Current & Past Volunteer Stories

Want to know what it might be like to volunteer abroad?

Omprakash volunteers have been posting stories, photos and even videos from their time abroad since 2007. We now have an extensive collection of personal stories from volunteers who've worked with our partners abroad. You can browse through the most recent stories below or use the category selection tool to narrow your search. Alternatively click on the Stories tab for each organization we work with to see specific accounts from a particular organization. Be careful - you might lose a couple hours of your day in here! Happy reading.

Volunteering and helping others to do the sameprint story

May 04, 2011

Life and Hope Association Cambodia
Asta Tamuleviciute

One of my key responsibilities as a Program Officer is volunteer coordination. If you send an enquiry regarding volunteering at LHA, very likely it will end up in my inbox. Prior to my arrival, there was no person in charge of volunteers and the enquiries were mainly handled by the Executive Director, who is a very busy person.

I always try to reply to enquiries as soon as I can and find a placement related to the volunteer’s education, work experience, skills and interests. It is good to know that volunteers do what they know and like best, while at the same time helping to address the organization’s needs and contributing to its development.

We are very lucky, because most of our volunteers possess certain skills in one or another area. Apart from teaching English, they have helped to design a new website, write business plans for two programs, compile a survey for the graduate students, raise money, build houses, do social work, teach sewing and embroidery, and even provide training on accounting and financial management.

In order to manage the enquiries more effectively, I have created a volunteer database and shared it with my colleagues. I have also contributed to the preparation of the Business Plan for the Volunteer Program initiated by a volunteer from Canada. As part of the Business Plan implementation, I have added some useful information for the potential volunteers on the website and also asked volunteers from Hong Kong and the UK to create an online database, where volunteers can add their profiles and provide some information about activities that they have done at LHA (coming soon).

I have also made a contribution by writing stories on the Omprakash website and updating the LHA’s profile. Although initially I thought that maybe no one would read my stories, it seems that they do. I have already received several enquiries from people, who read about LHA on the Omprakash website, and who would like to volunteer at LHA this year. I am very happy for this and I really appreciate the work that Omprakash is doing. It is a great initiative, and I never miss an opportunity to say a few good words about it to other people.

I have been volunteering at LHA for over seven months now. It has been a great experience. If you are also interested in volunteering at LHA, you can drop me a line. There are always ways in which you can contribute to our great work!