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A student draws on a blackboard in Nepal.

Here’s a big thank you to our unsung classroom heroes

We say thank you to all the wonderful teachers we work with, across VSO.
Phyness Kankhwali, a teacher on VSO’s Unlocking Talent programme, teaches in the classroom at the Mdzobwe Primary School in rural Lilongwe

We’re training the teachers of tomorrow, today

There are now more children in education than ever before, but millions are leaving school without basic reading or maths skills. The solution? We think it begins with better teacher training.
ICS volunteer Sarah Donachie in Bangladesh

Don’t stop achieving: Life after youth volunteering

When Sarah Donachie returned from her volunteer placement in Bangladesh she wasn’t ready to stop making a difference.
John and Sandra are education volunteers supporting work to improve teaching in Rwanda

Raising educational standards in Rwanda: John and Sandra

Married couple John and Sandra decided to use their experiences teaching in the UK to strengthen the Rwandan education system
Celina was diagnosed with AIDS when she was just 18 years old. Now Celina leads a team of 35 who help the women who need it most

Breaking down HIV stigma in Mozambique

Every day, 410 people in Mozambique are infected with HIV. Celina was diagnosed when she was just 18 years old.
Charlie Taylor on his placement in Papua New Guinea

Home: It will never be quite the same again

Returned volunteer Charlie explains how his amazing  experience has impacted his life and given him a totally different perspective on his home.
youth volunteer Ollie worked in the Philpipines

If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough

Ollie Way says he went through a total 'metamorphosis' volunteering with VSO ICS in the Philippines in 2015 on an environmental project that is helping protect the Caro'od watershed.
Chloe Bean is an education volunteer in Rwanda

Volunteering in Rwanda - one second a day film

British education volunteer Chloe's 90-second film gives a glimpse of her life over a four month period of her volunteering experience in Rwanda.
Description Alice's family were homeless and in extreme poverty when her miner father and brother died. Despite being the youngest sibling, she took on the burden of supporting everyone. Things started changing when she joined an income generation worksho

A future burning bright for Alice

Alice's family were homeless and in extreme poverty when her miner father and brother died. Things started changing when she joined an income generation workshop
Andrew Ashe with children using tablets to support education in Malawi

Volunteer to educational tech pioneer: Andrew Ashe, CEO, onebillion

When Andrew Ashe volunteered as a teacher in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s, he can hardly have imagined that more than 30 years later, he’d be helping launch an innovative education project with VSO.
Jennifer Kamara, who survived capture by the rebels during Sierra Leone's long civil war and then went blind, finds solace in her family life. Her grandmother (r), Sama Mansaray, tells a joke provoking a cackle from Jennifer outside their house in Binkolo

What next for Sierra Leone?

Throughout the Ebola outbreak, people wary of health centres stopped accessing the services on offer with tragic consequences – including a 30% increase in maternal deaths and a 24% increase in newborn deaths.

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