to professional status.
Amateur SCUBA Diving levels:
Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Dive Master.
Professional SCUBA Diving levels:
Assistant Instructor, Open Water Instructor, Medic First Aid Instructor, Specialty Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Trainer, IDC Staff Instructor, Master Instructor
SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, commonly referrered to as the scuba tank.
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