Esther Honey Foundation

“I volunteered “during the summer of my first year into vet school. Being in Raro is probably what kept me in school! It was the first link in a chain that has ended up with me working at a vet clinic on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.”

“After working for almost four months at your clinic followed by some travelling, I am finally back home again. I am writing to you because I want to thank you for the great opportunity to work in your clinic. The clinic is doing a brilliant job.

The dog and cat population receives a big benefit from your spay/neutering and animal health care programs. It was very nice to work with Gregg. He is great in managing the clinic and helping the pet owners. I certainly plan to come back to the beautiful Cook Islands, hopefully next year.”

“We had such a wonderful 2 weeks at Esther Honey and were just starting to really find our feet when it was time to leave! We hope to make it back out again some time in the not too distant future though! Thanks again for having us!”

“Scheduling an externship at Esther Honey Foundation was one of the smartest moves in my veterinary career. Not only did I experience one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world during my stay, I had the pleasure of working with highly motivated veterinarians and vet nurses that loved to teach and share their life lessons with me and a community that greatly appreciated our work.”

“Although there’s a bounty of fun activities to do on my days off, I really enjoyed the work itself, and the impact that Esther Honey has had since its inception was readily apparent to me. Nearly most of the dogs on the island are now owned due to a strong spay/neuter program, and the animals that would previously succumb to trauma and fish poisoning now survive. Even something as simple as flea prevention had a profound impact on these animal’s lives. All in all, the experience was amazing, and I would love to volunteer for the Esther Honey Foundation again.”

“It is one of the first times that we felt that we were not just ‘western volunteers coming from overseas’ doing the job the local government don’t want to face. It was working in paradise. Every day we switched between consults, surgeries, census and house visits. Any kind of animal passed in front of our eyes. I wrestled with a cow under the attentive eye of a Polynesian warrior …”

“Want to say a big thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience life in the beautiful Cook Islands. I thoroughly enjoyed working for EHF and had an amazing two weeks. Gregg was lovely and made sure myself and the other girls settled in well.

The work EHF has done and continues to do in CI is fantastic and it was quite obvious how much the locals appreciated it. Thank you again for what I would like to think of as the highlight of my career so far. I have already recommended it to a lot of people and already am thinking of going back “

“A few other volunteers and I went around the island handing out fliers that promote spay/neuter awareness at area churches. It was an amazing way to see the island, and truly, almost everyone knew of EHF and spoke of it so fondly. You should be incredibly proud of all you’ve done there. Truly one of the best weeks of my life. THANK YOU for giving me that opportunity!!”

“Once again, I had a great experience and leave feeling very good about the animal care we provided. Working at EHF is a genuinely unique experience. You are visiting and working in a truly beautiful and exotic location. More importantly, as you work at the clinic, you meet wonderful people and have the opportunity to appreciate the local environment. You’re not just a tourist!

“I whole-heartedly recommend EHF to anyone looking for a great way to use their veterinary skills and enjoy a wonderful travel experience.”