August 22nd, 2007

NGO’s Using Media In Innovative Ways

By Kate | 2 Comments »

Ten years ago, I bet no one would have imagined that today a ranger working in a remote location in Congo could post photos and information about his conservation work on a website which gets 20,000 visits a month from around the world.

Or that a Mumbai-based stray dog welfare organization could share videos of its dogs to be adopted with viewers across gigantic India and the rest of the world. (Others here here and here.)

Or that micro-credit recipients in, for example, Togo and Guatemala, could have their photos, stories, and business details posted by Kiva.

Why does it matter for volunteers? For one, volunteers can now learn about some amazing work being done from the comfort of their own homes, and that work can help shape their ideas about the field. It also means that there is some potential for potential volunteers to use their media-based skills either to volunteer from home (See UN Online Volunteers) or to assist in the field with those skills, perhaps in the way of building local capacity by sharing their knowledge in classes.

Why does this matter for the organization? I think each case has its own benefits.
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August 18th, 2007

Ethical Travel And Volunteering: Tourism Concern

By Kate | Add a Comment »

If you’re a traveler with a conscience, you’ve probable wondered about the impact of your holiday or volunteer trip.

Tourism Concern - a UK-based organization with a mission to “ensure that tourism always benefits local communities”- is a good place to start. Its campaigns address issues relevant to those with an interest in volunteering abroad and include fair trade, community-based tourism, and tourism and human rights (for example, campaigns concerning travel to Burma). Most practical tips seem to be available via books that you order.

They maintain an ethical tour operators group; members acknowledge that while most tourist organizations – potentially including themselves – do not meet all of Tourism Concern’s standards for fair trade and sustainability, they at least have a high-level commitment to TC’s goals and can demonstrate measurable results in the communities they operate in.

In the area of voluntourism there is a section on international volunteering which will be of particular interest. They say:

“International volunteering can be a wonderful way to explore another country, meet new people, learn new things and have new adventures….Tourism Concern’s partners, particularly those in overseas destinations, have stated that development aid should focus on the needs of local people rather than those of the tourists. Problems arise when volunteer tourism tries to be a form of short-term development.”

They also recently hosted a debate on the topic “Are gap years the new colonialism?” While this of course sounds quite extreme, the argument is that “volunteer tourism markets itself to young people using negative stereotypes of the global south which perpetuates colonialism.”

In a recent Time article, Tourism Concern mentioned that they are coming up with a code of ethical conduct for tour operators, which could well prove to be a good thing. It makes sense to me to distinguish voluntourism from development or aid; I also think serious critical though about voluntourism is the best way to improve it. But – sometimes this argument raises more questions than it answers.
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August 15th, 2007

Peace Brigades International Volunteers Interviewed At The Guardian Abroad

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If you liked the Volunteer Logue interview with former Peace Brigages International Colombia volunteer June, you can find more reading material at the Guardian Abroad.

Ann Scholl interviewed current and past PBI volunteers in Aceh, Indonesia. One former volunteer describes her experience accompanying human rights activists who were caught in the conflict between local citizens and the Indonesian military. Once PBI was notified of the request for “protective accompaniement”, volunteers had to inform authorities and military checkpoints of their journey and ensure there was back-up support in the office for the length of the accompaniement. They also wore brightly colored PBI shirts and drove in a vehicle with the organization’s logo displayed on the side.

Since the tsunami, though, the local situation has changed, according to this article. PBI’s work has shifted to “participatory peace education”, which includes leading workshops and also working with a wider variety of organizations, from women’s groups to grassroots humanitarian organizations.
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August 12th, 2007

Volunteer Latin America: Purchase A Guide To Low-Cost Volunteer Opportunities

By Kate | 3 Comments »

Volunteer Latin America brings together contact information on organizations offering volunteer opportunities – mainly environmental projects but also a smaller number of others like community aid - in a guide for potential volunteers. You can peruse brief descriptions of some of the possibilities; if you’d like to find out more, you need to order a guide for just under £25. They report that there will be at least 20 organizations currently offering volunteer positions in the online guide, selected by criteria you define (country, type of project, etc.).

The largest number of projects are in Ecuador and Costa Rica, and most are low cost or free, with the volunteer paying his or her own day to day expenses. Some projects do have a language requirement and they report others – most typically those in the humanitarian category – include a possibility for the volunteer to improve or start learning Spanish language skills. They also include information on Spanish schools, all of which “either directly sponsor or can arrange volunteer work/internships.”
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August 10th, 2007

Around The Web On Volunteering: August 10

By Kate | Add a Comment »

• Remember the reality show hoax in the Netherlands, designed to raise awareness about the need for organ donors there? Find out if it worked and what people are saying about it from the International Herald Tribune.
• Students of Chinese language from around the world can win scholarships and a chance to volunteer at the Olympics.
• This is probably a good strategy because volunteer applications for the Beijing Olympics have set a new world record.
• One blogger questions the conclusions of VolunteerMatch’s research on the volunteer habits of Baby Boomers (mentioned here at the Volunteer Logue).
• A well-known volunteer debate rears its head at World Hum once more, this time with the author coming down on the side of voluntourism.
• See what one Australian volunteer is up to, and find out more about Australian Volunteers International which specializes in organizing career-specific volunteer trips to places which are in need of professionals with particular skills in more than 36 countries.

