Nicolas Nadeau

About me...

- It’s the antipode you know.
- What?
- Madagascar. On the other side of the planet.
- So if I dig...
- Yup. Madagascar.

My brother’s roommate was at the table eating her granola, and being surprisingly informative for an early morning conversation.

I was in Vancouver, Canada, visiting my brother for a change of scenery, looking for a new life plan, fresh out of university and fresh out of a job. I had struck what I considered to be life plan gold the night before, having found out my acceptance to the Explore program.

I enthusiastically replaced my morning coffee mug with an earth globe and quickly had two fingers positioned on it, one on Western Canada, and the other on my soon-to-be adoptive island. I couldn’t help but wonder what I would uncover, who I would meet, where I would go, and if they drank coffee in the morning.

My name is Nicolas Nadeau. I’m 22, a French Canadian, and in less than a month I was (quite literally) on the other side of the planet.

What I learned while I was there…

A lot.
/ ©: Nicolas Nadeau
Nicolas Nadeau, WWF Volunteer 2006, Madagascar.
© Nicolas Nadeau

Our group's video

Want to talk about what it's like?

Feel free to email me.
/ ©: Nicolas Nadeau
Touching down
© Nicolas Nadeau

My advice would be...

/ ©: Bette Harms
Taking a break while truck breaks down, Madagascar.
© Bette Harms
Things will not always go exactly as planned. Such is the nature of development work in rural environments, but…

…you can’t spell misadventure without adventure!

Take setbacks with a smile, and try not to mull over the things you cannot change.

Truck breaks down? (it will)

Do:  Take some time to kick back, relax, or explore your surroundings.

Don’t:  Angrily stomp your foot next to truck until chassis is replaced. You’re going to be there a while…

Building a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence.