Thanks for sharing this. As a previous volunteer I understand where you’re coming from completely. Unfortunately the scene you described in the woman’s house is one that occurs even in the United Kingdom. The conversation you had with the site visitor is quite moving, if you remember anything more specific about her answers I’d be interested to read them.
I have been doing some research on volunteer programmes, especially those that take volunteers abroad and the ‘voluntourism’ industry. Like Liam, I’m wondering if there is scope for EA to compile a list of the more effective volunteer organisations.
From what I can tell, the key difference seems to be in whether the charity is searching specifically for volunteers with skills that are not locally available.
I am considering taking a voluntary placement with VSO in 2018, one that I have selected for its emphasis on skills and anti-poverty goals. Any other recommendations or comments would be very welcome.
I want to be careful not to put words in her mouth here, as it’s been a while now, but I can share more detail on what I took out of the conversation. Basically, to have any large impact you need to change the whole chain of events rather than focus on one particular area. Taking an extreme example, consider a mining town in Britain in the 19th century, where after primary school, working class children go to work in the mines and remain there for the rest of their lives. Improving the standard of primary education they achieve will have very little direct impact on their lives, if they still end up with the same probability of ending up in the mines.
This is an extreme example, and I imagine that some (more) of the kids in the schools we contributed will progress further in education and employment. Even for those that don’t, it’s likely better reading and writing skills will stand to them over the course of their lives.
Still, there is a reality here that needs to be faced, there were 3 young girls who spoke at the ‘closing ceremony’, thanking us deeply for helping them in their dream of becoming doctors, which all 3 of them were determined to do and confident they would achieve. However, from speaking to this lady it seems very unlikely that any of these three most promising students from the school will actually make it all the way through university and medical school.
This is one of my long term goals. I know JPAL utilises volunteers locally, but I don’t think there are any programmes to send volunteers from other countries to sites. Field researchers are employed by the organisation.
Thanks for sharing this. As a previous volunteer I understand where you’re coming from completely. Unfortunately the scene you described in the woman’s house is one that occurs even in the United Kingdom. The conversation you had with the site visitor is quite moving, if you remember anything more specific about her answers I’d be interested to read them.
I have been doing some research on volunteer programmes, especially those that take volunteers abroad and the ‘voluntourism’ industry. Like Liam, I’m wondering if there is scope for EA to compile a list of the more effective volunteer organisations.
From what I can tell, the key difference seems to be in whether the charity is searching specifically for volunteers with skills that are not locally available.
I am considering taking a voluntary placement with VSO in 2018, one that I have selected for its emphasis on skills and anti-poverty goals. Any other recommendations or comments would be very welcome.
I want to be careful not to put words in her mouth here, as it’s been a while now, but I can share more detail on what I took out of the conversation. Basically, to have any large impact you need to change the whole chain of events rather than focus on one particular area. Taking an extreme example, consider a mining town in Britain in the 19th century, where after primary school, working class children go to work in the mines and remain there for the rest of their lives. Improving the standard of primary education they achieve will have very little direct impact on their lives, if they still end up with the same probability of ending up in the mines. This is an extreme example, and I imagine that some (more) of the kids in the schools we contributed will progress further in education and employment. Even for those that don’t, it’s likely better reading and writing skills will stand to them over the course of their lives. Still, there is a reality here that needs to be faced, there were 3 young girls who spoke at the ‘closing ceremony’, thanking us deeply for helping them in their dream of becoming doctors, which all 3 of them were determined to do and confident they would achieve. However, from speaking to this lady it seems very unlikely that any of these three most promising students from the school will actually make it all the way through university and medical school.
Maybe JPAL-IPA field research qualifies in some sense?
This is one of my long term goals. I know JPAL utilises volunteers locally, but I don’t think there are any programmes to send volunteers from other countries to sites. Field researchers are employed by the organisation.