Aotearoa Development Cooperative

James Carpenter is a development economist and co-founder of the Aotearoa Development Cooperative, a not-for-profit organisation working with poor communities in Myanmar (Burma) to establish community-owned microfinance institutions. James lives in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Find Aotearoa at www.adc.org.nz

The five of us sat round in a circle on the dusty ground, the trees above us providing some relief from the thick heat beating down from the Burmese sun. We were discussing how a country moves from the status of a developing country to one of developed, over a pot of rice and boiled carrots. All four of them were looking intently at me, waiting for an answer that would give guidance for how they might escape the grasp of extreme poverty. The conversation suddenly turned very personal. I paused for a moment  . . . I was well aware that it was a moment like this that I should have a pre prepared answer for. How exactly did New Zealand, the United States and Europe manage to develop? And why have so many struggled to grow, develop and be free from subsistence living? more…

Heather helps others, and ends up helping herself in New Orleans

Heather Newgen is a freelance writer who is based in Los Angeles. She is volunteering in New Orleans for a week, and will detail her experience on Voluntales. Here is the final part of her journey.

The last few months have been hell. The year started off with my Grams passing. I have lived with her since I was 15-years-old and we were extremely close. It really sucked. About a month after she died, I found out I’m going to lose the house I grew up in because I don’t believe she fully understood the terms of a reverse mortgage and as a result, my childhood home is about to go into foreclosure. more…

Beacon of Hope

Heather Newgen is a freelance writer who is based in Los Angeles. She is volunteering in New Orleans for a week, and will detail her experience on Voluntales throughout her journey. Please check back often for more updates.

Today I was in the Lower 9th Ward–the area most affected by Katrina. I stood on vacant lots filled with debris–lots where people’s houses used to be. What I saw and learned is shocking and upsetting. more…

Hands on New Orleans

Heather Newgen is a freelance writer who is based in Los Angeles. She is volunteering in New Orleans for a week, and will detail her experience on Voluntales throughout her journey. Please check back often for more updates.

The first time I went to New Orleans was literally days before hurricane Katrina swept through the city and it was love at first sight for me. I loved everything about NOLA–the food, the music, people dancing in the streets, so it was that much more devastating for me as I watched in horror the community I adored crumble. more…

Jimmy demonstrates his fascination for Philip's camera.

Philip Buiser is a film director with Two Penguins Productions.  In April and early May, 2010, he shot a documentary in Laos for Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit organization helping communities in some of the poorest villages in the world build and maintain schools for their children. Here he shares a memory from his trip.

There is a boy in a tiny Hmong village high atop the mountains in Laos.  His name is Jimmy.  It’s not his real name.  One of the guys from the nonprofit called him that once, for no particular reason other than that he didn’t know his real name and needed to call him something.  The name stuck.  Jimmy is tiny, maybe three or four years old, and I’ve never seen him with clothes on, at least no clothes from the waist down.  more…

Donna with teaching colleagues in Malaysia

What better way to travel the world in retirement than participating in voluntourism projects? Donna Phillips Ryan is no stranger to travel or to working overseas, and when looking forward to her post-working years, she sees many voluntouring opportunities in her future.

Donna has worked in education for the last forty years, including stints working in Malaysia, the Australian outback and the United Arab Emirates. Voluntales talked to her about what makes volunteering appealing to people reaching retirement age, and why she is looking forward to packing her suitcase, grabbing her passport, and heading off. more…

Volunteering on an elephant conservation can be a life changing experience.

Volunteering during your vacation has inspired the term voluntourism. In this relatively new way of traveling the world, tourists spend their time helping local community efforts, usually in a foreign country. Trips vary, depending on what is needed at the location, and volunteers perform everything from farming to construction duties, as well as educational, environmental, medical and humanitarian work. It’s a way of interacting with locals and experiencing a culture the way you are unlikely to do by visiting hotels and resorts. more…