Why I love to come to Jungle Friends and Volunteer

Note:  This is a guest blog update written by long time Jungle Friends volunteer Shannon Douglas Smith.  He has been an invaluable member of the Jungle Friends family for over ten years now. 



Why I love to come to Jungle Friends and Volunteer


by Shannon Douglas Smith


This place is magical. It has a certain aura that makes you want to be a part of
a grand plan for helping these little furry creatures, and there is way more to it
than just the animals. The people here have purpose and a presence of being
in service, not servitude, that creates a whole community of caring persons. And
they will care about you, immediately, even for just being here.

Shannon hard at work.

Certainly there is a lot of hard work that must be done, for it is a very complex
system that must take care of so many animals that can’t do so for themselves.
There is however, a multitude of support systems for the workers, and helping to
keep those running is where I fit myself in.




I tell people I am here to make life easier for the people who make life easier
for the monkeys. By making things easier, what it really amounts to for the
caretakers, is being able to get more done each day before the sun sets. So I try
to fix things that break, service and improve various equipment, repair appliances
and do mostly mechanical support to make things run more efficiently.


I am not here to work with the monkeys directly and I much prefer it that way.
Amazingly, whenever I show up the little guys just go crazy screaming at the
sight of me, knowing I belong there and greeting me like their long lost friend!


Becoming a volunteer at Jungle Friends when I first started ten years ago,
seemed like it was going to be just some mundane ‘feel-good’ work, to be able
to claim to others that yes, I do volunteer work, so that must make me somehow
more admirable. But as I learned more and grew into my self-styled function
as Mister Fixit, I have become very fulfilled, feeling so much appreciation from
everyone and wishing my ‘regular’ job was so rewarding. Anyone can come and
find out where they would like to fit in.


Being here is synergistic; the ‘whole’ that you become is greater than the sum of
the parts. Jungle Friends will change you. And you will like what you become.