Volunteering & Development

This blog has been set up to capture stories from returned volunteers who have chosen to pursue a career or further studies in the area of international development. Through these stories, the blog aims to highlight the links between short-term volunteering and the broader international development framework. For many participants, volunteering in a developing country context opens up the possibilities of a longer-term career working for global justice and equality. The blog will feature a series of stories from volunteers who have taken part in the UCDVO Programme since it commenced in 2003. For more information check out www.ucdvo.org 

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“Volunteering doesn’t have to change your career path...it’s about sharing your knowledge and skills.” - Naoimh O’Neill

Volunteers taking part in an awareness rally on child trafficking in India, UCDVO 2014

Name: Naoimh O’Neill

UCDVO Project location & years: South India 2013 & 2014

UCD Degree: B.Sc. Architecture

Current position: Professional, currently on a year-long internship intending to complete my masters in Architecture in September 2019.

Tell us a little bit about where you are now and what your role involves:

This summer after completing my studies at UCD, myself and one other architecture student packed our bags and went on a trip that surpassed all our expectations. With our graduation looming in September, and internships succeeding, I was quite confused on what summer would bring, as I longed to use my architecture skills, and working part time for little or no wage didn’t excite me as I knew September would bring just that! When this opportunity arose I jumped at the chance. – The chance as a newly stage 1 qualified architect to design our own building, which in this case turned out to be 13 buildings!

On route to Tanzania, Roisin and I were quite nervous, we were not 100% sure on what exactly the role involved but we knew we would be staying at The Olive Branch for Children. An organisation set up to help remote communities assess their primary needs and establish programmes that target the most vulnerable. Our aim was to help them design a volunteer centre on their new site.

As everyone hears there are hundreds of colourful, authentic tribes in Africa. Our project involved an immersion in the lives of some of these tribes in order to arrive at an understanding of their habitation requirements, along with their traditions, their cultures and building techniques, essentially everything unique to them. We were to design a structure that volunteers in the future will stay in, a structure that represents each of these tribes.

Currently we are finalising the project, the designs & the drawings which will be sent out to Tanzania in the coming weeks to be reviewed, as it is an ongoing construction project, and building is to commence shortly.

Naoimh and Roisin learning traditional dance while staying with a Maasai tribe in Tanzania

How do you see your role as a volunteer contributing to international development work?

I was only seven when I first saw my mother travel to India leading an Irish Student Immersion Project. Back then I struggled to understand why she was “going to educate children both Irish and Indian about their differing cultures”. It was only when she returned with pictures, drawings and stories of the children that I began to understand the attraction of her interest in this and why she kept returning. I met the volunteers she prepared and brought to India with her and listened to their stories, this is when I knew I wanted to experience this life, this culture, this colourfulness my mother spoke so highly about. From then on I began to develop an interest in the different countries of the world, - people’s cultures, beliefs and backgrounds.

I think the first step to contributing to international development work is awareness, and it is here where my awareness began. I did projects in secondary school and joined organisations such as St Vincent de Paul and volunteered locally in a variety of community support organisations.

Over the years I think my role as a volunteer, contributing to international development, has taken on a momentum of its own. Beginning with an awareness of myself and my place in society, spreading that awareness, raising funds for various causes, having first hands on experience in India and Africa as a volunteer, going back as a student leader and now using my career and skills I’ve learned to create something that will hopefully be sustainable for years to come.

One thing I have learnt through my number of experiences as a volunteer is that I have come to realise that your time and attention are more valuable than your money. Volunteering doesn’t mean throwing money at a problem. More than anything else I have learned that the best outcomes from volunteering come from giving time to a person or a cause that genuinely needs your focused attention.

Tell us a little bit about how your experience with UCDVO contributed to your current role or influenced you in any way.

I applied to volunteer with UCDVO at the time I commenced college, not many of my friends had heard of the society, but I was strong in my convictions even if a little naïve and signed up in the Freshers’ tent immediately. Having heard so much about it already, and remembering my mother's experiences, I decided to apply. I felt as though I needed to explore the wider world and I felt passionate about helping people. I didn’t know much about sustainable development but I had a genuine interest and definitely an eagerness to learn.

