Siobhan Threlfall, 19, and Karla Lowder, 18, became friends attending Bodalla Public School together before Siobhan went to Narooma and Karla to Moruya high schools

Now they are both at Sydney University and it was in their Earth, Environment and Society class they heard about and later successfully applied for the Costa Rica project.

But first they need to raise $5000 each to pay for their trip to Central America.

They are planning fundraisers and there is a page where people can donate.

If they can raise the funds they will head to San Juanillo, anm underprivileged village where the community relies on fishing to maintain its livelihood but in recent times, fish stocks have fallen due to unsustainable practices and over fishing.

The girls together with the other International Student Volunteers would head over in December to build an artificial reef to replenish the marine ecosystem in a marine science project ran by associate lecturer Edwina Tanner.

The project will run for two weeks in which they will not only be building the reef, but also building facilities for the community and monitoring marine life.

In order to make this happen they must raise $5000 each to cover the program costs.

For further information see the Facebook pages of San Juanillo Volunteer Project and Friends of San Juanillo.

To make a donation see the page: www.volunteerforever.com/volunteer_profile/karla-and-siobhan