What is VSO?
An international development agency. We send skilled volunteers overseas to work with our partner agencies so people in those countries can benefit from volunteers’ skills and build their own. What is your role? I manage VSO’s work in five countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand/Burma, and Vietnam. How is VSO marking its 50th anniversary? We are holding a number of events and there will be a debate held in the Royal Festival Hall in London on the role of volunteering. It will also be a celebration. What attracted you to work for VSO? I always wanted to work for a development agency as I believe it is the best way of achieving social justice. What is the most important thing to keep in mind when volunteering overseas? Humility is a very important characteristic. How has the organisation changed? When VSO was first set up, the volunteers were usually posh, public-school leavers, and mainly from America or Europe. Now, more than 50% of our volunteers are from developing