While I was unlucky to convince other contemporaries to join with me, I can say with complete conviction that this was one the best decisions I have ever made. I was offered a place on the South India project and couldn’t have been happier. South India was my first 'hands on' experience of overseas development work. Immediately I was struck by the people, the vibrancy, the rush. I was so excited to be there, the country I heard so much about. I was placed with 12 others in Butterfly Hill, a home run by the organisation Care & Share. I was to teach Kindergarten. Our job as volunteers was to engage with the children, in school, in the home, where ever they may be.

Teaching in the classroom made me realise that, as a volunteer, one needs to be adaptable and open to change quickly. From our first day in class we had children at very differing intellectual levels, and as a volunteer one needs to be able to adapt one's learning plan to suit the needs of all. This was a skill that definitely helped me during my time in Tanzania, when plans were changing and people were working at different paces.  

Both my summers in South India made me realise how intelligent developments to a home can have such a positive effect on a person’s life. Children not only have a place to work or study, but a place to play and enjoy. A door that locks provides security and a place for one to recharge peacefully, this again was reiterated to me in Tanzania.

Volunteering in South India, and again as Student Leader, helped prepare me and give me skills I needed throughout my time at The Olive Branch, skills such as leadership, teamwork and many more. Their mission is extremely similar to that of Care & Share, in that they believe every child deserves to be loved, deserves an education, food and a place that is safe. I hope that this summer I have worked to contribute to their needs in providing them with a new volunteer centre for future volunteers; a space for them to be safe, to enjoy and help them thrive. 

Volunteers and children painting a mural at Care & Share India, UCDVO 2013

What are your plans for the future in relation to volunteering and development work?

I have just returned from Tanzania and during the next few weeks we hope to finalise our drawings and designs from Dublin and send them on to the construction team in Tanzania so that they can commence building very shortly, which is so exciting. This coming year I have an internship lined up in New York, where I will work as an architect (unfortunately not in the volunteering field), commencing my studies again in September to complete my degree in its entirety.

In the future I really really would love and can see myself working in developing countries, whether it be full time or part time. From my early days with UCDVO, it taught me so much about the developing world, what a treasure it is. I found it extremely refreshing this summer designing a method of construction using only local supplies, local traditions; it was amazing to see what can be done with so little to make it extraordinarily exciting and very real. I really hope to keep ties with my love for development and this summer especially because I worried at the start of my degree that pursuing a career in architecture might close doors in international development as I thought there wasn’t a need or a want in developing regions for architects, but in fact I was wrong. Architects Without Borders is definitely something I will look into, as it definitely would be something I think I’d love to pursue as it brings together both my love for architecture and development.

I don’t think volunteering has to change your career path. It's about giving, sharing your knowledge and skills and opening your mind and others’ minds to create something sustainable no matter how big or small an impact you have.

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From volunteering to a Masters in Development Practice: Sinéad Murray shares her experience

UCDVO Delhi 2013 team members (Sinéad third from left)

Name: Sinéad Murray

Degree: BSc General Nursing

UCDVO Project: Delhi, India (2013)

Currently: Undertaking a Masters in Development Practice in UCD/TCD

I was eleven years of age when I watched my first documentary. It was filmed in homes for the mentally and physically disabled in Bulgaria. The children and adults, particularly the children, were subject to horrific conditions and abuse by staff members. None of these children had anyone to care for them and were completely abandoned, by their families and the state. The documentary was filmed shortly after Bulgaria became a member of the European Union and I was deeply disturbed by the awful scenes. From then on I had developed an interest in the different countries of the world, people's cultures, beliefs and backgrounds.

I went to UCD to study Nursing and loved it. In my first year I decided to check out the societies and what they could offer. It was not hard to find UCDVO, they have such a large (yellow) presence on the campus and I was immediately intrigued by stories of the past volunteers and by the genuine friendliness and enthusiasm of its members. I decided to apply to volunteer in my first year at UCD but I wasn't successful. Looking back, it was the best decision, I wasn't ready.

In my third year I decided it was something I had to do. I felt as though I needed to explore the wider world and I felt passionate about helping people. I didn't know much about sustainable development but I had a genuine passion and a willingness to learn, so I applied again and I was offered a place on the UCDVO Delhi team. We began our pre-departure training and I got to know the other team members, who later became some of my closest friends.

It was an early morning in June 2013, when twenty five eager and nervous volunteers chaperoned by two Group Leaders embarked on the journey to India. I will never forget stepping out of Delhi airport into the overwhelming humidity and I though “wow”. Immediately I was taken aback, there was a mixture of excitement and disbelief and I couldn't wait to get to work. I was placed along with two other volunteers and an Indian translator in  “Aasra”, a short term home for boys which was run by the organisation “Salaam Baalak Trust” meaning “Salute the Child”.

