Monthly Archives: August 2009

08.14.09
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Africa Rural Connect Wants You to Collaborate, Share and Strengthen Ideas

Africa Rural Connect logoA contest of ideas to change African lives — deadline to vote is tomorrow at noon EDT!

A new collaboration and idea aggregator site called Africa Rural Connect launched recently, with the mission of improving lives in sub-Saharan Africa by connecting rural farmers of sub-Saharan Africa, members of the African Diaspora, development practitioners, scholars, technology innovators, returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and anyone who cares about Africa.

Developed by the National Peace Corps Association — the independent group of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers — the site offers anyone a platform for proposing ideas for Africa, and for endorsing and/or helping to develop the ideas that others have proposed. According to project director Molly Mattessich, the project was the brain child of returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Africa and developed energy and ideas to create sustainable change in their communities.

The contest

According to contest guidelines, people who care about rural poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and the importance of agricultural development can submit, rate, and comment on ideas, proposals and analyses, all of which will form action Continue reading →

08.13.09
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New Directory of Faith Based Service Opportunities Available

Response 2010, the directory of Christian service opportunities published by Catholic Network of Link to search opportunitiesVolunteer Service (CNVS), is now available in print and online versions.

Response 2010 lists nearly 200 service programs in the United States and around the world, representing countless more individual service opportunities.

Participation in many of these opportunities is not contingent on your own faith background (but you should ask each program you’re looking into), and in many cases opportunities are open to non-U.S. citizens. Programs included range from larger organizations with hundreds of opportunities to serve, like my alma mater Notre Dame Mission Volunteers which has both international and domestic service opportunities — to more intimate programs like FrancisCorps, which offers a total of a dozen or so year-long volunteer opportunities at sites in Syracuse and Puerto Rico.

In addition to offering you the tools to find a good program match for your situation and goals, CNVS also offers reflection questions to help you confirm your commitment to service, and to help you decide which program to choose.

Link to order a print copyIf you work with potential volunteers in a school, faith community, retreat center, or informally in your own way, you can order free copies of the Response Directory for your resource library, or to share. Order online or send an email to cnvsinfo [at] cnvs.org.

CNVS, established in 1963, is a non-profit membership organization of 200 domestic and international volunteer and lay mission programs. Currently, more than 10,000 volunteers and lay missioners serve in these programs throughout the United States and in 108 other countries.

Have you served in a CNVS member program? Or taken a look at the Response Directory? What have been your experiences?

08.11.09
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1921-2009

Shriver, from her bio page on her website One Woman's Vision

Shriver, from her bio page on her website One Woman's Vision

Early this morning, Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away. I have been amazed by her infinite capacity to balance work and family — to be a role model to her kids through her tireless work on issues she was passionate about, to be a champion of service, and of people of all abilities.

My condolences to the Shrivers and Kennedys, I know you will miss her so much.

This is a statement from the family on the website Eunice Kennedy Shriver: One Woman’s Vision:

“It’s hard for us to believe: the amazing Eunice Kennedy Shriver went home to God this morning at 2 a.m.

She was the light of our lives, a mother, wife, grandmother, sister and aunt who taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others. For each of us, she often seemed to stop time itself – to run another Special Olympics games, to visit us in our homes, to attend to her own mother, her sisters and brothers, and to sail, tell stories, and laugh and serve her friends. How did she do it all?

Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of Continue reading →

08.11.09
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The United Kingdom’s Community Service Volunteers Offers a Range of Opportunities to Serve

CSV logoThis post has been contributed by my summer intern Ceyhun Arslan, who is researching service opportunities around the world for non-U.S. citizens.

Community Service Volunteers (CSV) offers a plethora of volunteering opportunities in the United Kingdom to British and non-British citizens of all ages.

Founded in 1962, CSV is today the United Kingdom’s largest volunteering and training organization, which involved nearly quarter of a million people last year.  Below is the essential information for some of its main programs.

Full-time volunteering

A full-time volunteer term lasts between 4 and 12 months. All volunteers work in the United Kingdom, and British citizens have to volunteer far away from their home town. Volunteers work in a range of fields, including health care, Continue reading →

08.10.09
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Lutheran Volunteer Corps: Living and Serving in Community

Colleen O'Connor, Lutheran Volunteer

Colleen O'Connor, Lutheran Volunteer

An interview with Colleen O’Connor, an exiting Lutheran Volunteer in St. Paul, MN.

I wanted to get a perspective from a current service participant who is preparing to move on in life, as the term of service wraps up. And I wanted to get the perspective on a non-AmeriCorps program, since there are so many!

Tell me about your program – Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC). How is it different from AmeriCorps or Peace Corps? Why did you choose it?

What makes LVC different from many AmeriCorps programs is that LVC is meant to be a holistic, whole-life program. LVC isn’t just about our job; it encompasses the rest of our lives, as well. I live with other volunteers in an intentional community, participate in retreats and social events, and am asked to explore social justice, community, spirituality, and simplicity. In some ways LVC is definitely more restrictive because I can’t always do whatever I want with my out-of-work life.

I am asked to spend weekly time with my housemates, attend trainings and retreats, and not have an outside job or class for credit. But this is also why I chose LVC, because I wanted to live in community and really get everything possible out of this experience.

There are other similar programs (such as Jesuit Volunteer Corps and Mennonite Volunteer Service), but LVC is one of only two such programs in the Twin Cities, and I knew I wanted to be here. The other (the St. Continue reading →