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Newsletter of International Conference Volunteers N° 11, August 2004

IN THIS ISSUE Page 1: ICVolunteers on the move Page 3: Cyber-Volunteers Page 8: Profiles - After a professional Page 2: What's happening? Page 4: A week in the shoes of career with Caterpillar... - Conference-Reports a volunteer coordinator - A break from the - Landmine Survivors Network school bench... - Volunteerism and ICTs on Page 5: Cooperation through the Development Map About ICVolunteers

Agenda ICVOLUNTEERS ON THE MOVE ,

4 – 7 September 2004 33rd Intl. Conference of the European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association

16 – 20 September 2004 Indigeneve

27 September – 1st October 2004 Metropolis 2004

7 February – 29 April 2005 IUED, Diploma for continued in development and globalization

17 – 25 February 2005 World Summit on the Information Society PrepCom 2, phase 2

Bern, Switzerland A lot has happened since the foun- longer works exclusively with confer- 10 September 2004 dation of ICVolunteers in the late ence volunteers. It has also developed Commission Suisse pour le partenariat sci- 90s. ICVolunteers’ founder and two other branches of activity: (1) the entifique avec les pays en développement director Viola Krebs shares her vision promotion of volunteerism at an inter- on the organization’s development national level and (2) the development Barcelona, and main directions. of projects allowing volunteers to partic- ipate in projects linked to areas such as 17 – 21 August 2004 information and communication tech- 18th IAVE World Volunteer Conference When, after two years of activity, I founded International Conference nologies. Shanghai, China Volunteers (ICVolunteers) in its current legal form in 1999, I saw an opportunity The latter, in close cooperation with October 2004 for both volunteers and organizers of MCART Association, with whom we AIUTA World Conference social, humanitarian, environmental and share offices and who is specialized in scientific conferences. These shared the field of communications and online Ongoing Activities opportunity and matching of needs has technology development, have led to been the driving force of the organiza- the creation of Conference-Reports, an Reporting for Conferences tion ever since. For our team, it is a con- online system that makes it possible for Cyber-Volunteers Program stant learning experience, an ongoing volunteer reporters to write and publish evolution as well. I am convinced that their stories regardless of their physical Volunteering in South this is one of the major factors that has location. It has also led to the creation of Working Group on Volunteering and made it possible to keep going, but also a new program called Cyber-Volunteers. Information and Communication to build a worldwide network of more Technologies (ICTs) than just helpers. I would like to thank all the volunteers and partners who have made possible International Conference Volunteers In 2003, volunteers from 66 countries the development of numerous interest- PO Box 755, CH-1211 Geneva 4 contributed a total of 22,969 hours to ing projects and volunteer opportunties. Phone: +41 22 800 14 36 42 projects coordinated by the organi- I am confident that we will be able to Fax: +41 22 800 14 37 zation. help many more orgnizations and proj- Email: [email protected] ects in the future. Web: www.icvolunteers.org / As I see it, ICVolunteers has now www.worldwidevolunteer.org reached a turning point, in that it no Viola Krebs, Director 2 Volunteer News N° 11, August 2004

