Some Useful Reasources About Poverty and International Development

So on my training weekend we were given some really useful resources about international development and poverty. I'm putting these here so you can get an overview of some of the thing the ICSVSO programme aim to address, give insight into the causes and effects of poverty and  also to provide reliable sources for statistics.

http://www.gapminder.org/
Gapminder is a website which provides statistics presented in an interactive graph which charts the statistics of a countries  life expectancy and GDP (gross domestic product) from 1800 to 2013. All countries are included on the interactive graph. It is an interactive platform where you can also look at a countries CO2 emissions, gender equality in education, country fertility, child mortality and much more.

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html: The Millenium Goals

In efforts of international development the UN came up with the Millenium Goals. These 8 goals focus on improving international development and eradicating the causes of poverty and it's effects. This is a great tool to have a brief overview of the areas which need addressing in International Development. Furthermore the ICS VSO programme integrates these goals into it's own structure and management.

http://www.happyplanetindex.org/about/

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index which ranks countries on 'how many long happy lives they produce per unit of environmental input' This tool is great because it takes into account 'well being' and happiness as well as you're hard facts and figures regarding economy and GDP etc. It makes you realise that essentially the aim of international development is to improve the lives of individual people. Often while we are working towards changing external factors the end result is about having people live happy and fulfilling lives. The only thing I would comment about this index is we shouldn't develop problematic narratives such as 'They are poor but happy' or the romantic notion their is 'nobility in suffering poverty'; which some people might interpret looking at the countries which score highest in the HPI. The 'happiness' in the index is based on a ranking of 1 to 10 rating the worst and best possible life and individuals place themselves on this ranking. Individual rankings are therefore subject to a whole host of external factors and social attitudes which will differ individually and from country to country.

http://www.who.int/en/ World Health Organisation
The WHO website is great for statistics on global health statistics and breaking health news.

My VSO Journey: The Structure

So below is a table of the structure of my VSO journey. It's broken into 3 parts. First of all the 'Pre-Placement Phase', then 'On-Placement Phase and finally 'Post-Placement Phase'. You can see that the programme is incredibly well structured and organised to ensure the smooth running of things as well as make sure all volunteers are working to their best and informed abilities.

VSO Training Weekend: Brief Facts

It's been a month since I've updated but finally things are starting to come together in regards to my VSO placement. These last few days I've been up North at my training weekend prepping and generally having a proper good laugh; getting to know all the awesome people I'll be volunteering with.

I did start off the weekend with some trepidation.  Was I going to gel with my team? Was it going to be power point after mind numbing power point? Are my cheek muscles going to cope with permanent smiling in order to overcome my resting bitch face? And most importantly was I going to have a smoking buddy? Never mind the crucial stuff I should have been worrying about, like information about placement and what risks am I likely to face.

Luckily all my worries were unfounded: my team is sick, there was lots of participation led training, my face muscles survived and it seems half my team are a bunch of dirty smokers like myself. And while a lot of other worries and issues were addressed during the training, I'm informed enough to feel pretty chill about the whole process. My mind is however completely saturated with information now and it would be impossible to write down everything I've learned this weekend in one post. So here are a few interesting facts I've learnt about VSO, the Philippines, my team mates and myself to start with:

1) VSO ICS volunteers usually live in a host home with an in country counterpart. So I will be living
not only with my family but a Filipino VSO volunteer

2) The VSO try and match it's volunteers to placements that they feel best suited to the volunteers skill's and interests when volunteers get into country

3) On placement there are Active Citizenship Days where you can work with a in country volunteer partner to plan and carry out your own project that can help the community you're working in. For example organising a fun run to raise money for community resources or compiling a sustainable programme to help address important issues like health or human rights

4) The VSO really have a thing for acronyms

5) Cebu has a reggae scene

6) Filipino's are known for their passive and non confrontational attitude (hopefully something which will rub off on me)

7) It is, as my lovely team mate put it, 'roasty toasty' weather wise over there. Low temperatures in Cebu averaging 20c and high temperatures averaging 36c

8)  I'm pretty good at 'the hat game'/charades

9) My team have a wicked sense of humour

10) Everyone going to the Philippines value sustainable and ethical volunteer work

11) I'm not the only person thinking about taking a stuffed animal with me to the Philippines...phew.

12) I'm not the anti social git I thought I was...or maybe it's a super positive reflection on my team mates personalities