This home catered for up to sixty boys (3-16) from a range of backgrounds, some had run away from poverty or abuse, some got separated from their families and lost in crowds at festivals and some were simply abandoned. They become “street children”, living off what they could find and are subject to unimaginable abuse living on the streets. Salaam Baalak rescues these children, places them in homes and tries if appropriate to reunite them with their families.

Our job as volunteers was to engage with the children, to provide them with a routine through non-curricular activities (there are no formal education services provided in this particular home). We aimed to teach them basic English, Geography, Arts and Crafts and Maths. This was made easier by the help of the fantastic translator. Using the money we raised we were able to bring the children to a water park for the day, which was an experience to say the least as some of these children had not left the home in months! We also painted a mural on the walls as they were in need of refurbishment.

Every day I walked into that home excited and left feeling inspired. I began thinking of my future career in Nursing and pondered if it truly was for me. I wanted to feel this excitement and to witness this undeniably sustainable work everyday. When I returned from Delhi and entered into my final year of college, I couldn't forget my experience. I made the decision to look into further studies on development, and once again UCDVO helped me with this. I found an MSc in Development Practice, a combined degree between UCD/TCD, I researched it throughout my final year and attended many events held by UCDVO on sustainable development.

I graduated and decided then to apply for the masters. I got accepted and I'm currently closing the chapter on my first semester. It was the best decision I have ever made and if not for my time with UCDVO I genuinely do not think I would have had an experience so amazing that it would change my whole perspective on life, as cliché as it may seem.

I made life long friends abroad and in Ireland, I gained a fantastic support system in UCDVO and I learned that no matter what you think is best for you, life always has another plan. In my opinion volunteering does not have to change your career path, or even your life, it's about giving, sharing your knowledge and opening your mind to the greater world to make something sustainable no matter how big or small an impact you have.

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Returning from Haiti, my reflections one year on

Volunteer Claire Hynes with children from Bigue Community School during the 2014 UCDVO Summer Camps in Haiti.

Name: Claire Hynes

Course: BA International (French & English)

UCDVO Project and Year: Haiti, 2014

Further study/work experience: International Programme Intern with Habitat for Humanity Ireland

I always had an interest in the maddening inequalities that characterise our planet. However I never really knew how I could help, except by changing my own behaviour and attempting to change that of my family’s. Whenever my family members forgot to recycle a carton, I’d be there to accompany them to the proper bin; a perpetual thorn in their sides. However in the face of larger problems I felt useless; I read newspaper articles about far off crises and felt like I couldn’t do much, other than donate what little money I had.

UCDVO changed that for me. My experience in Haiti with twenty-two other volunteers was completely eye opening. Not only because it allowed me to put a face on the inequalities I’d learned of in college but it also taught me a great deal about myself. I had never thought that I had so much energy. From Monday to Friday for one month we would exert ourselves both physically and mentally to the point of what I previously thought would be exhaustion, but what instead I found was an underlying store of energy I never knew I had.

I taught a class of thirty-eight girls aged between four and eight. The age difference meant that their level of education varied from perfecting their long multiplication to learning the ABCs. This was a serious challenge and one which taught me the importance of flexibility in volunteering. However, alongside Rosalind, the assistant teacher, we had many a colourful and productive day. I’ve never met a group of children so eager to learn and so proud of their learning. Not that these kids weren’t as mad as any others, when the time of day came to leave the classroom and play, it was my prerogative to sprint in 38° heat to keep up with them or fear becoming the “chien” in “poulet poulet chien” (duck duck goose).

UCDVO’s commitment to tangible projects that are created in partnership with the local community is an example of how and why their work is sustainable. The two classrooms that we helped to build onto Bigue School illustrate the longevity of their projects. One of the rooms is currently being used by UCDVO and Camara trained teachers to instruct pupils in computer literacy. This knowledge will be passed on from generation to generation by Haitians themselves. The self-empowering feature of this project is the main reason I decided to steer my career path in the direction of the development sector.

It is also what drew me to Habitat for Humanity Ireland where I have been the International Programme Intern for 4 months now.