WHAT’S Peoples. Reporters wrote and edited PUTTING VOLUNTEERISM articles and session summaries. Articles AND ICTS ONTO THE were published through the online edit- HAPPENING? ing and publishing system created by DEVELOPMENT MAP MCART Association in partnership with CONFERENCE-REPORTS ICVolunteers. These can be accessed at Open source and free software ver- FOR THE COMMISSION ON www.ngoCHR.org, a web site set up in sus proprietary software? Freedom of expression on the Internet; fight- HUMAN RIGHTS collaboration with the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with ing spam that is polluting our mail the (CONGO). boxes and can prevent people from The 53 member States of the actually being informed even Commission on Human Rights meet This service helped various conference though we live in the so-called infor- each year at the United Nations in participants, as well as anyone interest- mation society? What about Geneva during six weeks in March and ed --throughout the world-- to learn Internet governance? And what is April. It is an opportunity for the mem- about the results of the discussions. The the role of volunteers in all of this? ber States, as well as non-governmental news service is appreciated not only by These and may other topics were organizations, to express concerns civil society organizations. It offers an discussed throughout the first phase about human rights violations, to which excellent opportunity for students, young of the World Summit on the criticized governments often respond journalists and others to learn about and Information Society (WSIS), ending directly. As a result, groups of experts actively contribute to an event to which with the Summit itself in December may be designated to follow up on spe- they would otherwise not have had 2003 in Geneva. cific issues, in some cases organizing tar- access. For more information, see geted enquiries. www.ngoCHR.org. It became clear that many issues linked to information and communication tech- The Sub-Commission on Human Rights nologies (ICTs) need further thought. is the main subsidiary body of the There are some fundamental disagree- Commission on Human Rights. Meeting ments among governments. But also that every year in July and August in Geneva, volunteers have played and continue to its mission is to protect minorities. play a key role in the development and The Working Group on Indigenous current evolution of the information Populations is a subsidiary organ of the society. Sub-Commission on the Promotion and It appears that cooperation among vari- Protection of Human Rights and meets ous sectors is more than just a political annually in Geneva, usually during the statement: it is an asset for all actors, last week of July. including governments, civil society, and Role of ICVolunteers the private sector. As to volunteers, they LANDMINE SURVIVORS are a key to knowledge transfer, skills ICVolunteers mobilized reporters for NETWORK TRAINING building, software development, online the Commission on Human Rights, the training, and much more. For Shindouk, Sub-Commission on Human Rights and a Tuareg in rural and the main char- the Working Group on Indigenous ICVolunteers has been, for several years, assisting the Landmine Survivors acter of the documentary firm produced Network (LSN) in its training sessions by CERN and ICVolunteers last year, for landmine victims by recruiting and “volunteers can fill in and make happen Volunteer News coordinating volunteers speaking many things others did not do.” And as Kenn Allen, former President of IAVE (English version) different languages from Khmer to Pashtun, from Albanian to Arabic. This (International Association for Volunteer Editors year, two meetings were held in Effort) put it, “volunteers are a building block for civil society.” Viola Krebs, Randy Schmieder February and in May. Volunteers also provided assistance to landmine sur- Photos In addition to the 300 volunteers who vivors, as well as logistical support for worked in the background of the Viola Krebs, Randy Schmieder, the training organizers. Geneva 2003 phase of the WSIS, includ- Brian Cugelman The personal stories presented by land- ing all the PrepComs, ICVolunteers Translations and editing mine survivors have had a significant serves as the Focal Point for the WSIS “Volunteer Family”. The Volunteer René Delétroz, Sabine Deiringer, impact in reminding experts, diplomats Edward Sackstein and decision makers of the human faces Family is one of 22 “families” created by behind the issues being raised in discus- the International Civil Society Bureau to ICVolunteers sions about Landmines at the UN level. facilitate the integration of civil society 104, rue de Carouge, PO Box 755 into the WSIS, a multi-actor Summit. As 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland Today, the LSN is reviewing the results of the training courses to determine the Focal Point, ICVolunteers has coor- ©2004 ICVolunteers how to move forward. dinated many activities linked to volun- N° 11, August 2004 Volunteer News 3

