VSO - Voluntary Service Overseas

Annie and her husband Danny are living in Uganda for almost 2 years. Danny is the volunteer. He teaches science and IT at a primary teachers college. Annie accompany him and keeps busy by performing occasional secretarial tasks, teaching computer skills, compiling a local language manual, and keeping house Ugandan-style.

Expats Guide: Please tell us about VSO and its mission.

Annie: Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is an international development charity that works through volunteers.

Their vision is a world without poverty in which people work together to fulfil their potential. Instead of sending food or money, they send people from a wide range of professions who want the chance to make a real difference in the fight against poverty. These volunteers work in partnership with colleagues and communities to share skills and learning and achieve positive change together. The main areas of assistace are: Education, HIV/AIDS, Disability, Health and social well-being, Secure livelihoods, Participation and governance

VSO is the largest independent volunteer-sending agency in the world. Since 1958, they sent over 43,000 volunteers to work in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific and Eastern Europe.

The main office for VSO is in London but there are also offices in Canada, India, Netherlands and a few others.

Expats Guide: Is this the first time you and your husband are volunteering? What made you decide to volunteer?

Annie: First time. On a trip to South Africa the poverty and shantytowns and children begging for food or money shocked us. This inspired my husband to volunteer. As we both retired early our time is our own. My husband was a headmaster and wanted to use his skills to help a developing country, preferably a country in Africa.

Expats Guide: Why did you choose VSO?

Annie: It was the organisation that automatically came to mind. It is the largest and best known in the UK (and other countries). VSO is not a religious organisation and has been operating for 50 years.

Expats Guide: What is VSO looking for in a volunteer? Can anyone join? What is the process? Do you need to go through Exams, Health check-up, and psychological evaluation?

Annie: Except for short-term youth placements they are looking for professionals with at least 5 years of experience. The process is long and thorough. I believe about 1/3 to 1/2 of applicants are turned down. Applicants as well as spouses must have a police check done. The applicant must show copies of degrees, list many references-professional and personal.

We both had thorough physical exams, dental exams including a full map of our teeth and gums. Many immunizations are required depending on which country chosen. We also take an anti-malarial medication. Most of this is paid for by VSO.

Unlike the Peace Corps in the US, VSO offers placements to volunteers to accept or reject.

There is extensive training done by VSO, some courses last 4 or 5 days, all day. Returned volunteers do the training. Occasionally during the training a volunteer who has been accepted will prove to be unsuitable for volunteering and the person will be declined a placement.

Volunteers who are accepted tend to be self-confident, independent and are often leaders.

Expats Guide: Annie –Your husband is the volunteer and you are the "accompanying spouse" – When your husband was accepted to the program, did VSO request you to go through any kind of evaluation?

Annie: Oh yes!! Both my husband and I attended an all day assessment before we could be accepted. It is important to determine if the spouse is the type of person who can handle this type of life. If the spouse isn’t keen to do this then chances are that he/she will not want to finish the placement.

The assessment for both of us was the same except that my interview was not based on my professional/personal qualifications, but personal only. Many of the questions asked were quite personal.

As a spouse I was only required to do the 3-day introductory workshop and the one-day health workshop. There are several professional workshops for everyone else.

Most volunteers go alone. Couples are in the minority and in most of those cases both are volunteering.

Expats Guide: Did you get to choose in which country to volunteer or was it decided for you by VSO?

Annie: My husband was offered placements and could accept or reject them. He rejected one offer before accepting this placement. We chose together based on the job itself and the location and safety in the country. In some countries – like Cambodia – volunteers must become fluent in the language before being sent out on the placement. This meant 3 month’s language training while in the new country.

Normally training is a week long after arriving in the new country and consists of local culture, health, history, and etc briefings. The employer must provide housing for the volunteer and VSO must pay for certain household furnishings if the house if unfurnished. Our house was empty except for 2 single beds and a table and 2 chairs so we had to completely furnish this house.

Expats Guide: When did you start your volunteering job and when is it expected to end? Does every volunteering job have the same time frame?

Annie: It began Oct 2007 and ends Oct 2009. Normal placements are for 2 years but there are also short-term ones – 3 or 6 months and there are also 1-year placements for those under 25.

Expats Guide: Was it difficult adjusting to expatriate life? How did you adjust to the food, language, culture, climate, and nature?

Annie: We live in Uganda and English is the official language but anyone who has not attended school will have little or no English. We hired a tutor to help us learn the local language. We use the basic greetings and other phrases and this is well received by locals. They love it when people go to the trouble of learning their language.

