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Welcome to a VSO Youth For Development (YFD) project
Paul Blackler, My VSO project: I have been accepted onto a one year volunteering project with the Charity Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). My project is under VSO’s Youth For development (YFD) program which sends skilled and experienced volunteers to some of the poorest countries in the world to help tackle the route causes of poverty and disadvantage. From August 28th 2008 I will be working as a regional IT trainer for the Department of State for Education in The Gambia in West Africa. As a YFD I will be living and working along side VSO’s partners within the local community to learn, share skills, teach and empower the local community to make sustainable changes for the future. Project Aims (at pre-departure): 1.) Continue my Global Education Project (GEP) promoting Fairtrade to sports clubs and schools. Linking up with some VSO active community volunteers to continue the project in the UK whilst creating cross cultural links with them whilst abroad. 2.) Complete Fundraise for VSO, the initial target of £1000 has been met, I will aim to collect a grand total of £2500. 3.) Prepare photography and video documentation of England in preparation for overseas education project. 4.) Deployment overseas to The Gambia. 5.) Complete Photography Program on development issues, teaching photography to community members and using their photographic insight to document the issues at hand. 6.) Select a team of community members to Blog with use of photography and photo diaries. 7.) Develop Fairtrade project overseas on local markets and local producers. Potentially agriculture and the exportation of Ground Nuts. 8.) Explore the possibility of Video Documentaries to help inform and educate a wider audience. 9.) Return and complete GEP project, photography and awareness at home. -All activities will be reported back to this website. Blogs, photography and videos will be uploaded as often as possible depending on the availability of technology. Global Education and Fairtrade: As part of the YFD program and a key part of challenging the policies and attitudes that create global poverty volunteers are to raise awareness of development issues. This is achieved through a ‘Global Education Project’ which is an integral part of the YFD programme. VSO sees its volunteers as, ‘perfectly placed to act as a catalyst for positive social change and are supported in developing their own projects whilst overseas and in the UK’. For this I have decided to work with Fairtrade as I have been exposed to (during travels), and believe strongly that traditional trade relationships often go along way to creating disadvantage for many workers, producers and farmers in the subcontinent/third world countries. This creates a negative cycle of oppression and disadvantage for the wider communities. I also know that despite huge success across the country very little is being done in our area, this is one reason why I have joined the Luton Fairtrade steering group to help make Luton a Fairtrade town. Fairtrade and Sport: The reason I have chosen to focus specifically on sport is because it is an area I am passionate about. As Fairtrade is a global issue that involves us all, what better way is there to promote Fairtrade than through the global passion for football? Football is at heart a simple game, played from the townships in Africa through to corporate sports halls and multimillion pound premier league clubs and has the ability to bring people together. Sport itself is an area often overlooked when it comes to Fairtrade, and offers the opportunity to involve an audience that would not necessarily otherwise become involved. It is also a topic that is often easier to communicate through. Children and sportspeople are often more open to Fairtrade football stories and enjoy Fairtrade football activities than Fairtrade coffee stories and activities. My GEP Aims: 1. To inform and educate Fairtrade issues through our passion for sport, challenging global inequalities and raising awareness. 2. To expose Fairtrade sports balls as an option for clubs and schools using this as a means of gaining awareness. 3. To increase the level of Fairtrade activity and commitment in our area to support Luton to become a Fairtrade Town. 4. To encourage the Fairtrade Foundation, Fair trade campaigns and organisations to work through sport and sports clubs. 5. Contribute towards putting pressure on existing sports companies, creating openness in product supply chains which creates a stronger control on fair treatment and allows the consumer to make a conscious and more informed choice on products they purchase. About Paul Blackler
I have enjoyed a variety of challenging employment roles but my time overseas, specifically in the areas of South Africa and South East Asia, has opened my eyes and given me a keen interest in the area of International Development. I know this project will be a huge challenge and I will face many testing situations but that should provide a huge opportunity to learn and develop as a person. I am positive that I will be able to contribute with knowledge and skills I have acquired at home because that is the glory of cultural diversity. As a result I am sure that I will find many rewarding situations from doing so that I would not be able to get working in IT at home. I have chosen to work for VSO because this is what they specialise in, they will match me to a project that my experience is most suited to. As a charity they provide excellent support and training and I strongly approve of their aims and goals; a world without poverty through partnerships, learning, sharing skills and most importantly achieving sustainable change through empowerment of local communities. Voluntary Services Overseas: VSO is an international development charity that works through volunteers. Their vision is a world without poverty in which people work together to fulfill their potential. Instead of sending food or money, they send women and men from a wide range of professions who want the chance to make a real difference in the fight against poverty. These volunteers work in partnership with colleagues and communities to share skills and learning and achieve positive change together. VSO is a leading development charity with almost 1,500 skilled professionals currently working in 34 countries that respond to requests from governments and community organisations throughout Asia and Africa. VSO’s goals are in line with those of the millennium development goals working in the areas of Education, HIV/Aids, Disabilities, Health and Social Wellbeing, Secure Livelihoods, and participation and governance. VSO was voted top international development charity in the International Aid and Development category at the Charity Awards 2004 for its work in promoting innovative approaches to globalising volunteering. Find out more, read VSO / YFD or visit their website: www.vso.org.uk. |
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