We love questions
By Sallie | Filed in good and bad practise, volunteer stories | No comments yet.Here is an exchange between a young ( early 20′s) potential volunteer and Kate ( she matches volunteers to communities for those that dont know!)
Jai’s questions are in Black and Kates answers are in Blue – these are the sorts of questions everyone should be asking of ALL sending organisations.
So – here we go – answers follow each of your questions below – but if anything is unclear or you have more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
How long has this volunteer position been available and how long has People and Places been an organization?
people and places was founded in 2005, with our first volunteer being placed in April 2006. (you can read a short story of how and why we started people and places here: http://www.travel-peopleandplaces.co.uk/About.aspx?category=4
We began working directly with the community of Sermathang in spring 2009, when my colleague Sallie visited the community. But we started working with our local partner in this project, Nima Lama, in 2006 – first on a project in Kathmandu, and later developing volunteer opportunities in his home village.
There’s a lot of preparation involved – for us and for the project – long before we put the project up on our website and start matching volunteers!
Can I chat with volunteers that have done this project before?
Most definitely!, and with our local partner too. We always introduce previous and future volunteers for the same project – it’s good for the volunteers and also good for the continuity of the project.
With Sermathang, because it is a relatively ‘new’ project foryour volunteers, our first volunteer, Julie – whose report I sent to you – is the only previous volunteer at the moment. Julie had previously worked as a volunteer in a different people and places project in Nepal, so was relatively familiar with the Nepali culture and education system and comfortable in knowing that she would be working alone as a first volunteer.
The community project was also happy for her to be there – all of the projects that we work with have the final decision as to whether or not they will accept a proposed volunteer. And as you know, the Sermathang community has already accepted your placement. Read the remainder of this entry »














