Days as a volunteer

Australian Volunteers International, volunteer, India / Brooke Arnold

Brooke Arnold, AVI/VSO volunteer in India, being interviewed for the Asia Pacific journal of Advance Asia.

08 June 2010

Brooke Arnold, VSO India

Where in Australia are you from, where are you now based and how long have you been there?

I'm from Brisbane and am now based in New Delhi for at least 24 months; so far I have been in India for 6 months.

Describe your organisation and what your key goals are.

VSO is an International charity that works through volunteers for development to address poverty and marginalisation and believes in putting poor people at the centre of our approach. VSO in India works with government and civil society to get individuals and communities involved and engaged in their own and nation's social and economic development, become active citizens and support the poorest to access their basic rights.  We will fight the causes of poverty by connecting people nationally and internationally to share knowledge, experience and promote volunteering to address inequality, discrimination and social exclusion.

Our main focus of work in India is to work alongside with partner organisations in building their capacity to mobilise volunteers, primarily youth, to work on issues of poverty, discrimination, exclusion and marginalisation, inclusion of people with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, to ensure that their voices of the marginalised communities are heard and have a say in the decision making processes. VSO and partners achieve these goals by sensitising communities, trainings and workshops, engaging government, civil society organisations, schools, corporates, the media and other partners.

Why have you chosen this area of the not-for-profit sector to focus on?

My current placement in India will bring me up to 3 years of international volunteering in the development sector. I am working as a Fundraising Advisor my role includes writing proposals and developing the capacity of my organisation in fundraising and resource mobilisation. I also have the opportunity to travel around and complete short-term assignments with VSO Partners that request help with fundraising, report writing, donor mapping etcetera, so I am lucky to have such diversity in my work.

I have chosen to become a volunteer over an employee because I feel that being a volunteer means more than just completing a task, or writing a report, it about being an active citizen and  sharing my skills and building capacity of grassroots organisations, that wouldn't be able to afford professionals to train. I know that without the work of volunteers and professionals that are willing to donate their time, many organisations would find it difficult to continue their amazing work in development and their valuable help in addressing community issues.

As a VSO volunteer, I came to India as a professional, with skills, knowledge and experience to share with my organisation. To get to this point, I studied International Business as my undergraduate degree a few years back with the aim to work on overseas development specifically. While I was studying I volunteered in my local community for NGOs and the State Emergency Service (SES), which gave me a great understanding of team work, skills sharing and the understanding that the only way to make a difference is to be an active citizen, no matter where you are in the world.

Who has influenced you to become a volunteer?

One early memory is of being in high school and watching a documentary on UN peace keepers in Timor Leste and being overcome with many emotions by the images on the screen, not that of the peace keepers, but of the East Timorese citizens. Looking back now, I think my dream of wearing a blue beret was a bit off the wall for me, but feeling like I needed to do something to help, definitely steered me into thinking a lot more about development issues, especially in the Asia Pacific. Since then, I've personally seen the real and tangible link found between volunteering and success in development and I hope I can continue working as a volunteer or can help encourage others to become active citizens in the future.
What opportunities are there for Australians to get involved with your work?

Australians and New Zealanders can apply for overseas volunteer placements in fundraising, health education, advocacy and communications roles via the AVI-VSO program. The roles are based in resource poor environments, can be short or long term and structured.  They provide a fantastic opportunity for professionals looking to expand their experience and skills, particularly in resource poor environments, and seeing tangible, immediate benefits to their work. The program offers roles across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

What qualities have you seen in Indians and Australians that make for good partnerships?

I think Australians and Indians have very similar work ethic and do not shy away from hard work when there is an important job to be done. I believe our similar values of prioritising community and a love of sport, bridge a lot of differences and creates a good base for partnerships to develop. Both values draw on team work, working towards a shared goal and having fun while you're doing it! All of these are integral for any formation of good relationships and partnerships.

