June 1, 2020
In the past, I have had the opportunity to volunteer for different charities. The more I’ve learned about the injustice and inequality that exists in the world and the more I’ve read in the Bible about how God feels about it, the more I have wanted to be part of addressing it. Through volunteering, I hope I have contributed in some way, but I can say with certainty these opportunities have been such a blessing to me, giving me the chance to build relationships and learn from lots of different people.
The reason I am now volunteering for All We Can stems from a great conversation I had with Tim Baker, All We Can’s Churches and Volunteers Manager. I was doing a course on International Development and he very kindly agreed to answer lots of questions I had. These ranged from the impact a charity such as All We Can could make, to bigger questions surrounding global poverty and inequality. It quickly became clear in our conversation that All We Can had a very different approach to poverty alleviation compared to many other organisations that I’d been learning about.
All We Can’s way of working towards transforming lives in some of the world’s poorest communities is through supporting and resourcing projects, designed by local people. The intention is for these projects to become established and eventually no longer need the support of All We Can. I thought this was amazing for two reasons; first, there is the underlying belief that local people are best placed to know what their local community needs. Second, there is a continuous push away from local projects becoming dependent on All We Can. Together, the goal is for local projects to grow and become self-reliant. While other poverty relief organisations often bring their own solutions to perceived problems, with dependency often being a real struggle. All We Can really did sound like a pioneering charity!
When Tim said there might be an opportunity to volunteer, I was really interested in the prospect. Volunteering for All We Can has been exactly what I’d hoped for! I have had the chance to see how the charity works in relationship with those that it is in partnership with, working alongside local projects all around the world. It’s been such a privilege and has been really exciting for me to learn about All We Can’s partnership approach to tackling poverty.
If you would like to find out more about opportunities to volunteer at All We Can, take a look at our dedicated volunteering pages.