Habitat’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live and its motto is ‘A hand up not a hand out’. It was not until working there that I really became aware of the multiple improvements a home can have on a person’s life. Children not only have a place to study, but to play also. A door that locks provides security for the whole family. The house contributes enormously to a family’s financial stability and perhaps most significantly a home provides a refuge for both bodies and minds to recharge day after day.

My role in this hardworking, lively office is to assist the International Programme Manager in sending volunteers abroad to build and renovate houses in partnership with local communities. This involves recruiting, interviewing and training volunteers. I also liaise with Habitat staff in countries such as Zambia, the Philippines and Romania to organise budgets and itineraries.

My favourite aspect of the internship is how dynamic my role can be. One day I may be meeting volunteers and taking part in team leader training, another I might be editing the website or creating an infographic to help inform and recruit potential volunteers. I have also been able to attend multiple conferences and training to continue my learning about humanitarian issues.

My experiences with UCDVO in Haiti, and since with Habitat for Humanity, have led me to believe that there are sustainable, adaptable and tangible ways to alter the course of human activity toward a better, more inclusive future for all.

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From UCDVO to Value Added in Africa (VAA)

Derek with volunteers and local workers in Somoto, Nicaragua

Name: Derek Lynch

Course and year of graduation from UCD: BA Politics and Sociology with Structured Electives in Social Justice, 2013

UCDVO project and year: Nicaragua 2012

Any further study/work experience: LLM Human Rights Law, Queens University Belfast 2014. Internship with Value Added in Africa October 2014-present

Volunteering and Development work was something that always interested me. Having worked in construction for over ten years before the crash, I used my new found unemployment as an opportunity to develop these interests and decided to apply to university to pursue them academically with a view to completely changing my career path to one more fulfilling. While in UCD, I applied to UCDVO and was accepted on the 2012 Nicaragua project which provided my first experience of overseas development work. I had previously been involved in local community projects but nothing like this. It proved to be an experience I will never forget and of which I am proud to have been a part. It also further entrenched my wish to work in the development sector.

The work that UCDVO does in all the communities in which it operates has a real and lasting effect on the lives of those it touches.

The memory of smiles on the kids’ faces in Los Quinchos will never leave me. And the thought that the extension we built at Escuelita Del Mercado can help educate even a small number of extra children means it was worth all the sweat and blisters! But perhaps what will have the most lasting effect is the agricultural processing centre (Los Centros de Educación Alternativa Rural) which we helped to build. This will allow farmers to process the coffee, corn, and honey which they produce to a higher value than they would receive for the raw material alone, thus enabling them to begin to trade their way out of poverty. By providing a higher income, more sustainable over the long term, challenges like being able to provide enough food for the family or money for an education will not be as daunting as they might otherwise be. 

Construction of an agricultural processing unit carried out by UCDVO in partnership with local organisations INPRHU

That project provides the clearest link between my time with UCDVO and now with VAA. VAA’s mission is to contribute to poverty alleviation in Africa by enabling African producers to trade successfully in Irish and European markets. We do this by facilitating trading relationships, by helping to market and promote African, ethically sourced and produced valued added products. We currently work with 6 key product categories: Tea, Coffee, Cotton and Leather Goods, Jams and Sauces, Snacks and Chocolate and Beers. By encouraging and facilitating trade in higher value products rather than the traditional raw materials a more sustainable path to development can be found which reduces the reliance on aid.  Enabling producers to capture a greater share of the profit from their produce contributes to job creation and by extension poverty reduction.

UCDVO provides students with an opportunity to engage with global issues, to overcome any misconceptions they may have about the ‘needy other’, and to realise that as a global community we must face the challenges together or we will fail. VAA faces similar challenges in that there are misconceptions surrounding African products, even a bias, as people simply don’t view Africa as a place from which quality products originate and the business community largely ignore the many benefits of working with African producers. As the leaders of tomorrow both in business and politics, the students of today possess the capacity to learn about and to challenge such misconceptions.

VAA has begun to provide for this via The Proudly Made in Africa Fellowship in Business and Development. Siobhán McGee was appointed Proudly Made in Africa Fellow in Business and Development in January 2014. The role is a joint initiative of Value Added in Africa and UCD School of Business, funded by Irish Aid / Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Concern and Trócaire. The Fellowship is designed to provide information and course content that can counter anti-African bias and misconceptions. UCD took up the challenge when approached and have continued to champion the cause; the content is ‘built in’ to existing courses to maximise reach and scale with approximately 2,300 students having passed through courses featuring pro African material. While student opinion is hard to gauge, it can only be a positive development to challenge existing bias and misconceptions about African business and produce.

