am a final year Biology student of the Centro Universitario de Ciencia Biologicas Agropecuarias (CUSBA) Mexico. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Science in Biology, I had to embark on a four-month internship/volunteering program in Biodiversity and Forest Conservation.

I have always dreamed of studying plant and animal conservation in Africa because of its rich heritage in biodiversity. While I was going through a document online about biodiversity conservation institutions in Africa I came across the ERuDeF Institute of Biodiversity and Non-Profit Studies. The testimonies from other people in my country that have done similar exercises at the Institute fascinated me. 

I was thrilled by the exploits of the Institute particularly in areas of environmental research and conservation studies. I made some enquiries about the institution; visited its website www.erudefinstitute.org, contacted some people in Africa to find out if I could visit the continent for my volunteering programme and was made to understand that ERuDeF Institute is one of the best in terms of training and biodiversity conservation research in Africa. That’s how I found myself here in Cameroon.

I arrived in Cameroon on August 8, 2014 filled with the desire to carry out intensive research on the nature and uniqueness of Cameroon’s biodiversity hotspots, animals, birds and wildlife as a whole.

I think my stay in Cameroon will also help me learn more not only about the uniqueness of Africa’s flora and fauna, but the political, religious and economic life of the people as well.

Erandi Nayu Vazquez Osorno

Volunteer from Mexico