Michael Amphlet founded Quest Overseas in June 1996 following an expedition to South America earlier in the year with a pioneering team of eight students.
"I enjoyed a rather nomadic, outdoor childhood, surrounded by international people. I read Politics, Economics and Ancient History at A Level and then went on to read Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. After Uni I went off to Africa for six months and then joined the British Army, before I was expelled from Sandhurst for having "an attitude problem".
Many would argue I still have “an attitude problem”, but with respect, that very same “problem” is what promoted Quest Overseas to being shortlisted as Best Volunteering Organisation in the 2006 Responsible Tourism Awards and achieved £1million in volunteer donations to QUEST projects. I am also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society."
Beth's African passion began as a child when she lived in Kenya for a few years with her teacher parents. She graduated from Birmingham University with a BSc in Geography and an MSc in World Space Economy (odd title - but consisted of politics, economics and development). After working on a Game Reserve in South Africa for 3 months and then trekking into Namibia, Botswana and Zambia, she went snowboarding and sky-jumping in New Zealand. Five weeks of back-packing it solo around South America followed, before she headed back to Africa for several months more work on the same Game Reserve in South Africa.
After an eye-opening period in the civil service dealing with water drains and sewage plants, QUEST gave her the chance to be Project Leader for the Swaziland team in 2004.
She then led our Southern Africa Expedition, before heading back to the drizzle of the UK to become Africa Manager and then Ops Director. Beth has led teams on our Kenya Water Relief Project and Malawi & Zambia Explorer and loves heading off to Africa to meet new people and potential project partners. With continually itchy feet, she's also notched up trips to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Zanzibar as well as independent travel all over Western Australia, Europe, East America and Canada.
"Why do I work for Quest? Because I genuinely and passionately believe that Quest is the best volunteering organisation around. Everyone in the office thrives on working with our partners overseas and the biggest buzz we get is seeing a project go from being a small, desperately needy NGO to a sustainable expanding project through the donations and work of our volunteer teams. None of us do this for the money - we do it because we love it. Cheesy but true!"
Helen began working for QUEST in June 2005 as an intern and now manages the Latin America operations.
After studying Travel, Tourism & Management at Brighton Uni she decided put what she’d learnt into practice and took a late year in Central America where she volunteered on a turtle conservation project in Costa Rica and completed and worked as a PADI Divemaster in Honduras.
Helen returned to the UK for a job creating tailor-made itineraries for independent travellers but two and a half years later found she was still dreaming of Latin America, so took a 3 month sabbatical and travelled to Bolivia to volunteer in an orphanage. 3 months turned into 18 months travelling and working around Latin America, mainly Brazil. Her interest in development issues grew as she volunteered with various community-based NGOs, lived on a sustainable development in the Amazon and cycled the deserted beaches of the north-east coast.
Determined to further her knowledge on development issues she began studying towards a Masters in Development Management with the Open University and decided to seek out work with an organisation that combined her travel background with her interest in development. This search led her to QUEST and she says “I am so happy to be working for an organisation that combines these elements to bring tangible results for both our volunteers in the UK and our project partners in South America and Africa.”
Chris has worked as a Science Officer and Project Scientist for Coral Cay Conservation and as a marine consultant researching coral bleaching in Tobago. He has also conducted research into the working conditions of lobster fishing, lead marine expeditions to Belize and Honduras, and in 2005 completed a Masters Degree in Environment and Development at King’s College London. Chris has worked as an Assistant Leader on our Peru Children's Project and lead the Ecuador Amazon Project.
Chris has been running Quest Underseas since the end of 2006 and is totally passionate about diving and marine conservation.He is now based out in Mozambique running our marine and community projects on the ground.
To find out about positions and careers available at QUEST please click here.
"The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."
Samuel Johnson (1696 - 1772) American Philosopher