We believe that for any successful volunteer experience there must be a clear two way benefit - benefit to the individual who is giving their time and money, and benefit to the project or organisation they are working with. 

To hear what volunteers say about PoD and the experience of volunteering please see our testimonials.

To hear what the organisations and projects say about having volunteers and working with PoD, please read below for some of their stories and views:

Village Africa, Tanzania - Caroline Johnston

Villagers have given a rapturous welcome to every single volunteer since the project started 18 months ago.  They never tire.  In fact, after a couple of volunteers had visitors over the Christmas holidays, villagers asked the project leader to notify them of all such visits so that they could welcome everyone.

Volunteers live dotted throughout this close-knit community.  They are fully integrated into the community.  They attend village functions with their neighbours: weddings, funerals and parties. Villagers embrace the concept of PoD volunteers and welcome them into their homes.  They do this even if they cannot afford to follow their own custom of giving a meal. 

Fr Denis, the local priest, says that the project and volunteers have brought hope.  Prior to the project there was no road, no hope and no-one ever visited Yamba.  Yamba is now becoming famous in the region and many Africans want to visit to see the rapid development.

Local teachers say they take their work much more seriously since the arrival of PoD volunteers.  They are following the good practice shown by volunteers, eg timekeeping, careful lesson preparation and the use of teaching aids.

The new District Commissioner has invited Village Africa/PoD to bring more volunteers.  She would like to see volunteers in the newly opened secondary school called Mibukwe.

By offering to help out free of charge and flying thousands of miles to Yamba, PoD volunteers show they believe development is possible.  The project's local name is Vyaadahikana 'It is possible'.

Village Africa has had a strong relationship with PoD since the project started.  As Village Africa is working 'in the field', it relies on PoD back in the UK to give a fast professional service to applicants.  PoD vets applications and all volunteers have been of a very high calibre.  All have been very culturally aware and sensitive.  This is often commented on at goodbye parties thrown by the village.

Volunteer fees are used to manage and support the volunteer programme.  This includes employing a number of skilled staff including a driver and translator.  This means that there is no cost to the community and the volunteer's time is a true 'gift'. 

Funds raised by volunteers go towards health and education.  Administration costs are extremely low as there are no paid staff in the UK.  This is partly due to the highly professional service offered by PoD.

Orphancare Malawi orphanage, Malawi - Rachel Murray 

“My family have been helping fund an orphanage in Malawi for 10 years now and have helped them to grow from one small building caring for a handful of children to a centre that helps 300 orphans as well as the surrounding community.  HIV is a huge issue in Malawi and results in many orphans year on year.  Although we have been helping fund the orphanage it was not until last year that one of us managed to take some significant time off to go out there and volunteer for them.  I was the first international volunteer they have had and so much was achieved in just two months of being there.  We set up a website for the centre which has been viewed by hundreds and played lots of games, sports and helped the children with their English.  My presence there made the children feel positive as they could see that people outside of the centre and village did really want to help them.

Since then I have partnered up with PoD to set up a volunteer scheme for them.  This was at the request of the local people who run the orphanage.  There is so much that a volunteer can do for them, from straightforward caring, through to teaching, sports, counselling, nursing, farming, and building work.  Bringing volunteers to the orphanage will also raise international awareness of the centre and also volunteers will help with fundraising which is a great benefit to them. 

If it wasn't for ethically run companies like PoD who can supply volunteers we would never have been able to achieve the number of volunteers to Orphancare Malawi ourselves.  We have already had great feedback from the staff at the orphanage on the volunteers and they are very pleased with the programme. We are very pleased to be working with PoD."

Phangan Animal Care Clinic, Thailand - Avril O'Brien

Koh PhaNgan is a small island located in the gulf of Thailand.  To the thousands of tourists that visit each year, it is as close to a tropical paradise imaginable.  However for the stray dog population, it can be a living hell.

Because of the uncontrolled breeding, hundreds of puppies were abandoned each year, some less than 10 days old. There was a rapid transmission of diseases such as Parvo, distemper and skin infestations.  Whenever the dog population grew out of control, an indiscriminate cull would be implemented using poison, resulting in a slow and painful death.

In September 2001, Dr Shevaun Gallwey, an Irish veterinarian, based in Hong Kong joined forces with animal loving locals, both Thai and Western to found Phangan Animal Care (PAC). Our mission is to implement a vaccination programme to control rabies and other diseases, to encourage and perform sterilization, to provide emergency relief and nursing care and to improve the quality of life of the stray population.

PAC is a non-profit organization.  Our work depends entirely on donations, sponsorship and volunteer assistance. Currently we have such sponsors The Animals Asia Foundation and WSPA. 

As we found local volunteer help unavailable to us we started using formal volunteers from January 2004.  Volunteer help comes from visiting veterinarians who take time out of their holiday schedule and lend a hand on surgery days.  Qualified veterinary nurses also volunteer their services throughout the year.  Personal Overseas Development also obtain the much needed volunteer help from Clinic Assistants. These volunteers are trained to handle and restrain animals and to become familiar with the clinic routine.

It is a truly rewarding experience and they are an integral part of the PAC team. Volunteer help is essential for the running of PhaNgan Animal Care.

Bangna Commercial College, Thailand - George Graham

“Although our relationship with PoD started only quite recently we at Bangna Commercial College's English Department are very happy about the programme of volunteer placements. The students love meeting different people and getting a chance to practise speaking English with them. Unfortunately the standard of English teaching is not very good in Thailand .Also there is a significant advantage for a student's future career plans in being able to speak English. These two things together make it vital that we use every means to expose our students to opportunities to speak and hear English. Having volunteers over from England is a very important of this.

The idea that volunteers may be taking up job positions that would otherwise be filled by Thai nationals is simply not applicable in our case. The very reason we turned to volunteer organisations is that the school just does not have the budget to employ more teachers for the English department.

We hope that our relationship with PoD will continue and indeed in the future hopefully expand to other government colleges.”