 Help
Wanted: Must be Committed and Reliable
The Frog Decline Reversal
Project, Inc. (the FDR Project) runs a variety of activities which are
meant to help slow and hopefully stop the decline of frogs in this area.
Some of these activities are things that can be done by volunteers on
an ad hoc basis but many tasks require some training which means
that we expect a long-term, professional committment from the volunteer.
If you are considering becoming a volunteer, please read through this
page before contacting us. If you live in Cairns and would still like
to get involved in our activities after you've read it fully, then phone
or email us. We will arrange an interview and show you our setup.
Ask
yourself WHY you want to volunteer with us
We get lots of calls
from people who sound keen to help frogs and we spend a great deal of
time explaining what we do. We then schedule an interview at the potential
volunteer's convenience but the vast majority of callers don't even show
up for their interview or phone to cancel. (Other community groups in
Cairns report the same problem and it baffles all of us!) We can't figure
out why they called us to begin with! So please ask yourself why you want
to volunteer for us and what you want out of the experience before
you pick up the phone to offer us your help! Everybody has their own thoughts
about "what's in it for me" which might include:
- meeting new people
and socialising
- a means of being
able to get what psyche gurus refer to as 'positive stroking' (pats
on the back) which might not be coming from other daily activities
- just filling in
time which benefits somebody else as well
- getting free training
- gaining a required
skill for a job
- a means of implementing
an inner driving force to do something 'real' to help the environment
Which of these points
you value will determine what kinds of volunteer opportunities are right
for you. For most of our current volunteers, the only applicable point
that fits is the last one!
Our
Work Environment
- The CFH is run
by a Curator and is located in a private home, as is the office for
the FDR Project, Inc.. Our new location has much more room to work than
the previously cramped quarters but the demands for a clean environment
are greater.
- We are closed mornings
due to the Curator's health problems. We welcome volunteer assistance
with hospital tasks between 1:00 and 7:00pm. We function seven days
a week.
- Most of the time,
only one or two volunteers at a time might be at the CFH with the Curator
and there is a mountain of work to be done. The CFH/FDR office is quiet
but it is extremely busy. This means that volunteers need to be comfortable
with focussing on the tasks at hand and working independently rather
than lots of conversation and socialising. If you really need someone
to chat with while you work, perhaps you can find an environmentally
friendly colleague who will pair up with you when you are here.
- We are very consciencious
when it comes to duty of care. We do not allow volunteers to engage
in activities which might pose any risks to themselves or others. We
expect safety procedures to be followed such as wearing protective clothing
and being mindful about one's conduct during surveys.
- We never know what
the next phone call is going to bring so the day's intended schedule
frequently gets thrown out the window. Volunteers should be flexible
and prepared for changes in the day's tasks when rescues come up or
an unexpected vet run needs to be done right away.
- There are new government
projects starting up to isolate all our new diseases but this will take
years before we know much about each of these pathogens. This means
that we don't really know the scope of all the frog diseases coming
in the door and cannot foresee if any of them might be picked up by
humans. Consequently, the only contact new volunteers have with frogs
is when they are being shuttled or rescued. Only volunteers who fully
accept the risks involved with handling diseased animals and who have
also demonstrated their long-term committment to the group and ability
to follow instructions are allowed to assist with frog care.
What
sort of tasks do we have for volunteers?
Lots of things such
as picking up injured frogs, washing tanks, helping with mailings, running
errands, carpentry and other assembly work, computer work, answering phones
and making phone calls, surveys at night, manning our display at events,
plus other odds and sods. Our work is based mostly in the following areas:
- the Cairns Frog
Hospital (the CFH)
- tadpole rescues
and raising
- gathering information
about local environmental issues
- producing educational
materials
- breeding insects
and cleaning their tanks
- attending government
forums and meetings
- drafting submissions
and grant applications
- logistics associated
with displays and events such the Garden Show
- administrative
tasks to support all the above
- fundraising to
support the above
The greatest need
for help involves cleaning up. The frogs in care must be kept very clean
and we normally have at least 50 adults in care plus tadpoles and juveniles.
We have about 150 tanks which must be washed three times - first in bleach
and disinfectant, secondly in F10, and lastly in iodine or hydrogen peroxide.
The frog rooms need to be washed down and floors washed once a week.
Running errands is
also high on the list as the CFH does not have a vehicle. All trips to
the vet, shops for supplies, tadpole rescues, and frog pickups/releases
are done with the help of volunteers with their own transport. Administration
is the next most time consuming area with mailings to go out, phones to
be answered, calls to be made, filing, computer database updating or other
internet work. During wet seasons, there are thousands of tadpoles to
be cared for and metamorphs to be temporarily held to make sure they are
healthy before they are returned to point of origin for release.
Specific
ad-hoc needs
The stress of coping
withnew highly contagious, airbourne diseases in the area has put quite
a strain on our current volunteers and especially the Curator. We have
needs for a variety of new volunteers which could be very limited by choice
in what they do for us.
- We need more tank
washers which involves standing at a sink for extended periods.
- There is a mass
of computer work to do, especially with Microsoft Access and our new
GIS software
- We need to produce
more educational materials - especially small posters - and could use
the assistance of a local graphic artist.
- We need professional
advice on a mix of topics including legal, soil science, marketing,
grant writing, primary school education, toxicology, climate change,
genetics and especially psychology, film production and the functioning
of the media industry. If you are a professional and only want to assist
occasionally by providing us with your own professional expertise, we
would love to talk to you.
- Schools phone us
all the time to ask for speakers to come to their classes and we have
no-one to send them. This is a shame as interested children are the
ones who will be making the environmental decisions in the future. If
you are a retired teacher or uni student studying for an education degree
and would like to enjoy the teaching experience without the long-term
commitment, call us! We would love to have someone who is available
once a fortnight to visit a local school to talk about frog conservation.
Professionalism
by Necessity
There are so many
volunteer opportunities out there that you can pick and choose from. If
we're not quite 'your cup of tea', that's fine. We hope you'll choose
another group to help. Many volunteers feel that volunteering should not
be as demanding as a paying job but, in our circumstances, the tasks here
need to be handled with the same dedication and drive as a career job
because we are dealing with live, diseased animals.
Lastly, if you volunteer
with us, you are covered by our public liability insurance when you are
at the CFH/FDR office, our official meetings and within the boundaries
of our display stalls at major events. We recently picked up separate
insurance for field work but it covers survey work only - not tasks here
at the CFH. Because of the spiralling insurance costs, we strongly encourage
volunteers to become members of our group.
We try to educate
volunteers as much as possible and offer periodic workshops. The more
you learn, the more you can do. But at the least, we hope the personal
satisfaction of making a genuine contribution to frog conservation will
be reward in itself. If you have any questions or are ready to set up
an interview, please contact us.
last edited:
May 10th, 2007
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