August 8th, 2007

UN Volunteers Online Volunteering Service

By Kate | Add a Comment »

If you want to volunteer with a development organization without leaving home, check out UN Volunteers Online Volunteering Service to see if any organization has put in a request for a skill you have. The overall goal of the site is to support the Millennium Development Goals – which seek to make significant progress on a number of world issues such as extreme poverty and HIV/AIDS by 2015; volunteers can scan through ads, select one to apply for, and, if the organization thinks it is a good match, start their work from home. I’ve done a bit of proofreading of reports and research of aid-type organizations (on my own, not through UN Online Volunteering), and I have to say even this task that really provides only basic exposure to the field can be eye-opening.

A few examples:

• The Pan African Hazards and Mine Action is looking for help writing an online English language training program for learners in south Sudan. As an ESL teacher I cringe a little at the thought that they would like it to be “on grammar”, but ideally the requirement of five years experience teaching will mean the teacher selected will be able to convey the importance of including other skills as well (speaking, listening and so on).
• There are several requests for translation, including that of an Olympic volunteer journal written by Chinese professors to English.
• Or you can research information on cottage industry and microfinance – to help an evening school for students who can’t afford public school in India.
• Finally, there is the Zambian Human Rights Commission, which would like help redesigning its website, which in its own words is “by all standards very shallow”.

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August 6th, 2007

Volunteer Resources: Table Of Contents

By Kate | Add a Comment »

The Volunteer Logue has been around since February, and in that time has come across and posted about some excellent volunteer resources. Find some of the best below, as well as links to interviews and other first-hand volunteer stories and experiences.

Guide To Ethical Volunteering
How To Live Your Dream Of Volunteering Overseas (Book Review)
Glimpse Abroad Magazine
Transitions Abroad Magazine
Voluntourism.org
Online Resource: OneWorld.net
Reuters Alert Net
Online Resource: World Volunteer Web

Interview With True Travellers’ Society Founder, Andrew Wahba(International)
Interview With Conservation Co. Founders(South Africa)
Interview With Neil, Former Katimavik Volunteer (Canada)
Interview With A Returned Peace Brigades International Volunteer, Colombia (Colombia)
Interview With The Founders Of Merazonia Animal Refuge (Ecuador)
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August 4th, 2007

“Time” Takes A Look At Voluntourism: Overpriced Guilt-Trips Or A Real Chance To Change The World?

By Kate | Add a Comment »

World Hum recently pointed me towards Vacationing Like Brangelina, where Time takes a look at voluntourism and asks if these are “merely overpriced guilt trips with an impact as fleeting as the feel-good factor? Or do they offer individuals a real chance to change the world, one summer jaunt at a time?”

Time quotes Voluntourism.org founder David Clemmons, who explains the benefit of volunteer trips which include more typical tourist activities as well: “You don’t walk away from the destination only with this snapshot in your mind of ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s this wretched, horrid poverty…You see there are other sides.”

Critics from Tourism Concern point out that the frequent language barrier between volunteers and “beneficiaries” and the short-term nature of voluntourism trips may preclude making any real connection and, presumably, effecting real change. Another criticism was “The market is geared toward profit rather than the needs of the communities.” Tourism Concern is developing a code of ethical conduct for the sector to address these concerns, which I would be interested in featuring here when available.

I think criticism is a great tool because, unlike unquestioning acceptance, it can actually lead to positive change. However the lack of depth present in many “criticisms” of voluntourism often disappoints me, and, while I don’t agree with all of his conclusions, I think one of the best cases I’ve seen against voluntourism is that presented by Our Man in Granada, written specifically for the Volunteer Logue here.

I’m long-winded on this topic and may have summarized my feelings best in my guest piece at Voluntourism.org. Briefly, I think:
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August 3rd, 2007

Baby Boomer Barriers To Volunteering

By Kate | 1 Comment »

As people advance in their careers, and find more free time as their children grow up, they often look for a way to share their skills with their community.

But sometimes it’s not so easy. VolunteerMatch recently investigated some of the obstacles facing one particular generation of potential volunteers in the US: baby boomers.

Greg Baldwin, VolunteerMatch President said one of the primary challenges for this group of potential volunteers is that “many can’t find an outfit that engages the full range of their interests, skills and life experience.” Other obstacles mentioned in a phone survey were lack of time and health concerns.

In fact, these sound like fairly typical reasons why people don’t volunteer, so why does it matter?

The outlook for potential baby boomer volunteers is significant because soon they will be retirees…a group which has for some time made up a huge portion of those contributing volunteer labor for non-profits in the US. There are a lot of baby boomers, and if they don’t volunteer, non-profits will soon start to feel it.
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August 2nd, 2007

Island Conservation Volunteers Will Be The First Visitors In Many Years

By Kate | Add a Comment »

AP/Lucy Pelmoni

In about six months, one government organization plans to allow tourists – volunteers in fact - to visit a certain island area which is “so precious humans generally aren’t allowed to venture there”. It is part of a protected marine area and also part of a 14000-mile long archipelago.

The volunteers will help clear the island of debris (fishing nets and hooks, for example, which entangle marine life) and invasive plant species which make it difficult for a large local bird to reach its nesting ground.

The area is also home to monk seals and green sea turtles, both endangered species, as well as thousands of other species found nowhere else in the world.

Any ideas where this mystery island might be? It may help if I reveal that the large local bird is the gooney bird, and that the island became well known in connection with a World War II battle. It was used as a military base until 1996 and is located about four hours by plane from Honolulu.

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