Capital

Helping hands

Capital: When and how was VSO established? How does it fund its global activities?
Patricia Sellick: VSO was established in the U.K. in 1958 and the first volunteers at the time were graduate teachers who were going to work in countries which were trying to expand education. Volunteers went to school wherever there was shortage of teachers.
In regard to funding, VSO first started as a British organization and the main source of its fund is the British Department for International Development. However, in the last 10 years, it has become an international organization with federation members in the Netherlands, Kenya, Philippines, Canada, India and Ireland. All the federation members now also contribute to its global funding. The contributions depend on the respective country’s prosperity. For instance, Canada has been contributing more than the Philippines.

Capital: How does VSO differ with the Peace Corps Program of the U.S.?
Patricia: I think the biggest difference is that VSO is an international development charity that works through professional volunteers who share their skills and experience with people worldwide while the Peace Corps Program is a U.S. organization. Secondly, the average age of all VSO volunteers world wide is 41 while Peace Corp volunteers are aged 26 on average.
In terms of professional skills and experience they have they are totally different. VSO considers itself to be a development agency; it works on development through volunteers whereas the Peace Corps is about cultural exchange and predominantly for young Americans gaining experience of working in other countries and sharing with that country, American culture. VSO does not expect its volunteers to promote British culture but rather focuses on sharing professional skills.
VSO volunteers are expected to stay for about two years with the local community. We have room to support small community based organizations and to create forums for partners to learn one another.

Capital: VSO began to operate here only as recently as 1996 and Ethiopia is already one of its largest country programs. Please comment.
Patricia: One of the volunteers has said concerning the 10th anniversary of VSO, “I was in Ethiopia for VSO 40 years ago. Why are you celebrating just 10 years?”. I think that what happened is that the Ethiopia regional program was led from Nairobi Ethiopia but in 1996 the VSO Ethiopia program office opened and that became the official establishment of VSO in Ethiopia.

Capital: How have VSO volunteers been received in the remoter areas of Ethiopia?
Patricia: I think that often the volunteers who are in the more remote areas are very much welcomed. If you are a volunteer in Addis the risk is that you will be assumed to be a highly paid expatriate with the government or a bi-lateral agency. Volunteers receive an allowance of 1650 birr per month with lodging. Ethiopia is very accommodating and it is a much bigger welcome if you are working; people see the value of your work and in the remote areas, communities recognize this.
Capital: Working in a new cultural setting is often challenging. How does VSO prepare its volunteers before and after they are deployed?
Patricia: People come from different cultures so there is a novelty I know that all volunteers appreciate the kinds of relationships with the people here in Ethiopia. I think often that Ethiopia’s will come to show others how to care and respect one another in front of others.
Volunteers are selected according to certain dimensions. One is flexibility and another is sensitivity to each other. An important consideration is if you have the technical skills but you are not somebody who is sociable with other people and do not enjoy sharing your skills, then it is unlikely you would be a candidate. Volunteers take a three week pre-departure course, preparing for the change and if during this three week period volunteers have any uncertainties about the program or if the trainers have doubts, the volunteer could be dropped from the selection. VSO does not operate in areas which are in conflict situations. For example VSO has stopped working in DRC Burundi, Guinea Bissau and Zimbabwe.
VSO is present in countries that have accessibility and potential for development. VSO, after withdrawing activity from China and India, now instead promotes national volunteers from china and India. And VSO has also just returned to Sierra Leone, which is coming out of a civil war and currently has a degree of stability to which VSO can contribute.

Capital: What are the areas on which VSO is active in Ethiopia?
Yohannes: VSO works globally in six interest areas: HIV/AIDS, participation in good governance, secure livelihood and disability. In Ethiopia it selects three or more areas, including on education, HIV/AIDS and participation in governance. VSO operatorates in consultation with the government and partners. It is engaging in education with the Ministry of Education with different higher education institutions such as the Curriculum Design Department and the Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency. Through our work in education VSO aim to increase access to primary, secondary and tertiary education, improve the quality of classroom teaching and support the development of relevant curriculum. VSO also works to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS, through partnership with dedicated organizations. Increasing participation of people living with HIV/AIDS, elimination of stigma and discrimination and for HIV/AIDS responses that are gender sensitive. In addition, VSO is working with government and non-governmental partners in the area of participation and good governance to facilitate policy development, public service capacity building and community based planning. We have room to support small community based organizations and to create forums for partners to learn about one another.
Patricia: VSO has an agreement with the Ministry of Education that has decided to make intervention in terms of the quality of particularly, primary school education, through in- service teachers training for existing teachers. It also insures that teachers get the best quality before education going into a school. VSO also works on supporting curriculum development and management of education finances through the regional education bureaus. At the moment, there are six volunteers in the Ministry of Education in policy development, working on the government program to approach general quality improvement and working on non-formal education. There are also volunteers in regional education bureaus to improve leadership and management; in the universities and teacher’s colleges, training the trainers. The momentum in Ethiopia at the moment to expand education and to improve the quality of the path of change is incredible. 13 universities opened last year and VSO is running to keep up with the government agenda and at the same time increase tasks and consistent quality. VSO, I feel, adds value in the education sector. The government and increasingly civil society organization are VSO’s partners in HIV/AIDS sector.

Capital: What is the reaction of the government to VSO polices and strategies?
Patricia: I think, this government has given very high priority for education and expends a lot of budget for it. At the moment, VSO has about 90 education volunteers in and has the confidence of the Ministry of Education. It is working on policy development and quality implementation and the government would like to see more. I think that VSO is not just a service provider but also a non-governmental organization. Non-governmental organizations are sources for innovation, new ideas, and the voice of communities to inform their agendas. VSO has a role in supporting non-governmental organizations here in Ethiopia. That is an area I hope that the government continues to work on.

Capital: From which countries do volunteers come from?
Patricia: 40 percent of volunteers come from the UK. The rest are from Canada, Netherlands, Uganda, Philippines and Ireland. Anyone can volunteer and there are many Ethiopians volunteering in the course of their daily life. Members of parliament from Britain and Ireland will be volunteering in August, 2008 with VSO. One Member of Parliament is coming to Ethiopia to work with the National Network of Positive Women in Ethiopia and she will share her experience in parliament.

Capital: What are you doing around climate change and on stabilizing the price of food?
Patricia: Many of the responsibilities for carbon emission for the greater use of fuel and the transfer of food products for example, maize to produce fuel, are the responsibilities of developed countries. Within Ethiopia itself, we have undertaken the review of a country’s strategic plan and the questions are of addressing the issues of the environment and climate change. There is a very huge young population here in Ethiopia full of energy and they have access to education but how can they channel that energy and use the education acquired to contribute to the future of the country? I would say there are two big issues which VSO need to address in the strategic planning one is the environment and the other is to consider national volunteers.

Capital: Any comments on the new draft NGO laws?
Patricia: I am very encouraged by some of the changes from the first draft of the legislation. If you look at the preamble, the second draft talks about creating an enabling environment for civil society. Concerning that there are many more civil society organizations such as the Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, and for people with disability, you find that the new legislative framework makes it very difficult for them to satisfy the administrative requirement to keep operating and I think the government needs to find a way of enabling those kinds of groups to continue to do their practical work in the community. At the moment, the legislation provided in the administrative framework would be very cumbersome for those small organizations to work with.