Volunteer East is an non-governmental not-for-profit organization based in London, UK (Registered Company Limited by Guarantee in the UK, number 07227341).
The NGO recruits volunteers, gathers goods and raises funds for local partner NGOs in Nepal, Pakistan, India and Uganda. The NGO also delivers workshops in Europe on matters related to development, peace and international relations.
Philosophy behind the NGO
The philosophy behind the NGO is that anyone who is willing to volunteers should
have the chance to do so, irrespective of their financial status. This is why Volunteer East
does not charge any programme fees.
Volunteers are required to provide a small donation to their placements and host families to cover their living costs, as well as to pay for the own flights to get to their placement.
In addition, volunteers are arequired to help with fundraising activities and with organizing events once they are back in the UK or Finland.
Director and local partners
Tiija Rinta, the Director of Volunteer East, has herself volunteered
at the advertised placement sites. During her placements, Tiija became increasingly
aware of the need and poverty that people live in in these countries. She contributed to the development of the placement projects and built strong bonds with local partners during these trips, and subsequently started up Volunteer East in order to recruit volunteers to countries where their skills, knowledge and expertise are greatly needed.
The belief behind Volunteer East is that local development can be most successful through close collaboration with locals. This is why Volunteer East works with
local partnership organizations that can determine their own needs and effectively develop their communities.
Examples of the areas of work that Volunteer East engages in are: refurbishing an orphanage in the Kathmandu Valley; training teachers in school located in the slums in Uganda; and organising education and re-creational activities for children living in an orphanage in villages in souther India.
The Aims of Volunteer East are:
-To enable volunteers to have a unique opportunity to carry out good work in a
developing country, to develop themselves and to experience a new culture.
- To cater for the poor and for orphaned children in terms of their physical and emotional needs;
- To deliver, improve and promote educational programs for children living in poverty
and for teachers based in local schools in deprived areas;
- To educate parents and locals on the importance of education and on health-related
issues;
- To improve the standard of living of local people, through raised awareness of well-
being and through improving their physical living conditions;
- To raise awareness of children’s needs in their local context and to encourage local
adults to cater for children’s needs;
- To make a lasting impact on local contexts by educating locals on how to keep the on-
going projects running
-To raise awareness of developmental issues and peace matters in Europe.
Placements:
Currently, volunteers can participate in: education project; health awareness; community development; economic advice; and construction initiatives.
Depending on their placement site, volunteers live either with a host family, at
an orphanage or in a monastery. All hosting sites have proper bathroom facilities and
rooms for volunteers.
Logistics of placements
The length of the project is up to the volunteer to decide. Placements can take for as
many weeks as the volunteer wishes to stay in the location, but there is a minimum
commitment of 2 weeks for each project.
The cost of the project depends on the volunteer’s length of stay, with the minimum
donation per week being £10. This money is given directly to the hosts, with a fraction
being retained for organisational issues, such as the taxi ride from the airport to the
volunteer's placement.
Volunteers are in charge of booking and paying for their own flights.
Volunteers will be picked up from the airport by a local partner and taken to their
placement where inductions on the placement will be given by the staff working in the placement.
Arrangements as to how many hours per day the volunteer is willing to work etc. are
made upon arrival with the local co-ordinator. Volunteers have two days a
week off for themselves should they wish to explore the country and culture as a tourist.
Current placements:
- Resources Centres in Kathmandu Valley and on the Himalayas in Nepal as an English
teacher, teacher training, activity organisor or health educator
- Orphanages in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal as an activity organisar, teacher, health
educator or construtor
-Monastery in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal as an English teacher, constructor or health
educator
- Slum schools in Uganda
-Teaching homeless children in Uganda
-Teaching and organizing activities in a school for special needs children in southern India.
Volunteer East also offers other placements that are not listed here. Please contact us and we will be happy to advice you.
Are you interested in volunteering with us and would like to know more?
Email: tiija@volunteereast.org.uk
Websites: www.volunteereast.org.uk
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