Life changing stories

Teaching is not a popular career choice in Namibia, as teachers are inadequately trained and poorly paid. Although she hadn’t originally envisaged taking her training skills to Africa, VSO volunteer Susan Somers embraced the challenge and is now boosting skill levels and bringing much-needed organisation to Namibia’s primary education sector.

Adrienne Harrington from Dublin speaks about her first 3 months as a VSO volunteer

Limerick girl working as a VSO volunteer in India speaks about her placement as Human Resources Advisor in Orissa

1.2 million children have been orphaned by AIDS in Kenya. Born HIV positive, 26 year-old George was one such child, losing his mother to AIDS when he was 16-years-old. Through the support of VSO partner WOFAK he’s been educated and given the opportunity to develop skills to earn a living. VSO volunteer Aurelia Valota helps the organisation secure funding by reporting on the young lives it transforms.

Volunteer Sandra Scantlebury is working to get more girls into schools in the Upper West region of Ghana. Here she tells us why involving communities in education is such a crucial part of her work. 

CUSO-VSO volunteer, Jan Teevan, always wanted to help mothers and children in the developing world. She got the chance in 2007 through a joint project with the Malawi Ministry of Health. 

A CUSO volunteer alumnus makes an emotional journey back to the site of his overseas volunteer placement, almost two decades later.

Volunteer Stephanie Stoker uses creativity to help paint a brighter picture for the youth of Iquitos, Peru. The visual artist, who has extensive experience in theatre and arts education, is using art to help young adults develop life skills and get involved in the future development of their community. 

Margaret Flanagan a business consultant from Drogheda Co Louth, Ireland, volunteered with VSO in June 2008 and currently works as an organisational development adviser in Bagerhat, a rural area in Bangladesh. Below she describes a typical day in her placement.

Primary teacher and VSO volunteer Cheryl Evans has been supporting literacy in Guyana’s primary schools for nearly two years. Here she describes the transformations she has seen in children’s reading and writing, the “heaps of new skills” she has developed as a volunteer and the sights, smells and sounds of life in Guyana.

"The Lady Mechanic Initiative"? It sounds like something out of a quirky novel. But it’s not a work of fiction: it’s real and it’s changing the lives of disadvantaged women all over Nigeria. VSO volunteer Russell McKeown is drawing on 25 years’ experience in engineering and business to help The Lady Mechanic Initiative go from strength to strength.

In Tajikistan many workers move to Russia in search of work and better opportunities. In the northern town of Khojand, VSO is piloting a programme of partnering with private businesses to provide opportunities for the local community. One such partnership includes Mr Mirzosulton and his dairy farm, Correct.

India has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Tradition in rural villages dictates that women give birth at home - but this leads to thousands of preventable deaths. VSO is working with NEEDS, an organisation that recruits local volunteers who go into rural communities and talk to mothers about the life-saving benefits of going to hospital to give birth.

On the face of it, you might not think helping to establish a new university course would make much of a difference. But the work of VSO nurse trainer Joanna Haworth could have a far-reaching effect on healthcare provision in Sierra Leone, where life expectancy sits at an average of just 42 years.

Ruairi O’Hehir from Dublin is a secondary school teacher at Rathdown School in South Dublin. Ruairi volunteered with VSO in 2008 and was placed in a VSO education programme and currently works as an education management advisor in Rwanda. Ruairi’s role involves training local Rwandan teachers. Here he describes a typical day in Rwanda.

Thanks to support from VSO, pre-primary education in Zanzibar is receiving a makeover. The old-fashioned “chalk and talk” approach once ruled - but walk into a classroom today and you’ll find children learning through participation and play. Working alongside local colleagues, VSO volunteer Daphne Sharp is helping to ensure that all children in Zanzibar receive a good basic education, whether that’s in a brightly decorated classroom with an animated teacher or under a tree with a wind up radio.

Ellen Crabtree has swapped her life as a highflying finance executive to help vulnerable people in downtown Johannesburg at risk from HIV and AIDS. Here she tells us about a project that helps sex workers find alternative sources of income - and explains how volunteering has changed her own life, as well as the lives of those she is working with.

Tourists flock to Zanzibar each year, but the money they spend has little impact on the lives of the majority of the population. A new project run by VSO International is helping an association of farmers to build better links with the thriving tourist sector, and to earn a far higher income from their crops.

Sifa, a young Rwandan girl, was found in Nyungwe forest, in the far south west of the country. It was clear she had been alone for a long time – she walked on all fours, was surviving on a diet of grass and sticks, and was terrified of people. We find out how VSO volunteer Antonia Eastman has played a crucial role in helping her new carers turn her life around. 

Head teacher Isabel Hodger had 36 years’ experience in education and just three years until retirement when she decided to volunteer with VSO. She’s sharing her expertise in Ethiopia, where classrooms are bursting with children due to free education, but teachers are poorly trained. Here Isabel describes how her work with teacher trainers from all corners of the country will ultimately benefit millions of school children.

Management consultant in the City. Chief exec in the third sector. Table tennis extraordinaire. Now Steve Vaid is to face his toughest challenge yet: he and his wife Kristenne Pickles are off to Rwanda to volunteer with VSO. Here Steve describes his journey from an Australian bank to a VSO assessment day, his inspiring feats of fundraising and his first task in his new job: recruiting his own boss.

Olive Okobasingiza was five when a militant shot her in the arm during the genocide. Today she’s a Paralympic athlete. Find out VSO volunteer Nic Clark’s part in her incredible story here.

Nicola Swann was a fundraiser for an autism charity in London before volunteering with VSO in Uganda. She’s sharing her skills and expertise in fundraising with the Uganda Society for Disabled Children, a charity that provides crucial support to disabled children and their families across the country. Here, Nicola describes the highs and lows of life in Uganda and dodging goats on her way to work…

South Africa is home to over a thousand informal settlements; communities with limited resources, sanitation and formalised welfare. Children often suffer within these communities and miss out on an education. VSO volunteer Mary Njuguna is working with local organisation Children on the Move to help get children back into school and enjoying life again. 

Primary teacher Caroline received support from her school when she decided to volunteer abroad with VSO in northern Malawi. Here she describes her voluntary work the warmth and generosity of her colleagues and neighbours and her sometimes very muddy commute to work...

Child sacrifice is on the increase in Uganda. VSO volunteers are working with the African Network for Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) to ensure affected families receive counselling and legal support.  Vivien’s ten-year-old son was abducted for child sacrifice but survived. Here she tells her story.

VSO was thrilled when psychotherapist Stella Wragg decided to volunteer again. With the experience of her first VSO placement in Nepal, Stella is now preparing to volunteer in Sri Lanka.

Her expertise will be put to excellent use improving the care available to people who are living with mental illnesses as a result of years of civil war and the 2004 Tsunami.

Here she reveals her hopes and fears about her upcoming placement.