TALK to anyone who has ever taken time off to volunteer abroad and the usual comment is: “It changed my life.”

Katherine Tubb, director of the overseas volunteer agency 2Way Development, says that her experience made her want to change other people’s lives.

Tubb’s light-bulb moment came in Nepal nearly six years ago when she was volunteering for an environment conservation charity in Kathmandu, arranged during a masters in development studies. “While I was there I often saw skilled volunteers carrying out work that was completely mismatched, not only to their skills and abilities, but also to the needs of the local not-for-profit organisations,” Tubb, 27, explains.

“I saw that structured, well-researched volunteering would be much more beneficial to these organisations, and to the volunteers themselves.”

For Tubb, committing the best part of a year enabled her to help set up an education centre in a national park to tackle the issues of tourism in a fragile environment. While she had researched her placement, she wasn’t prepared to have several other local NGOs “ask me to join them or to tell them where to access volunteers like me, with experience, who would be willing to spend 12 months on a project. Beyond VSO, I couldn’t really suggest anything.”

And so 2Way Development was born. The not-for-profit agency, launched at forum3 in 2003, arranges skilled volunteer placements in grassroots, development- related organisations overseas. Placements are for at least six months and usually include accommodation and living expenses. The agency has about 25 volunteers overseas at present, most of whom have several years’ experience in their profession. Current vacancies include a medical adviser in Guatemala, community journalist in Zambia and IT trainer in Samoa.

Tubb says that her experience of volunteering has shaped the way the agency operates. “There are lots of avenues for volunteering overseas but we’re different in that we look to volunteers to be clear about what they want to do, positively contribute by using their individual skills and have the time to devote to a placement,” she says.

The agency hopes to attract more volunteers: its database contains more than 300 organisations in need of skilled, long-term volunteers. Many people who contact the agency are attracted by the chance to use their expertise to work with small community groups. “Without volunteers, many smaller development organisations would not survive. A volunteer can empower them to successfully engage in projects that offer long-term, sustainable solutions.”

With 2005 the Year of the Volunteer, Tubbs hopes that more people will utilise their skills abroad and suggests that volunteering locally can give a good taster for this. “Volunteering provides an opportunity to travel, experience other cultures, focus career objectives and develop self-confidence. The benefits are immeasurable and last a lifetime.”

www.2way.org.uk

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