Why is Fundraising Important to VSO?

VSO believes in sending skilled people instead of food and money to make a real difference in the fight against poverty. VSO needs to raise £10 million each year in the UK in order to continue their vital work - working through volunteers to fight poverty in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Here is what your money can do for VSO:

£36.40 can keep a VSO obstetrician working in West Timor, Indonesia for a week, safely delivering 12 babies.

£158 can keep a VSO child health specialist teaching 33 future doctors and nurses at Mbarara University Hospital in Uganda, for one month.

£500 can train and provide initial funds to 10 HIV+ women in Mozambique to start their own business, giving them and their children income and hope.

£948 can keep a VSO doctor providing crucial treatment to reduce mother-tochild HIV transmission in Uganda for six months.

£15,142 could help VSO keep a team of irrigation officers in Malawi, aiding 3,000 smallholder farmers to produce a lifesaving crop so that 18,000 people can eat during the dry season.

Your donation does matter! Please consider supporting VSO and help me in my effort to raise funds.

VSO - On Eductaion

VSO's vision is that all children have access to good quality primary education. VSO's work in this goal area is in line with delivering on the Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) , especially on goal two on universal primary education and goal three on gender equality in education by 2015.

VSO is an active member of the Global Campaign for Education, an international coalition of charities, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations and education unions. The coalition mobilises the public to put pressure on governments to deliver on the promises they made in 2000 to provide free education for all children.

VSO has education programmes in 21countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean. The programmes are developed through a consultative process that analyses the education context and identifies the people who are disadvantaged within and outside of the education system in each country. This leads to a tailormade response in marginalised geographic areas.

For more info: http://www.vso.org.uk/Images/VSO_and_Education_2007-2012_tcm79-20999.pdf

VSO Volunteer - Julie Wilson's experience in Nepal

VSO volunteer Julie Wilson worked as an education adviser in Mahendranagar, an isolated town in the far west of Nepal, and her objective was to find ways to improve learning in schools. Julie developed a model classroom to showcase the best in teaching styles,including use of resources and learning materials and more interaction between the teacher and pupils.

Here is Julies experience in Nepal

VSO - Education Program Outcomes

VSO works to ensure all disadvantaged children have access to good quality education.

• In Ethiopia, two volunteers trained 254 primary school teachers. As a result, 20,269 pupils benefited from better quality teaching and drop-out rates were more than halved, falling from 1,676 to 789.

• Out of 301 partners, 291 are contributing to this objective and 17 countries reported improvements in the quality of teaching delivered this year.

• In Pakistan, volunteers helped reorganise and train 1,250 school management committees.
  Resulting improvements in school management delivered a 20 per cent reduction in teacher absenteeism and a 10 per cent increase in pass rates.

• In Ghana, a local chief stopped girls being taken out of school to work as porters. This was the result of activity by women trained and supported by a VSO volunteer to advocate for girls’ education.

First Cake - SOLD!

I had baked a Coconut Cake last night to sell in my office and am glad to say that all pieces are sold !!! Hope so people will be interested in some more, lets see.....