ployed youth, particularly in developing countries. Volunteering with ICTs Cyber-Volunteers is a new program, coordinated by ICVolunteers, offering very specific contributions in attempt to create an information society accessible to all. The program offers volunteer intern- ships to specialists in the field of infor- mation and communication technolo- gies, be it to develop a new web site for a community project, to deal with net- work administration or to develop soft- ware applications. Volunteers receive individual training preparing them for a more extensive teering and ICTs, including an ICTs. The mailing list volunteer@wsis- field experience as cyber-volunteers. International Symposium (Dakar, cs.org provides updates to volunteers They then participate in a project. The Senegal, 23-25 October 2003), the and volunteer organizations about the Cyber-Volunteers Program not only Conference on Volunteering and ICTs working group. For volunteers, there develops North-South cooperation, but (Summit event, Geneva, Switzerland, 7- will be further opportunities to offer also South-South and South-North. In 8 December 2003 organized in cooper- their time and know-how during this way, a young South African can for ation with IAVE), www.worldwidevol- PrepCom 2 (February 2005) and fur- example become Cyber-Volunteer in unteer.org an online library on volun- ther meetings related to the WSIS. Mali, in Switzerland or in Cameroon. As teering and ICTs, as well as a itinerant Relevant information on this will be to the internships which are planned at photo exhibition and a documentary film posted in the project section of our web the European Center for Nuclear on the use of the Internet as a tool for site as it becomes available. Last but not Research (CERN), organized through development in Mali and Senegal. least, we invite you to visit our online ISF (Informaticiens sans frontières), pos- library www.worldwidevolunteer.org. sibilities will be offered, in particular to What next? Africans, participate directly in the cre- The working group on volunteering and CYBER-VOLUNTEERS ation of the African Grid, a research ICTs met on two major occasions after project that aims to share the Central December 2003: in Stirling (Scotland) in ICT internships: North-South, Processing Unit (CPU) and the stocking May 2004 at the General Assembly of South-South and South-North of university resources through the net the European Volunteer Center and sev- Cooperation throughout the world. The Cyber- eral times during the 18th IAVE World Volunteers Program is currently in its ini- The Plan of Action adopted by govern- Volunteer Conference in Barcelona tial phase. ments at the WSIS in Geneva stipulates (Spain) held in August 2004. During this that “Volunteering, if conducted in har- If you would like to volunteer as a cyber- meeting, participants from 18 countries mony with national policies and local volunteer, please write to wsis@icvol- agreed on a strategy document for the cultures, can be a valuable asset for rais- unteers.org. implementation of the Action Plan on ing human capacity to make productive Volunteering and ICTs presented to gov- use of ICT tools and build a more inclu- ernments in December 2003. This strat- sive information society.” Volunteers egy involves the creation of national Call for help are particularly well suited to work with working groups, the organization of non-governmental organizations, but regional and local consultations, as well For our Proximity Capactiy Building also with local authorities, municipali- as the launch of an international study on Centers, we would like to solicit the ties; And in certain cases even the pri- volunteerism and ICTs. ICVolunteers assistance of your Cyber-Volunteers vate sector (e.g. corporate volunteer- will, to the best of its abilities, continue Program. Our project aims at the ing). In this case, employees offer their to animate and facilitate these discus- socio-economic reintegration of time and skills, such as in the Ericsson sions, and prepare phase 2 of the WSIS youth living in poor neighborhoods, Response program, where they help to end in November 2005 in Tunis who have dropped out of school and Red Cross set up satellite technology in (Tunisia). need to be reintegrated into the disaster zones. As another example, active work force to make a living How to participate? Reuters provides time off for its and build a decent future. If you represent a volunteer organiza- employees to get involved in communi- ty projects. Volunteering can also be a Regional Coordinator of ANAIS AC, tion, you can become a member of the Cameroun working group on volunteering and catalyst for job creation and unem- 4 Volunteer News N° 11, August 2004