I like the food here but don’t eat traditional foods more than a few times a week—high in calories and carbs, little variety and lacking in many nutrients. We do buy fresh vegetables and fruits and also have a small garden behind our house. When we eat out we eat western food such as steak and chips.

My husband adjusted quickly but I felt shell-shocked for about a month. I had trouble understanding the accent that made me quite uncomfortable. It took months to get used to be the centre of attention everywhere we went. White people are a very tiny minority here. Slowly though I adjusted, as I knew I would. I don’t regret the decision to come here.

Even though Uganda is on the equator the weather here is just about perfect. The eastern area of the country can get too hot, but in our area the elevation is about 5,000 feet and the weather stays between 60-85 all year. It’s cool enough most nights to need a blanket. The humidity is low but the sun can be quite strong.

Uganda has a beautiful landscape with mountains, lakes, savannahs, and rain forests. There are many national parks that we visit often. Wildlife is zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippos, hyenas, baboons, monkeys, impala, waterbuck, water buffalo, etc. Tourists often come to see the mountain gorillas because this is one of the few places to see them in the wild. They also come for chimp tracking. Many people think the word ‘safari’ means going out to hunt animals, but it is illegal and safari means viewing, tracking, photographing.

Expats Guide: Tell us a little about your volunteering job in Uganda? What is the daily routine?

Annie: We live in staff housing on a college campus in a rural, and lovely, setting.

This is a primary teachers’ college so my husband teaches science and IT. Unless he is working on the setting up and keeping the computer lab functioning his job is not full-time. At the present time we’re on the long Christmas holiday (2+ months).

My routine is a morning filled with housework. Laundry is done by hand in large basins and all laundry is ironed, every single piece. We are fortunate to have a house with running water and electricity. No hot water unless I boil it. Many volunteers don’t have running water or electricity and use a pit toilet. I am extremely grateful that we have a normal flushing indoor toilet!

Tap water is not safe to drink so it must be boiled or bottle water must be purchased. The electricity is unreliable. For the Internet we have a mobile phone modem which is dead slow but better than nothing.

During school terms lunch is provided for staff and students. As a volunteers wife I am part of the community and also partake of lunch, but not daily as the food is very high carb! I like the food but it’s the same thing every day: matoke and/or posho, cabbage, beans, rice.

Expats Guide: As an 'accompanying spouse' are you expected to volunteer? Do you help out? How?

Annie: No, I’m not expected to volunteer. As I have solid computer skills I’ve done some secretarial work for some of the staff, helped the secretary when she was overwhelmed with work, tutored beginning computer skills (this is a mouse, this is a file, a programme, etc) and when my husband teaches IT classes I float about the room and help when needed.

Expats Guide: How many volunteers are there, and do you have social gathering? What do you do in your spare time?

Annie: In Uganda there are 40 volunteers. There is one other volunteer on our campus. Otherwise, the closest volunteers are some distance away. We bought a 4 WD car after we were here about 5 months since we felt quite trapped, as we are not close to the town. We meet with other volunteers every month or two. We often go to the national parks and spend the weekend. We make trips to the capital of Kampala every 2 or 3 months to take care of any VSO business and go to the large shopping malls to stock up on goods we can’t get in town.

I have plenty of time to do what I like in the afternoons and evenings. I read, keep up my blog, photography, internet of course, we have a small TV and recently got satellite, we also have many DVD’s, listen to audio books.

Expats Guide: How does the local community accept you?

Annie: They love us! Ugandans are very friendly and they love white people (muzungus). This country is still part of the British Commonwealth but became independent of British rule in the early 60’s. There is no history of racism here so Ugandans have no reason to hold a grudge against whites.

Expats Guide: Do you have any suggestions for future volunteers? Is there something you wish you knew before you came to Uganda?

Annie: Do your homework before you come. Read blogs. This is something you can’t really prepare yourself for, as you have to experience it to understand. I was seriously culture shocked when we arrived but I knew that eventually I would adjust. And I did. It’s a great experience and you’ll look at the world differently after you go home.

Expats Guide: Would you do this again?

Annie: I would not be away from home for this length of time again. The preparation for this was very stressful, as we own a home and couldn’t leave it empty for 2 years. We were fortunate to rent it to friends we trust and this eases our minds tremendously. We were also pressed for preparation time that made things stressful.

I wouldn’t mind a 6-month placement. This is a great experience that I’ll never forget. I do, however, often get homesick but not enough to leave early.

Expats Guide: Thank You Annie for this interview. You and Danny are truly doing a great job.

To read more abot Annie and Danny volunteering work in Uganda you can vist Annie's blog Danny Annie @ VSO in Uganda

To read more about VSO please visit their website