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GYC1387 - Coastal Rainforest Project Country: Brazil Cost: £1575.00 Please note: £1195 - 3 weeks; £1575 - 5 weeks; Cost also includes £680 contribution to project and all activities. Cost Includes: The price includes accommodation, food, pickup from airport and visas but does not include flight, insurance or kit      Duration: 5 weeks Company Rep Nearby: All the time 0845 344 7599 or

 

	This placement would suit... Someone looking to spend their summer doing worthwhile community conservation work on an island paradise. Join Quest on a unique community development project. Help to protect the beautiful surroundings of the Brazilian Coastal Atlantic Rainforest and provide livelihood opportunities to the communities living within them. Located off the Brazilian coastline, amongst an archipelago of 26 islands, is the tiny community of Cairu. The island and those surrounding it are key areas of biodiversity, with around 430 kilometres of mangroves, Atlantic Rainforest and pristine white sand beaches. Sadly the Atlantic Rainforest is extremely threatened, since it was first mapped 500 years ago 95% has been destroyed and it continues to be cut down at an alarming rate. Cairu is one of the last remaining fragments of rainforest. Quest invites you to come and work with local people to increase environmental awareness and to foster sustainable development to guarantee the future survival of this forest and its communities. Activities: Forest regeneration - Help restore the Atlantic Rainforest by preparing seedlings in our nursery and planting native species deep in the forest. You'll be accompanied by local guides (and donkeys!) on your excursions and use Global Positioning Systems to keep track on the trees' progress. Teaching English - Local teenagers are always keen to learn English. Most can sing a few pop songs but have little understanding of the language so your help is invaluable. Last year's classes proved so popular that we had to find new classrooms in the beautiful monastery just to house all the keen students. Improve Local Living Conditions - You'll make life better for local families by repairing and improving living conditions. Work will include renovating a local community centre or installing solar stoves to lessen the impact on the forest for fuel wood. Community Theatre - You'll collaborate with a local theatre group to devise a production that communicates important conservation messages in fun and engaging ways. You'll tour the islands on our cine-theatre boat showing films to children in the surrounding islands. Capoeira - You'll help support a local initiative offering Capoeira lessons to local kids. You'll get super fit with daily classes in the famous Brazilian dance-like martial art. A qualified Master and his troupe of gravity-defying assistants will provide you with expert training in the art of Capoeira and teach you how to play traditional Capoeira musical instruments such as the berimbau and djembe drums. Your work life will be incredibly varied and will include a lot of time working directly with the local community so you need to be enthusiastic and open to meeting and working with people. It's a wonderful chance to live in a stunning tropical island community and get involved with life instead of just being a tourist and sunning yourself on the beach! Why Quest Overseas? Quite simply because we have the best reputation in the gap year market. We are second to none when it comes to safety, value for money and downright fun! We've also raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for our charities overseas and we have long-term commitments to our project sites. If you'd like to speak to a past student they would be more than happy to bend your ear on everything you could get up to – just give us a call in the office for contact details. 0845 344 7599 Quest: Adventure travel in Latin America and Africa combining both worthwhile volunteering and challenging, action-packed expeditions. We commit to all our projects long-term, from constructing schools, helping shantytown children and orphans, rehabilitating animals, working in the depths of the rainforest or scuba diving to help protect endangered marine species. All our trips are designed to show you the real side of Africa and South America, to enable you to make a difference and to make sure you have the time of your life! Open afternoons in West Sussex, online presentations and telephone appointments are all regularly available.