A WEEK IN THE SHOES the many possible contributions of the Swiss National Commission for Commissions to the Decade. UNESCO. Even though she was the OF A VOLUNTEER organizer of the entire event, she found Sabine described her experience: COORDINATOR the time to welcome all of us and to “Coordinating the team of ten volun- explain what we were supposed to do. teers for the UNESCO meeting was the Meeting of UNESCO National She also asked each volunteer to deal first ‘big job’ of my three-month intern- Commissions for and with difficulties as they came up and to ship with ICVolunteers. Armed with North America, Zurich, relate any question, doubt or awkward- project-related documents, contact Switzerland, 19-23 June 2004 ness directly to her or her assistant. details of volunteers and ICV T-Shirts, I headed toward Zurich to meet repre- From the very beginning, I was amazed sentatives from the UNESCO confer- about the flexibility of both the volun- ence secretariat on the evening before teers and the organizers. Although we the first volunteers arrived. During the knew that we were there for the wel- journey, I looked again at the names on come desk, there were many other little my list. I already knew two from my par- things to be done before and during the ticipation in the ICV volunteer program conference. Nobody ever said to me ‘I at the World Summit on Information won’t do this.’ Furthermore, the volun- Society in December 2003. Knowing teers were on time and effective in that both of them have full-time jobs, I everything they did. In fact, Annalisa, was amazed that they took the time to from UNESCO, and myself had to urge spend several days in a row volunteering them to take coffee breaks! My greatest for UNESCO. fear had been how to motivate people, and how to assign tasks to them without After managing not to be too impressed coming across bossy or controlling. I by either the interior of the hotel and later realized that my fear had been conference venue or the fact that there unfounded. The volunteers oftentimes was no room booked for me, I felt found appropriate tasks by themselves, slightly intimidated by the Asian Buffet to and those who did not The UNESCO National Commissions which I was invited were extraordinarily glad for the Europe and North America by the organizers. “From the very beginning, I about receiving concrete Region met for the first time in How much food was amazed about the flexibil- instructions. One of the Switzerland. Approximately 180 was I supposed to ity of both volunteers and volunteers did not show up representatives from 60 countries put on my plate at organizers.... Nobody ever at all and I could not reach attended the meeting (delegates anyone time? And said to me "I won't do this." her. Later I learned that, came from Europe, Canada, the was I supposed to even if rare, this does hap- USA and Israel, and observers from eat the flabby lychee deep down in my pen in the world of volunteering. Aruba, China, Iran, Libya, Mali, New glass of sparkling wine? Yet, the con- Zealand, Sudan and Uzbekistan). versation itself quickly brought me back My colleague, Cristina, provided contin- We spoke to Sabine Deiringer, a to essentials. I was here to coordinate a uous support. Although we all got a bit Ph.D. student of Anthropology at team of ten volunteers responsible for tired of the surroundings, we also got to the University of London who spent the welcoming and registration of con- appreciate each other much more, as three months with ICVolunteers as ference delegates, an information desk well as some of the delegates. It appears an intern. She coordinated the vol- unteer team for the UNESCO and logistical support of the conference that serving and pleasing conference del- Conference. secretariat. egates is not always easy. Some of their requests seem a bit far-fetched, while I met the other focal point for the vol- The UNESCO meeting was organized others had wonderful conversations unteers, my fellow volunteer Cristina, a by the Swiss National Commission for with the volunteers over dinner. UNESCO in close cooperation with medical student from Rumania, current- UNESCO’s Headquarters and the Swiss ly studying in Bern. We got an introduc- Working side by side with the special Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. tion to the secretariat and started imme- rapporteur on the declaration to be It was structured into two parts: (1) diately welcoming other volunteers. I passed on to the UNESCO Secretariat Consultation of UNESCO’s Directors was amazed by their openness and pre- in Paris by the representatives from General on the draft program and budg- paredness to work right away. They Europe and North America was an et for 2006-2007. (2) The 14th statutory were aged anywhere between twenty amazing experience. While the volun- regional conference of the National and sixty years old, from all sorts of teers worked between four and six Commissions. It was dedicated to the backgrounds and each with his or her hours each day, Cristina and myself were UN World Decade of Education for reasons to volunteer at such an event. the first to come and the last to leave. After the event, I slept for nearly two Sustainable Development 2004-2015 What particularly impressed me was the days straight.” and came up with recommendations on availability of Ms. Viviani, Head of the N° 11, August 2004 Volunteer News 5

In Barcelona, Spain, a total of fifty reporters, interpreters and support staff, all volunteers, played key roles in the smooth running of the 18th IAVE World Volunteer Conference. The group included volunteers from Austria, Colombia, , Germany, Ireland, Hungary, Mexico, the Netherlands, Rumania, , Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, the UK and the USA. A volunteer from Burkina Faso also was to join the team, but unfortunately was unable to obtain his visa to Spain. Volunteer ages ranged from 20 and 70 years.

