A guest post by Siân Halas. On the 25th November 2015 PIN Students Leeds, a UK student chapter of Practical Initiatives Network, invited Mary Storrie (co-founder) and Laura McCartan of the Rosie May Foundation to talk at the University of Leeds about working in the charity and development sector. The event was unmissable for anyone…
A guest post by Dr. Jason Whittle, @jasonmwhittle. Heading into the Paris climate talks this year there is a lot of hope for significant action from the developed world. The United States and other developed nations finally seems to be making meaningful pledges to reduce their carbon emissions. President Obama has made climate change a…
A guest post by Ben Francis, @anarchasm. I recently began a new job – a programmes role in an international NGO. I was excited to get stuck into the work after the months of job searching that had stretched on a little longer than I was comfortable with. In my first few days in the…
La Comunidad que Construimos is a small non-profit organization based out of Trujillo, Peru. We work closely with the community members to run an afterschool program that helps children build self-esteem by putting them in positions of power as teachers of their own culture. Our volunteer philosophy is different than most Western non-profits. While we…
A guest post by Hannah Leach, @ehlleach. The world is witnessing its worst refugee crisis since WWII. Hard to ignore, right? And despite waves of videos, cartoons and memes portraying refugee-kicking journalists, fascist border police retaliations and “undercover” ISIS recruits sneaking into the country under the guise of “migrant”, the response of much…
A guest post by Nataliya Mykhalchenko. What motivates people to pursue a career in international development? What is it like working for a NGO, a ministry of foreign affairs, the UN, or being part of a development project? What are the first stepping stones to a career in this sector? PIN Students Leeds, the Leeds-based…
A guest post by Ben Fisher, @BenFisher11. Whether it’s as a gap year stereotype or a vision of transformative travel, volunteering overseas creates a great deal of debate. As part of the Student Volunteering Week at the University of Leeds, PIN Students Leeds, the Leeds-based student branch of Practical Initiatives Network (PIN), held a discussion…
A guest post from Kristen Sissener, @kristensissener of Paired Air. On a frosty January morning in 2013, I was sitting at a cafe in Berkeley, California discussing the fate of a box of donated birth control over a very early breakfast. After many months of outreach, networking and proposal submissions, we had succeeded in securing…
“Psst, excuse me, but if an international assistance project is a job or a hobby for you, it can’t actually be ‘yours.’ And if you think that it is, we may have a problem on our hands.” Jennifer Lentfer of how-matters.org
A guest post by Jennifer Lentfer of how-matters.org. Why does jargon matter to people? Perhaps it’s because these words remind us that we’re involved in what @Semhar Araia describes as “intellectual debates over real people’s lives.” And maybe that’s not such a comfortable place. “But will this be sustainable?” This is a question I find it harder and harder…
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