Here are a few highlights from our latest newsletter! For the full newsletter, here is the link. Definitely check it out!
Community and Impact Assessment
Every now and then, we need to reflect on the foundation of IVPA – our standards. Today’s focus will be on…
IVPA Principle and Practice #23:
An IVPA member organization “Collects feedback from global partners and communities at least once annually to assess the impact and quality of the volunteers’ contributions and level of ‘buy-in’ from community members.”
“For any successful project, communication and feedback are essential. Perhaps nowhere is the need for feedback more evident than with international volunteer programs. (…) The type of feedback mechanism in place might vary from project to project or host country to host country. (…) No matter the method, there should be a formal feedback mechanism in place so that there is a record and a history of the project and the relationship with the partner or community. A record can protect institutional memory and be a resource for analyzing the success and future steps for a project.”
Remember – always take into consideration your host country’s culture, customs, and language(s) to ensure that the most efficient and effective feedback mechanism is put in place!
IVPA Members Respond to Nepal Earthquake
“On April 25th, an 7.8Mw earthquake hit Nepal. To date over 8,000 people have died in the earthquake and over 19,000 injured. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of Nepalese have been rendered homeless.” In response, two of our member organizations, Projects Abroad and Habitat for Humanity, both of which have had long-standing work relationships in Nepal, went to work immediately.
Projects Abroad has worked in Nepal since 1999, and since the earthquake they have “transitioned their volunteer projects to a disaster relief focus, ‘to show them that we stand with them when they need it most.’ (…) The project will expand into other regions as work is completed and participation grows.”
Habitat for Humanity has been working in Nepal for the past 18 years. “Habitat’s disaster response teams are coordinating response operations with local government agencies and disaster relief partners. Habitats efforts include distributing a goal of 20,000 emergency shelter kits, organizing engineers and engineering students to perform house-by-house damage assessments, and construct transitional and new permanent housing.”
We thank our member organizations for their incredible work!