teered in holiday camps before, but my abroad. Maritza confessed that her view COOPERATION way of measuring their success was of volunteering had changed as well: through whether there had been time “Before coming to this conference, I had THROUGH to party and have fun. Here, I actually a different view of volunteering. In felt different about volunteering: we did Colombia, many times the volunteer VOLUNTEERING: get a lot of work done and worked quite movement is not very much taken seri- hard to get there.” ously.” She continued by saying that it had been very nice to see that there was “...MORE THAN JUST A Erzsebet also expressed her feeling much being done in this field. On a per- POLITICAL STATEMENT... IT about volunteering being a way to com- sonal level, Maritza explained, “I never IS ACTUALLY POSSIBLE” pensate for some of the injustice that is had been together with so many people happening in the world: “In the world from different places.” By Viola Krebs we live in today, I feel that volunteering might be some kind of a way to com- Deline Van de Boom, herself the Fifty volunteer reporters and inter- pensate for the aggressiveness around Director of the Cape Town Volunteer preters from ICVolunteers helped us.” She also pointed out that her partic- Center, the official representative of behind the scenes at the 18th IAVE ipation in the volunteer program of the ICVolunteers in Cape Town (South World Volunteer Conference to 18th IAVE World Volunteer Conference Africa), compared her experience at the ensure the smooth running of the had opened her mind to different views previous World Volunteer Conference Conference. Promoted by IAVE of society: “while I do still not quite with the most recent one: (International Association for understand the Western view of ‘com- Volunteer Effort) and on this occa- “When I went to the previous confer- munities’, I have learned more about ence, held in Seoul in 2002, I lived with a sion organized by FCVS, (Federació them. It’s very different from what I Catalana de Voluntariat Social), the local host family. I therefore got to know have known from back home in some of the local traditions, ways of event was held in Barcelona (Spain), Budapest, where I live.” within the Forum de las Culturas thinking, culture and food.” She from 17 to 21 August 2004. We For Maritza Cardenas Ortiz, from explained that she had been very interviewed a few of our conference Colombia, the experience really started touched by the clothing collection cam- volunteers to capture some of their before coming to Spain. This was her paign started by her Seoul hosts: “They impressions. first trip to Europe. It was difficult to collected clothing for me to bring to obtain the visa necessary to travel to poor neighborhoods in Africa.” Erzsebet Magyarosi from Hungary Spain, which was granted only after a admitted that her perspective on volun- “Even two years later, I find from time to series of invitation letters and question- time boxes of clothing on my front teerism had changed quite a bit through ing about her motivations to travel this volunteer experience: “I have volun- doorstep. This is in fact an example of 6 Volunteer News N° 11, August 2004 the types of roots and personal relation- people from all walks of life: students, Sandra continued by saying that “as one ships you develop when working with professionals and retirees. While technol- of the younger volunteers, it is so nice to locals.” She continued by underlining ogy might have been picked up fastest by see older volunteers who are just as ide- that it was impossible for her to summa- the younger volunteers, the older ones alistic. rize the richness of experiences she had were able to bring their life experience It is very much contrary to what my had in Barcelona: “My understanding of which was just as useful. Sandra stressed friends had been telling me: ‘you are the USA seen through the eyes of an that “when you say that people get young and idealistic... just wait until you expatriate, Jim, who lives in Switzerland, together through volunteering, it is actual- get into a cushy job at Credit Suisse and for example, illustrates the extent to ly true. The older volunteers relate well you will no longer have those unrealistic which I have been able to learn from and are complementary to the younger views.’ Looking at some of the older fel- others. While the books and documen- ones. That was very nice.” low volunteers, it is nice to see that it is tation I am taking back from the confer- Sandra confessed that she had at first actually possible to live in a more idealis- ence are interesting, they are in no way been a bit afraid that people would not tic way.” comparable to the experience I had on a personal and human basis. I know that I will never forget and always benefit from the practical spin-offs of being part of the ICV team.” Deline further described the friendships that had been built through working together as a team: “When I had to say good bye to Ana, a fellow-volunteer, she said to me ‘you now have a friend in Spain’, and I said to her ‘you have now a friend in South Africa’... we both had tears in our eyes... if this can be at all any explanation of the emotion and personal friendships that are being built through volunteering, it would be a good one,” she added. “This goes through efficien- cy, meeting deadlines, working hard together on the same team. In my view, there is a very special place for ICVolunteers, not just for young volun- teers, but also the older ones. It is very show up or do their work in a commit- NOTES FROM THE much the cross-generational approach I ted way: “I was somewhat disillusioned CLOSING CEREMONY OF appreciated in this.” about free things, about people coming THE 18TH WORLD to have fun only rather than to work Sandra Krahenmann, from Switzerland, VOLUNTEER CONFERENCE hard. This is not what I saw at all... peo- a student of political and one of ple were committed. They came to the two coordinators of the volunteer attend an 8:30 AM meeting and every- By Jim Rudolf, ICV Reporter reporters team agreed with Deline that one was on time, committed and moti- volunteering actually does bring people 23 August 2004, IAVENews.org vated.” She admitted that “this was real- together: th ly a counter example of what some of The closing ceremony of the 18 “In my university classes, I learned about my friends where telling me about IAVE World Volunteer Conference st cooperation, etc. But ICV and the volun- human beings no longer being altruistic.” took place on Saturday 21 August teering experience told me that it is She pointed out that “as a volunteer you at noon in the Forum Auditorium. more than just a political statement... it do things for other people, rather than Through three days of plenaries, is actually possible.” She shared some for money, but you get so much back for mini-plenaries and workshops, pre- thoughts about her experiences at the it: the experience, the exchange, way senters and delegates discussed the conference: “As a coordinator of volun- more than any paycheck could give you.” volunteer experience in the context teer reporters, I thought, what did I do of the conference’s three thematic Sandra also mentioned the importance of today? I did not plan anything. I did not axes: cultural diversity and equal recognition and praised Kathy Monnier write anything. I talked a lot to make opportunities; conditions for peace; for her leadership within the volunteer sure that things would go smoothly. My and social and environmental sus- group. She gave the sad example of the role made me realize that talking can tainability. moment when a volunteer interpreter actually be a lot of work!” was called away unexpectedly. She need- The ceremony brought the conference Sandra further pointed out that she had ed to get to Greece immediately. Kathy to a successful close, recounting some of noticed no intergenerational gap within was there to offer support, as was Eulalia the highlights of the past week, and the team, yet it had been composed of from the IAVE Conference Secretariat. encouraging participants to take the new N° 11, August 2004 Volunteer News 7

