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Major new opportunities for diaspora volunteers
17 July 2008
Members
of the UK's diaspora communities will have the chance to travel to developing
countries and make a difference to the lives of poor people through a new
initiative launched today by DFID Minister Shahid Malik. Read the press release:
New scheme launched for diaspora
volunteers.
The volunteering scheme will see DFID team up with VSO to create more than 600 placements over the next three years. Currently, people from diaspora backgrounds are under-represented as volunteers.
The scheme - which is being supported by £3 million of DFID money - allows diaspora organisations to expand on their commitments to their countries of heritage and build their own volunteering programmes aimed at fighting poverty. After receiving training in the UK, volunteers will leave for the developing world, where they will have the opportunity to share their skills with locals and help bring about real, practical changes to poor communities.
Sharing knowledge
As one of the scheme's first volunteers, Jeremie Alamazani will soon be setting
off for Cameroon. Jeremie is well aware of the valuable role that diaspora
volunteers can play in developing countries. "Acquiring personal knowledge is
powerful," he says, "but it only really benefits us personally. Sharing this
knowledge in our countries of heritage is a blessing - and a catalyst for
change."
Maurice Tshinyama, who will also be taking up a placement in Cameroon, has previously volunteered in the country through Africa Foundation Stone. He is eager to make a difference in the country of his forebears, and testifies to the strong ties that bind ex-volunteers to the people they meet and work with during their placements:
"As an African I know the problems faced by our countries in terms of loss of skills by (members of the diaspora community) not being in Africa. . . I'm excited at the prospect of my second time volunteering in Cameroon. I'm looking forward to meeting the people I met the last time, to see how they're getting on."
Getting involved
Image courtesy of
G.M.B Akash/Panos Pictures
As Jeremie and Maurice show, it isn't just people in developing countries who stand to gain permanently from volunteering programmes. Volunteers themselves get to experience a different way of life, learning about the challenges unique to the countries they visit.
Meera Saujani volunteered in India through the Asian Foundation for Philanthropy. What she learnt stayed with her long after she returned to the UK.
"I’ve shared my new-found knowledge and tried to educate others on the issues that India faces," she says. "I feel it's important that people know what I experienced and witnessed. Friends and family realise they can make a difference too, and many have been inspired to volunteer."
For more information
about the scheme, and to find out how to apply, go to
VSO:
Diaspora volunteering.