The Positions: open to all committed ‘Orang Laut’

The following positions are those that are available to committed individuals who can offer their time and skills from their home location to support our efforts in the field.   This positions are critical, and contribute directly to our ability to achieve our mission, and we are grateful to all who have helped us along the way so far!  

1) Campaigners and Fundraisers   
We are currently seeking individuals or organisations who are truly committed to protecting the world’s last coral reef stronghold.  We seek passionate individuals from all walks of life to whom we can hand the advocacy and fundraising baton, and make genuine difference to our mission to Restore, Protect and Conserve the coral reefs of Raja Ampat, simply by connecting with their own social network!

If it breaks your heart to think of the rapid decline of the most biodiverse reefs on Earth, THIS is how you can truly make a difference.  Read More here or Start a Campaign

2) Translators: English to French
We currently seek native or fluent French and English speakers, who are willing to support our communications efforts.  Translator(s) will be required to be available to translate or proofread anything from a couple of sentences, to a webpage to a grant application!
Working in 3 languages (English, French, Indonesian) is key to us being able to successfully reach supporters around the world and ultimately deliver projects in the field.  Please Contact Us if you are willing to support our work by donating your English/French language skills.

Positions Filled:
GIS Experts – multiple positions: All Positions filled

Why Volunteer? 

By offering to your time and skills to The SEA People, you contribute directly to the realization of community based projects that protect and conserve coral reefs and marine ecosystems in Raja Ampat – from wherever you are located in the world.

As a volunteer with us, you will:

• Be a part of a global team of committed and passionate ‘Orang Laut’
• Collaborate closely with Founders and Ambassadors (perhaps even become an Ambassador yourself!)
• Be considered and treated as a colleague (not just ‘free help’); you will be respected, your time will be valued, your strengths utilized, and your feedback heard.
• Gain valuable ‘real world’ experience in the field you volunteer in;
• Where feasible and meaningful, long term (12+ months), high impact volunteers will be rewarded with the opportunity to join us in the field to continue/expand their work, and be offered a return flight from any major city to Raja Ampat.   If applicable, Scuba Diving courses will be offered.

A word on Volunteering with us

We humbly and respectfully ask you NOT to contact us with the following offer; “You pay for my flights, diving and accommodation, and I’ll work for you for free”.  This is not a volunteering model we are willing to support (believe us.. we get these requests often!).

We know it’s the dream of many to conduct conservation activities in the field, and at The SEA People, we value and appreciate this passion and desire to contribute – it’s what got our Founders here!

However, it is important to remember that short term volunteers need training and time to learn how our projects work and run, and time to adjust to remote living and a new culture.  Investing this time and effort into developing short term volunteer competencies can detract from our focus – delivering local community based conservation projects.  Our priority is to devote our time and resources to training and employing local people, as we believe this makes the greatest contribution to the local environment, community and economy.  For this reason, in general we do not support short-term voluntary positions unless we think the volunteer can have an immediate, positive and sustainable impact on our work and on the amazing communities and ecosystems within which we live.

Put simply, from an environmental, socio-cultural and economic perspective, The SEA People prioritises the training and hiring of local community members over and above that of hosting short term volunteers from abroad.

This being said, we consider all volunteer applications on a case by case basis, and at time of writing:
1) For those who are planning to visit or already in Raja Ampat, and are interested in volunteering or contributing to our work, we invite you to contact us, and in the instance we have an opportunity to join our fieldwork (coral restoration, Crown of Thorns Management mitigation, marine megafauna monitoring etc) we are happy discuss with you how you could contribute and be involved.*

2) Volunteers applying from abroad who wish to join us in the field will only be considered in the following scenarios:
– they bring with them a skill we need and do not yet have
– they provide an additional source of funding to further support the development of community based projects
– they are already considered long term, high impact volunteers (as described above)*

3) We may offer our long term volunteers the opportunity to join us in the field after 12+ months, high impact work from their location (see previous)*

*In order to comply with Indonesian law, any long term Volunteer who participates in our programs in Raja Ampat is required to obtain the correct visa to enable their stay and voluntary participation. All volunteers must offer their services freely, and will not be paid or remunerated for participating in the activities of The SEA People and Yaysan Orang Laut Papua.

Once again, we humbly and respectfully ask you NOT to contact us with the following offer; “You pay for my flights, diving and accommodation, and I’ll work for you for free”.  Thankyou for your understanding.