CRIDOC VOLUNTEER PROGRAMMES

“Everybody can be great. Because everybody can serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by Love.”

Martin Luther King Jnr.

The Child Rights Information and Documentation Centre (CRIDOC) values the concept of volunteerism in all its programme implementation and it is upon this concept that the organisation was founded just a few years ago. In fact, one of its founders was working as a volunteer/intern in India at the time when CRIDOC was being mooted/conceptualised as a project.

CRIDOC, therefore, reviewed its volunteer programme approaches towards the end of last year (2008) with a view of maximising the potential and provide unlimited opportunities to various categories of people within Malawi and beyond to contribute positively towards the activities that the organisation and its local partners are implementing in the country.

As a result of this process, our volunteer programmes are now grouped into three (3) main categories as follows:

(i) The Local Volunteer Programme

(ii) The International Volunteer Exchange Programme (Ivep)

(iii) The On-line Volunteer Programme

In all these volunteer programmes, the rationale is to encourage individuals to share and utilise their knowledge and skills by voluntarily doing something positive to the communities, particularly those that will have a positive impact on the under-privileged children directly or indirectly.

At the same time, CRIDOC seeks to offer the platform on which the volunteers/interns themselves can enhance their learning.

Our volunteer concept is based on the following general understanding and definitions of the term "volunteerism":

• Performing an act of kindness, freely giving of your talent, time, and effort for a simple fulfillment of community expectations

• The willingness of private citizens to serve voluntarily in a great variety of programmes causes.

• Performing activities of one’s own free will that provide services to the community without monetary reward

• It is an expression of active participation in the life of a community

In all the three categories highlighted above, the following are some of the benefits that volunteers and/or interns may realise by working for either CRIDOC or any of our key local partner institutions in Malawi.

• The importance of achievements

• Recognition

• Personal growth

• Giving something back to the society one belongs to

• Bringing about social change

• Friendships, support, bonding and a sense of belonging

The Local Volunteer Programme

CRIDOC IT volunteers at work! Attempt to breathe life into some of the second-hand computers almost declared dead at NYCOM, for redistribution to its affiliates. Enlarge photo»

Under this programme, CRIDOC seeks to provide a platform more especially to the unemployed youth who have just graduated (even those that are still in school) to gain experience by showcasing their skills and talents in various career fields such as media, advocacy, project management, IT,, community development, etc, etc, etc.

Currently, the Centre has a pool of professional and dedicated young volunteers and interns, who are always eager to contribute their time and skills to the organisation's cause and to have their already existing skills enhanced to greater heights. CRIDOC welcomes young interns with background in the following areas:

• Human Rights
• Journalism
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
• Social Sciences
• Community Development
• Public Health (HIV/Aids focus)
• Education Policy and Law

In particular, CRIDOC hosts university students undertaking a degree thesis in a research topic that is directly linked to child rights, as long as the student agrees (and the student's learning intitution) to share all, if not some, of the key research findings with CRIDOC even if it is primarily meant to be for academic purposes.

Mercy Dailesi is a Diploma 1 graduate in Community Development at Skyway College, now an intern at CRIDOC. Enlarge Photo»

In the near future (this year!), we are planning to enter into formal agreement with some of the key colleges - e.g. Chancellor College, polytechnic College, Skyway College, Corporate Governance College, Shareworld College, etc - to attach at least one student to the CRIDOC Secretariat wishing to do a research related to the child rights issues. While carrying out the research, it is expected that the intern will be able to assist with other basic work/tasks at the Secretariat during the attachment/research period which would be an added value on his/her career. In return, CRIDOC will offer a conducive learning environment necessary for the student to carry out his research, such as a working space, a computer, a library for his/her desk research, some technical advice on some of the child rights issues, etc, etc.

To learn more about this programme, or learn how you can get involved, please do not hesitate to phone or pay us a visit at our secretariat in Lilongwe to have a talk with our Interns/Volunteer Coordinator. Both our telephone and physical address are indicated on the Contact Us» page.

Alternatively, you may just e-mail us here»

The International Volunteer Exchange Programme (Ivep)

Under this programme, CRIDOC is welcoming volunteers and interns from abroad to carry out various activities to enhance the capacity of the organisation and its local institutional partners.

The International Volunteer/Internship Exchange Programme is based on a model in India for a child rights organisation called Global March Against Child Labour, where the current CRIDOC’s Director worked as a media intern in 2002-2003 before founding CRIDOC.

Volunteers are expected to make important contributions to CRIDOC and its partners in many ways; they add a multi-cultural environment to the project’s staff and bring in lots of innovative ideas and enthusiasm.

To learn more about the programme, click here»

The On-line Volunteer Programme

It doesn't matter who you are, what you are, or in which part of the world you are! With the World Wide Web (www), you can still volunteer with CRIDOC to bring some positive changes in our society, particularly in the lives of children. Even if you were on planet Mars, you just need to have access to the Internet, that's all! Even if you were a puppy, you could still volunteer. You would just need to be computer compliant!

Under the On-line Volunteer Programme, CRIDOC is keen to promote the meaningful use of modern information technologies, particularly the Internet, for knowledge sharing and volunteer work.

To learn more about the programme, click here»