Derek and Sally at the tasting table for Eswatini sauces from Swaziland in Donnybrook Fair

In addition students can become more involved with the work of VAA by volunteering with us or joining our awareness raising team or even by asking the SU and local shops and supermarkets to stock more African produce.

The most important message about my time with both UCDVO and VAA is that you don’t have to be part of a large, global development organisation to make a real difference. You just need the right people with the right approach doing it for the right reasons. As a result of my studies and my time with UCDVO and VAA, I have become convinced that aid alone will never be a panacea for poverty reduction; what is needed is a more honest and critical approach to development work and the injustices that perpetuate the need for such work, and a rethinking of the way in which development work is done. Approaches such as that taken by VAA move beyond the traditional development role to concentrate on concrete and sustainable means of poverty reduction.

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Ross McCarthy (UCDVO 2010 - 2013) speaks about his experience volunteering, interning, studying and working in the field of international development. Ross is currently based in Sierra Leonne with UNV. 

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"Volunteering introduced me to the whole world of development." Aisling Daly

  A community volunteer mother in Zimbabwe teaching other mothers about correct feeding practices for their children.

Name: Aisling Daly 

Course and year of graduation from UCD: BSc. Human Nutrition, 2012 UCDVO project and year: Nicaragua 2010, South Africa Alumni project 2011

Any further study/work experience: MSc. Nutrition for Global Health, LSHTM Internship with Action Against Hunger, London

Where you are working now: GOAL, moving between Malawi, Zimbabwe, Sudan & South Sudan

Role: Nutrition Impact in Positive Practice (NIPP) Adviser Intern. This project is a nutrition focused project where we work with groups of women to discuss different health and nutrition behaviour change messages through different ways such as singing and dancing. We also do cookery demonstrations so they know how to use the foods they have and teach them different micro-gardening techniques so they can grow their own vegetables at their houses. We work with men and community leaders as well so the women have the support they need to make these changes to make their families healthier.

A mother feeding her child a high energy porridge just made during the cookery demonstration, to prevent against malnutrition

What you enjoy most about your job: Getting to put my nutrition studies into practice and experiencing a lot of new countries and different nutrition contexts and situations.

Mothers in Malawi preparing food during a cookery demonstration

Influence of UCDVO experience on your career choice: Nicaragua was my first overseas experience and introduced me to the whole world of development. Straight away I knew I wanted to work in this environment so I directed my nutrition studies towards addressing malnutrition in developing countries. Having the overseas experience with UCDVO, although not directly related to my field of study/work, is really beneficial for employers to see so they know you have had first-hand experience in the more difficult environments overseas.

How volunteering with UCDVO benefited you: My first volunteer trip got me hooked on working overseas and ever since then I knew that was the environment I wanted to work in. Having the overseas experience benefited my education and career as I could really put things I was learning into context and I could show potential employers that I can and have worked in difficult environments before. Aside from that, my UCDVO experience gave me a lot of other experiences and skills such as public presentations, organising fundraising events, being part of a charity Board of Trustees, group work and leadership skills as well as building my confidence and creating a network of friends and colleagues I will be in touch with for a long time to come.

Advice or recommendations for volunteers just returning home from UCDVO projects: Keep in contact with your team and with UCDVO events, they are great for networking and staying involved in this area. Throw yourself into any opportunity that comes along, because UCDVO is becoming an increasingly better recognised organisation and foundation for university students which shows you have a wide range of skills and experience you wouldn’t get anywhere else. That and it is an extremely fun organisation to be involved with, UCDVOers know how to have a good time!

Advice for people thinking about international development as a career: Use your UCDVO experience to your advantage, build on the skills you have learned and the experiences you have gained. If you think you would like to work overseas, think back on your time overseas with UCDVO and consider if you could live in that sort of environment, or a more difficult one, for a longer period of time. Alternatively, not everyone in development does work overseas, but one thing for sure is to know WHY you want to work in development. It can be a demanding and frustrating environment sometimes, with fast-paced work and people who have a million other things on their mind, so you need to be able to work independently and not get frustrated with the situation at hand. Also, no one really seems to know what development work is, so coming up with a 2-3 sentence definition of what you do will really help!