Atoll Volunteers is a young and vibrant organisation of local and international volunteers, based in the Maldives.
We offer a range of local volunteering programs and we are dedicated to securing the most exciting and beneficial
projects for our volunteers while still making sure that as much attention and funding as possible is funneled directly into our community. Most importantly, we at Atoll Volunteers believe that volunteering does not need to be all work and no play, and that the most rewarding of volunteer programs allow you to enjoy your placement at the same time as giving back to our community.
Our community is desperate for your help in so many ways but in return we promise to welcome you into our lives as a friend, show you the best the “real” Maldives has to offer and be on hand to support you in any way we can. We may not be able to offer you the luxuries of the 5 star hotels but the natural beauty of the Maldives is not limited to 5 star resorts – idyllic beaches, uninhabited islands and some of the world’s most beautiful coral reefs teeming with marine life of every colour are yours to explore. Atoll vVolunteers provides accommodation in our volunteer houses which are modern but simple and clean, and similar to what you would expect to find in a European beach resort.
Our mission at Atoll Volunteers is to ensure that you leave the Maldives having experienced the warmth and friendliness of our people, explored our islands, been amazed at the beauty of our marine life and hopefully come to love the little island that we call home. We have extensive experience in placing volunteers in exciting projects that have seen our volunteers partake in activities as varied as turtle conservation, teaching, community organizing, various sports programs and much, much more.
Atoll Volunteers endeavours to provide the best volunteering experience that the Maldives has to offer and have a range of customized placements which have been planned in cooperation with our schools, hospitals, sporting teams and local community of over 5000 people to offer a wide variety of volunteering options.
History
We are a young organisation which was officially founded in early 2012 after more than 4 years of experience running volunteer programs on Lhaviyani Atoll (hence the name Atoll Volunteers) on behalf of other international volunteer organisations in the Maldives through our NGO.
We chose to launch our own volunteer program since the various international partnerships that we were previously involved in all had extremely high administration costs, which meant that only a small fraction of the volunteers’ placement fees would actually reach our organisation and the island community – in some cases the community found themselves needing to subsidise the volunteers’ stay as the funding that was received was simply not enough to cover basic accommodation and food costs.
Therefore, we decided to make a change for the better. One of the most frequently asked questions by potential volunteers is “Where does my money go?” and we wanted to ensure that it really was reaching the community it was intended for. At Atoll Volunteers we keep our running costs to a minimum, with no international offices or paid international staff, we keep our advertising and administration costs as low as possible and have a transparency policy which means that as our volunteer you will be able to monitor what your funds cover – any funds remaining from your program fee go directly into local community projects.
Not only are our fees at Atoll Volunteers lower and more transparent than most other Maldivian NGOs, but we were also the first NGO in the Maldives registered to bring in foreign volunteers. This means that you can be sure that we know what we are doing and that our visa application process is smooth and quick.
However, as all our full time employees are local Maldivians, please do excuse us if our English, which is our second language, is not always perfect!
So come and join us for the chance to experience the ultimate in island volunteering but do it knowing that you will help make a real difference in our community!
Naifaru balan aadhey!
See you at Naifaru!
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