Working at the community level is the strength of the Indian community and organisations, where as Australians are more used to a business/corporate work mode, so together we can work together in great combination in partnership.

What are the greatest challenges for working in an Indian organisation and how are these different from challenges in Australia?

Some of the greatest challenges of working in India, I feel are the same Asia wide, like the daily battle of Indian Stretch Time versus Indian Standard Time and battling the heat, the cold and the rain and trying to get to the office still looking somewhat presentable.

Working in an Indian organization can also have its challenges because of different organizational structures and priorities, cultural and language barriers. Although these issues crop up from time to time, I feel that the preparations VSO provide via pre-departure and in-country orientation inform new volunteers and help them to adjust. The thing I find that helps me through the challenges is picking out a great moment out of the many that has happened to me while I have been in India. Whether that is helping to take 52 street kids to the zoo one day, having a good chat with my vegetable seller, visiting the hill tribes in rural Orissa and helping to build an organization's capacity in fundraising, or just sharing some Plum Pudding with my landlord at Christmas, the happy moments will always outweigh the negatives, sometimes you just need to remember that.

What are your plans for your organisation in the next 3-5 years?

For VSO India, our main focus now is to build up our brand and presence in India as an NGO, a local Indian entity and also as a change agent and mobiliser for mass volunteering across the country. Our new strategy that starts this year focuses on Active Citizenship and Mass community volunteering in over 10 states of India. We have a goal to actively engage with 1 million youth across India in the next 5 years and we have very ambitious plans and proactive and energetic partner organisations that will help us reach this goal by 2015.

My volunteer placement here in India ends in November 2011, after that I don't know where I will end up exactly, but will definitely be staying in the development field, hopefully in Asia working towards health equity and social justice and increasing the capacity of organisations to respond to the challenges that their countries face.  In the future I might try to move into work in Africa as well, but I think there are many places left for me to work and explore and I hope I can keep travelling, learning and sharing skills for a long time yet.

What do you know now that you wish you knew before you arrived in India?

As I was preparing to come to India I had this notion that India would be really hot all year round, so I was packing accordingly. Only 2 weeks out from my departure did I Google the weather of Delhi and was shocked to find that I was arriving at the start of winter, where the temperature would drop to a freezing 4 degrees and the whole city would be absorbed by the thickest fog I have ever seen. This should have given me a really good indication that you can't expect things of Delhi, if you do, you will be proven wrong!

Work wise, the biggest change for many people from overseas coming to India or other countries is that you have to give yourself time to sit, read, listen and ask questions in the beginning of your placement. My friends and I found that we came here being very task orientated people, but found that this doesn't always work out, its important to learn the culture of your organization, the area you live and work in, and understand and get to know your colleagues. There is a lot to take in and get used to in the beginning that requires time and patience, instead of the goals and timeframes many of us were used too.

I think the biggest shock for me was realizing that being a single woman, living and travelling alone can be difficult and sometimes a bit scary. After living in Australia and Cambodia, I found that being a strong willed, determined and confident woman meant that I could pretty much do anything I needed or wanted to do. In India it can be a challenge finding a place to live, travelling alone on trains, being out at night or just trying to get an electrician to show up! Despite these challenges I still feel like a strong, confident and independent person and I still manage to get things done, it just takes longer!

You recently attended the Advance Emerging Leaders India Summit in Delhi.  What was the most important element of this Summit for you?

Most importantly it was meeting people and hearing about where they are from, who they work for, and gaining a better understanding of how different industries feel about different issues, and their plans in going forward to tackle key challenges that affect India and Australia alike.

After attending the Summit I feel more positive about our ability to all work together in the future, despite the differences of goals in each industry. We all share the goal of building stronger relationships between the countries and improving and strengthening the relationship of Australia and India. As an Australian residing in India I know that there is a great potential for the 2 nations to learn from each other and build each others capacity to improve as global leaders, and shining lights of Asia and the Pacific.