The Lilongwe Wildlife Centre is an award-winning wildlife sanctuary located in the heart of Malawi. It is currently the country's only wildlife sanctuary for orphaned and injured wild animals. The centre has around 200 wild animals, including monkeys, lions and antelope - all of whom have been rescued with the aim of releasing as many of these as possible back into the wild when they have been successfully rehabilitated.
This project offers two types of volunteering; the first is for those who are passionate about helping wildlife and want to make a difference to the lives of the animals at the centre. The second is for veterinary students that have completed their first year of veterinary school. Both types of volunteer will have the chance to get stuck in and really make a difference to the lives of a lot of the animals at the centre, and this project really offers incredible opportunities for both those with a big passion for wildlife and those looking to increase and expand their veterinary knowledge!
As the only centre in the whole country which is currently helping to care for both injured and orphaned animals, volunteer help is essential in ensuring the project can run. Your help will make a difference, so the only question left is what are you waiting for…
Itinerary
Day 1
You will arrive into the Lilongwe International Airport where you will be met by a project representative and transferred to the project site. The drive is approximately 25 minutes. Once you’ve settled in you’ll be taken into town to stock up on snacks and other items before returning to the project site for a briefing and tour.
Day 2-14
These are your project days and whilst the project team are flexible on which activities you will be able to help with, please be ready to jump in and help if an urgent job comes in as this is an active wildlife centre. Working hours are between 8am and 6pm, and you will be working 6 days a week with 1 day off to relax. If you are volunteering for 3 or more weeks then pre-organised weekend activities can be organised by the in country team.
Day 15
This is your final day, and you will return to Lilongwe airport for your flight home or to continue with any independent travel plans.
Project Activities
On this project you will get the chance to take part in a wide variety of exciting activities. Below are examples of some of those included in this project.
Animal care assistant
You will have the chance to work alongside local animal-carers, helping to clean, feed and hand-rear baby orphans whilst providing enrichment to those that need it. Please note though that this activity will only take place when it is needed.
Working as a veterinary assistant
If you have completed at least 1 year of veterinary school, you will be able to work alongside our part-time vet and help conduct full health-checks on all new arrivals, regular vaccinations and check-ups on all the animals at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.
Rehabilitation and release assistant
You could be working alongside our dedicated animal care manager to rehabilitate rescued animals and settle them into new groups. Some volunteers at the Lilongwe Wildlife Sanctuary will have the opportunity of helping with a release. These animals need to be fed and cared for, as well as monitored to collect data, which is essential to their safe release, and you could be helping with this once in a lifetime opportunity!
Centre support
As this is an active wildlife centre there is always work that needs doing, and you could be helping with construction and maintenance of the centre. Tasks could include physical building work and the painting of signposts.
Education and community outreach
Working alongside the community outreach manager, you will visit communities and help with existing outreach projects such as the ‘Learning Through Wildlife’ adult-literacy programme, and Malambe Juice Co-operative. Helping the local community is a big part of this project, and a p[art most volunteers enjoy.
Environment
Should you be interested in conservation management, there are several ecological surveys, mammal censuses and an important afforestation project which always require volunteer support for wider wildlife conservation in Malawi.