ideas and new contacts they have made tion started with the first IAVE confer- • 26 March to 1st April 2004: Global and put them into action back home. ence. When the venue for the next IAVE Rights, interpreters from and to Emanating from the three thematic World Volunteer Conference is deter- French, English and Spanish axes, certain common threads emerged mined, Ms. Burns will then continue the • 19 May 2004: Anniversary celebra- during the week: tradition by handing the bell over to the tion of Soeur Emmanuelle, 10 wel- new conference organizer. Everyone is entitled to basic human come volunteers rights, including the right to equality. CORPORATE VOLUNTEER- Paris, France How do we construct an all-inclusive ING... A WAY TO BUILD • 25 to 27 March 2004: International society that improves the lives of mar- COOPERATION BETWEEN Association for the Universities of ginalized groups while respecting and Third Age, French to English, English preserving diversity? SECTORS to French interpretation The volunteer community is incredibly Stirling, Scotland diverse, attracting individuals from all ICVolunteers has started a new mentors • Centre Européen du Volontariat, walks of life and all age groups; there is program, offering corporate volunteer General Assembly, 29 May 2004, no stereotypical volunteer! opportunities to employees from Reuters and MCI Group. The two com- presentation and participation in The information and social divides sepa- panies offer time to their employees to working groups on volunteerism and ICTs rating the North and South receive fre- do volunteer work. Corporate volun- quent media attention. However, some- teering has become more common in Lisbon, Portugal times we forget that there are similar the past few years, such as through cor- • Rock in Rio, Presentation on divides much closer to home, even in porate responsibility initiatives. Successful Volunteerism for a better world developed countries, that separate example of such programs include the urban and rural communities. Ericsson Response program, mentioned Hammamet, Tunisia Volunteerism has an integral role to play earlier in this newsletter. Employees have • 24 to 26 June 2004: WSIS Volunteer in making the world a better place, the opportunity to volunteer for a cou- Family, participation in PrepCom 1 of WSIS phase 2 cooperating with governments, NGOs ple of hours or also on a more long-term basis, for example to help with an ICT and corporations. More can be achieved UPCOMING VOLUNTEER training program in Africa. by working together, but care must be OPPORTUNITIES taken so that volunteers are not used for CAPACITY BUILDING AND political or commercial gain. RECOGNITION FOR Geneva, Switzerland Particularly in cases dealing with human VOLUNTEERS • 4 to 7 September 2004: 33rd Intl. rights, such as in conflict areas, volun- Conference of the European Dialysis teer training is of utmost importance in and Transplant Nurses Association / In fall 2004, ICVolunteers will be organ- order to protect the well-being of both European Renal Care Association, 25 the persons receiving assistance and the izing new training courses on the volunteers for welcome services, volunteers themselves. “Dossier du bénévolat” (Social Time badge checking, distribution of head- Registry) in Geneva. The Dossier is not sets, documents and chocolates Information Communication Technol- only a tool to improve the recognition of • 16 to 20 September 2004: Indigenve, ogies (ICT) such as the Internet offer vol- volunteering but also serves as an evalu- unteers new tools for helping the disad- 20 volunteers for welcoming of par- ation tool for the volunteers themselves. ticipants, interpretation (English, vantaged, but we must keep it in the For more information, see the project French, Spanish) proper context: ICT is just a tool, and it section of our web site, www.icvolun- st cannot replace the compassion and teers.org. • 27 September to 1 October 2004: understanding of a volunteer. Metropolis 2004, 35 volunteers for OTHER PAST PROJECTS welcome and information services We all have a responsibility to society. • 7 February to 29 April 2005: While it is important to occasionally Geneva, Switzerland Diplôme en formation continue, strategize and analyze, sometimes we Développement et mondialisation, just need to go out and do something! • 2 to 7 February 2004: Federation of International Civil Servants' Graduate Institute for Development Presentations were made by conference Associations (FICSA), 2 interpreters, Studies, language support coordinator Judith Cobeña; Fundación English to French and back Bern, Switzerland Luis Vives; Manuel Porras, Director • 12 to 14 January 2004: Training for • 10 September 2004: Commission General of the State Secretariat for trainers in the field of children’s Suisse pour le partenariat scien- Social Services; Maria Assumpció Vilà rights, organized by Defence for tifique avec les pays en développe- Planas, President of Catalan Federation Children International, volunteer ment, 4 volunteer interpreters, of Social Volunteering (FCVS); and IAVE interpreters from and to French, French and German to English President Liz Burns, among others. English and Spanish Shanghai, China To close the conference, Ms. Burns rang • 17 to 19 May 2004: Second Forum of • October 2004: AIUTA World the IAVE bell that was returned to her the Global Network of Religions for Conference, simultaneous interpre- by Ms. Cobeña. This continues the tradi- Children, 15 volunteers for welcome services tation (French, English and Chinese) 8 Volunteer News N° 11, August 2004

