How we work

We always work in conjunction with a local partner organisation in each of our project countries.  These are registered local non-governmental development aid organisations (NGOs) founded and run by citizens of the country.

Our partner organisations, being inhabitants themselves, know their regions intimately, and know and understand the local people and communities, and the problems they face.  They interact with these communities to determine local needs and then propose projects to us, from which we choose on a practical basis.  We work very closely with our partners before, during, and after projects.  We don't enlist partners on a one-off basis, but rather have an ongoing relationship with them, so we get to know each other well.

We are not a profit-making volunteering organisation and we never ‘invent’ volunteer positions purely because we have customers.  All of our volunteer placements and projects meet a genuine need expressed by local communities and evaluated by our partner organisations.  Our volunteer offerings are the fundraising mechanism we use to be able to fulfill these development aid needs -- they are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.