Past Volunteer Assignments

The women receive training in sewing and weaving, product development and quality control, and the NGO assists them in bringing the products to the international market for sale. The volunteer worked closely with several staff members to develop a business model and marketing plan for the products. She also trained staff in business planning, accounting and operational management, and provided them with the tools to then train the women involved in the project, so that they may eventually form their own small businesses. The volunteer commented “The program exceeded my expectations… I believe I made a significant difference to [the NGO], both individuals and the organization… I learnt that I have the flexibility to continually adjust to the situation and to provide the appropriate support on a short notice [and that] I can learn to bridge the cultural gap and connect with people professionally and personally.”

The volunteer had a background in education and taught English to a group of young women from Burma during her ten-month assignment. She also assisted the NGO with fundraising, by identifying possible donors and working with the staff to draft grant proposals. In addition, the volunteer was able to conduct internet research regarding human rights violations inside Burma and assist in the publication of several reports on the subject. The NGO commented “We had a great experience with our volunteer. [Before,] some of the students were unable to apply for some program[s] in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Now, the students can speak, read, write and understand English very well.”

The volunteer trained foster parents and staff in basic hygiene, medical and child-rearing skills. The NGO staff commented that the volunteer brought a wonderful level of organization to the medical team and was able to implement systems which will ensure the accurate monitoring of the children.

The volunteer facilitated the NGO’s strategic planning process, helped the organization clarify its fundamental beliefs, assessed how aligned its different projects were with its mission and created detailed plans for three key project areas. Following her assignment, the volunteer commented “Learning about the individual stories and experiences of the refugees working for Burma Issues was also an incredible opportunity. Professionally, I got a kick out of seeing how easily the strategic planning concepts and frameworks I’d used with clients in the US could be translated and used in such a drastically different context. I also couldn’t have asked for a more enthusiastic, cooperative and interested group of colleagues.”

The volunteer worked with four of the NGO’s grantees, helping to strengthen their organizational structure and processes through phone calls, field visits and a group conference. She also interviewed their donors and wrote a donor feasibility study, drafted the biannual report, wrote monthly e-newsletters and helped with overall development strategies. The NGO commented that the volunteer was “extremely sensitive to the cultural differences both with staff members and with the young women with whom she worked….she was able to bridge the gap and form relationships. She was able to establish close relationships with the groups that she worked with even though they were quite a diverse group.”

The volunteer worked with the staff to provide technical assistance to a family care continuum program being implemented by the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society. The program provides anti-retroviral treatment and comprehensive care and support services to families throughout the state. She also conducted workshops with the NGO’s staff on organizational planning and grant writing. Upon return, the volunteer commented: “I experienced and engaged with the challenges and victories confronted daily by those working on and fighting against the HIV/AIDS pandemic around the globe. It was exactly the hands-on, potential to make a real impact, difficult, humbling, inspiring and fulfilling work that I had hoped to gain by volunteering with AJWS.”

The organization has managed to establish minimum health and safety standards in the textile factories and workers’ compensation for occupation-related diseases. The volunteer helped to develop a campaign to publicize a high court judgment creating new work rules for sewer workers and trained staff in developing training programs. The volunteer’s work was integral to the NGO’s ability to obtain funding in order to publicize the high court judgment to workers.

The NGO conducts its work through integrated approaches which emphasize education, health and the socio-economic development of disadvantaged people. The volunteer had a background in education, and during her assignment she supported the educational programs, facilitated teacher trainings, wrote a strategic document for educational programs and did fundraising for educational programs. The NGO wrote, “Our experience with the volunteer has been awesome. The volunteer was results oriented and innovative. She had a cordial working relationship with all of our staff and performed to the expectations of our organization. We will be glad to have another volunteer to continue the project, especially to evaluate/monitor the project's continued progress.”

The NGO works to enhance work-based rights as an essential and integral element of poverty eradication, with emphasis on principles of democracy and good governance for improving workers’ livelihoods and productivity. The volunteers helped the organization with a board evaluation, staff evaluation and reviews, job titles, human resource manuals, staff reporting formats and reviewing a strategic plan. The volunteers commented, “We felt that we gave our NGO new ideas, helped to sort out some issues for them. A new outlook was greatly appreciated.”

Specifically, many of their partners are women’s groups concentrating on producing high quality crafts to sell in South Africa and abroad. The volunteer assisted some of their partner organizations by conducting trainings and workshops on designs and production techniques. At the end of the assignment, the NGO stated, “I think this was an enormously positive start to our programme of supporting the professionalisation of products amongst local producers and we would love to be able to build on this further in the future with additional designers.”

Some of the NGO’s programs include agricultural programs targeted to women and young adults (such as vegetable gardening and fruit tree plantation), education and literacy training and income generating activities. They also have a longer-term program focused on environmental protection for the entire region. The volunteer was a professional writer with experience in all aspects of communications. She worked on improving website presentation, producing a brochure, developing a communications strategy and training staff in how to write press releases and develop media packets.

In collaboration with one of our Peruvian partner organizations, this volunteer came up with micro-level business models. By focusing on local artisan talent, he helped develop plans to sell authentic handicrafts in local department stores and to consumers through various fair trade outlets. As a result, his volunteer work helped advance his NGO’s mission of raising awareness of indigenous causes, while putting in place a business plan to generate funds and engage Peru’s indigenous minority in a locally empowering way.

The NGO documents environmental abuses that affect human rights, disseminates information to local communities about their rights and litigates on behalf of groups whose rights have been violated. The volunteer trained staff members in computer-based legal research, as well as prepared documentation on environmental and human rights violations. The NGO director stated, “we had a wonderful experience with this volunteer, who was reliable, open and thorough in doing the work, easily adapted to the office culture and had positive relationships with everyone here- local and Western staff alike.”

The volunteer had a background in psychology and she conducted counseling training sessions for staff members. The volunteer also assisted with counseling the NGO’s clients and helped to plan activities to promote women’s empowerment in Ghana. As a result of this experience, the volunteer has been inspired to incorporate human rights in her career.

The NGO provides training in HIV prevention to local youth, voluntary counseling and testing services and social and medical support to PLWHA, as well as advocacy on behalf of PLWHA around access to treatment. The volunteer was a computer specialist who worked to provide technical services and training to the local staff. He worked to establish a computer network between the NGOs’ three local offices, to ensure that the NGOs’ computers were all secure and to develop an IT policy for the organization.

The volunteers came with backgrounds in finance and human resources, and helped the NGO to develop new HR policies and procedures. The volunteers also assisted with an ongoing financial audit, helped establish new methods of accounting and budgeting and trained staff in project management.

The volunteer launched a new website for the organization after working closely with staff to develop content for the site. The volunteer also helped with the construction of a new computer center/internet café, including networking the computers and installing internet access. The volunteer’s work has allowed the NGO to receive donations online via their new site, as well as raised their profile within the community with the new internet café.

With his background in social work, the volunteer was able to establish creative programming for the children at the shelter, train the staff in techniques for psychosocial support and help to develop a supportive atmosphere of home and community. The volunteer also assisted with documenting the work of the NGO for use in publications and proposals.