Promoting overseas volunteering among education workers | www.comhlamh.org
Responsible Responsible, responsive volunteering respects the interests of volunteers, sending agencies and host communities. Find out what resources are available to help you find the right placement.
#VolOps You can use #volops on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to seek your ideal placement and to connect with sending agencies from around Ireland.
Education.
Sara McMurray pictured above and below taking a maths class in a school in Himachai Pradesh.
Sara McMurray set out to volunteer in a primary school in rural India after retiring from life as a physics lecturer. Read her story inside.
Tom O’Donoghue, education volunteer with VSO Ireland, in Zanzibar.
Volunteer Voices.
Read the reflections of volunteers who have worked in the education sector inside. From Palestine to India - find out how you can get involved . #passion4solidarity
The Volunteer Charter. Promoting Good Practice. Comhlámh’s Volunteer Charter is designed to guide volunteers in responsible and responsive overseas volunteering. All volunteers who go overseas from Ireland are asked to sign up to the principles of the charter.
1. Reflect: Think about my motivations and expectations 2. Prepare: Learn about my role and host organisation 3. Respect: Be open to local culture and customs 4. Adapt: Be professional and flexible in my placement 5. Stay Aware: Take due care of my safety, health and finances 6. Share: Channel my experience and knowledge gained overseas at home 7. Commit: Be responsible and responsive through the volunteering cycle
Key Sign Up Steps. Stay up to date and in the loop.
#VolOps & Finding A Placement. Comhlámh wants to harness social media as a tool to match volunteers with sending agencies. We are encouraging sending agencies to append #VolOps to any posting on Twitter or Facebook about placements or events where volunteers can find out more. People interested in volunteering can then look up placements overseas by following #VolOps on Facebook and Twitter. This will give you up to the minute information about the latest volunteering opportunities that agencies
01 FOLLOW ON TWITTER
Give @VolOpsRobot a follow or check in on the #VolOps Hashtag.
are recruiting for. If you are a member of LinkedIn, you are welcome to join the dedicated #VolOps : Sharing Volunteering Options group we have created there. You can join in the conversation about best practices in volunteering and ask others about their experiences. You can also connect with volunteering agencies and seek out an opportunity that matches your skills and interests.
02 LIKE IT ON
Like our #VolOps page to stay up to date on opportunities.
03 JOIN US ON LINKED IN
We’re building a group to offer friendly advice to volunteers.
Comhlámh also has a directory of sending agencies you can check out on our website. Don’t worry if you don’t use social media – there are still plenty of Comhlámh resources available to help you and we list them on the back page. If you have any questions or queries, or just want to chat about your options, email us @ info@comhlamh.org or call on 353 (01) 4783490. We’d love to hear from you!
Volunteer Questions. Is there an age limit for volunteering? Age is not an important factor in deciding to volunteer. What is important is your skills and enthusiasm for the role and the community you are going to overseas.
Do I have to pay to volunteer? Some placements offer to cover your costs of travelling overseas, others require you to fundraise or pay a fee. This often depends on the length of the placement and the professionalism of the skills required.
How long do I need to commit myself? You can volunteer overseas for anything from 1 week to several years. The time you choose to spend overseas will depend on what you want to achieve through volunteering and on your own personal circumstances.
– Noel Brennan , retired school principal and repeat overseas volunteer. pictured with Sr Medhin of the Daughters of Charity in Nortern Sara McMurray pictured above and below taking a maths class in a school in Himachai Pradesh.
A Great Adventure. Sara McMurray decided to volunteer shortly after retiring from her career as a Physics lecturer in TCD. She travelled to Rajastan in India with Cork based agency EIL to teach children in rural schools. She described her experience as follows: “Volunteering was an extremely rewarding and enriching experience. I loved teaching the children in rural schools in India. They were so affectionate and keen to learn, and education is really important, especially for the girls. I had always loved to travel,
Drawing On Experience. Alex Dunne said “The communities and schools where we carry out this accompaniment really appreciate what we do and their testimony and our eye witness accounts are invaluable when we return home”. .
– Alex volunteered and now works with the EAPPI, which amongst other things and in coordination with UNICEF, accompany boys and girls to school all over the West Bank, this ensures their access to education.
but had not expected, after retirement, to be able to set out on such a great adventure as volunteering offered. I felt that, as a retired person, my experience of life was important and useful in the work I did. The Indian organisation I worked for had very many young volunteers, and was appreciative of more mature volunteers. From my own point of view it made me feel that I was still useful, and gave me the chance to travel and experience life in a different culture.”
When local is global
Jenny Farnan manages an education project in Dublin for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
Many of the young people are from countries to which volunteers and development workers might go from across Africa, but also from the Middle East and recently from Afghanistan. Jenny said “my experience of working with these young people, for the past 15 years has given me some insight into some of the education and cultural issues that might be of interest to someone thinking of going abroad”.
Comhlámh is here for you.
Comhlámh’s vision is of development workers and volunteers working in solidarity for a socially just, equitable and sustainable world, locally and globally. Our mission is to nurture, guide and mobilise development workers and volunteers to work for social justice locally and globally. We are the Irish Association of Development Workers and Volunteers. Our work is driven by the experiences and passions of our members and supporters, whether they are returned volunteers/development workers or those with an interest in working for global justice from Ireland. Our membership is open to anyone. We have developed the Code of Good Practice for Volunteer Sending Agencies in Ireland setting out 11 principles of best practice in overseas volunteering. Ask any organisation you are thinking of volunteering with if they are a signatory to the Code of Good Practice and how they are implementing these principles
Comhlámh
www.comhlamh.org
We have a Volunteer Charter which we invite all overseas volunteers to sign up to and adhere to. We offer a variety of courses to volunteers and development workers before and after their assignments, preparing them for overseas placements and promoting ways to stay engaged in global justice issues on return. Comhlámh supports returning volunteers and development workers to access necessary support services such as counselling, debriefing, career guidance and social welfare benefits. We facilitate a series of groups and initiatives led by members and supporters including a Trade Justice group and Focus magazine which aim to tackle global inequality and promote development from Ireland. To become a member of Comhlámh go to our website. To get involved and keep up to date on our various groups, services, events and courses sign on for our E-link newsletter and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.