people whom I would never have PROFILES known otherwise and seen things from About ICVolunteers the inside I would at best have watched ICVolunteers is a non-governmental on TV.” A PROFESSIONAL CAREER organization that recruits, trains and Carlos described some of the things he coordinates volunteers for non-profit WITH CATERPILLAR... learned as an intern: “I feel it's all about projects. The organization has three main areas of activity: THAT WAS JUST THE the rigor required in a professional envi- ronment, for example, the need to be • Mobilization of volunteers for BEGINNING on time, the challenge to integrate into social, humanitarian, environmen- tal and scientific conferences; a team and work with volunteers and staff who are older than I am.” • Coordination of projects linked to volunteer sending; After working on a PHP program (infor- • Promotion of volunteerism. mation technology) with MCART Association, Carlos reorganized the ICVolunteers works with a network of entire ICVolunteers documentation 1,500 volunteers. To date, the organiza- center. This meant working with a data tion has realized projects in Europe, Africa and Asia and just opened a new system, but also filing books in a logical office in Canada. In 2003, ICVolunteers way. He did an excellent job and helped worked with volunteers and volunteer the organization a great deal. organizations from 66 countries. ICV RECRUITMENT PIN As the Focal Point of the WSIS BOARD Volunteer Family, ICVolunteers coordi- nates a series of activities linked to information and communication tech- While each volunteer experience is dif- nologies. For more information see If one were to acknowledge ten volun- ferent, it is all about creating opportuni- www.worldwidevolunteer.org. teers for their significant contributions to ties for volunteers and organizers of Sign up as a “Friend” of what ICVolunteers is today, one would social and humanitarian projects. ICVolunteers undoubtedly be René Delétroz, a retiree Welcome volunteers: For confer- from Caterpillar. Not only has he traveled ICVolunteers is only able to cover its ences held in Geneva this fall, we are all over the world and is a great source of basic expenses and continue offering looking for volunteers to welcome del- information about countries anywhere volunteer opportunities thanks to its egates. sponsors and “friends”. We encourage from Australia to the Republic of Congo, you to become a friend or member. but also a sharp thinker and accurate Internships in translation and edit- You receive our member card, valid for editor and translator. ing: ICVolunteers is offering volunteer one year, as well as our publications in internships for up to three interns at René comes in on a regular basis to print format and can vote at the anyone time at its headquarters in General Annual Meeting, thus actively work with ICVolunteers’ director on Geneva (Switzerland) in translation participating in and supporting our ICV’s website, news bulletins and publi- (English, French and Spanish) and edit- activities. Our subscription fee is CHF cations. He usually works in English and ing, for a period of one to six months. 35 for student- and retiree-volunteer French, but also handles German and members, and CHF 50 for regular vol- Spanish. Volunteer journalists and editors: For unteer members. To sign up or contact it's newsletter, Conference-Report publi- our headquarters in Geneva. A lot of the work is also done through cations, online library and other publica- online volunteering, by email and web Offices tions, ICVolunteers is looking for volun- interface. René is in fact an excellent teer journalists and editors. They should ICVolunteers Headquarters, example to counter the idea that online 104, rue de Carouge, PO Box 755, be fluent in one or several of the follow- volunteering is only for young people. 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland ing languages: English, French or Spanish. A BREAK FROM THE ICVolunteers Montreal, 4328 Melrose, Cyber-Volunteers: We are also look- H4A 2S6 Montreal, Canada SCHOOL BENCH... ing for information and communication specialists interested in participating in ICVolunteers South Africa, The THE FIRST REAL-WORLD Volunteer Center, Western Cape, c/o the Cyber-Volunteers Program in EXPERIENCE Somerset Hospital, Helen Bowden Cameroon, South Africa, Mali, Congo Residence or Private Bag, Green Point (Brazzaville). Carlos Mooser, student at the Geneva 8051, South Africa School of Engineer and intern for six For more information about our volun- Phone: +41 22 800 14 36, months with ICVolunteers, has learned a teer opportunities, please contact Kathy Fax: +41 22 800 14 37 lot in his first ‘real-world’ professional Monnier, Volunteer Coordinator, Email: [email protected] experience: “working as an intern is [email protected] (email) or +41 quite different from school. While work- 22 800 14 36 (phone). We also invite you Web sites: www.icvolunteers.org, ing at ICVolunteers, I have met many to regularly check the project section of www.worldwidevolunteer.org our web site for new opportunities.