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VOLUNTEERING
131
Jun14
Voluntee
ring
Finding positions online
Spanish expat IRENE IBARRA set up
online portal Expatgiving.org to help
non-profit organisations reach out
to the expat community to promote
volunteering positions in Singapore and
across the region. She and colleague
VICTORIA ORELLANA discuss the
website’s aims and its impact to date.
A lot of professionals
put aside their
careers to follow
their partners in the
expat adventure
By Amy Brook-Partridge;
Photography by Michael Bernabe
Victoria volunteers
to serve food at
a National Kidney
Foundation event
While I was volunteering in Singapore, several non-profits told me about
the difficulties they had encountered in reaching expats. There are also
many people who, like us, want to volunteer their skills to benefit the
community. Expatgiving was born as a platform where non-profits can
tap into the expat world, and where expats can find plenty of volunteer
positions in Singapore and across the region.
What makes us different is the fact that, apart from helping our
adopted community by working with local non-profits, we also try to focus
on what expats need and can commit to. There are many reasons why
people are willing to volunteer, but being expats ourselves we know that
there are a lot of professionals out there who put aside their careers to
follow their partners in the expat adventure. Keeping this in mind, we
try to promote skilled or leadership volunteer vacancies that may help
fill the gaps in their CVs.
We are currently working with more than 25 non-profits. Examples of
recent positions include a communications volunteer for The Singapore
Committee for UNWomen, and country ambassadors for Project Inspire.
We also received many applications for play personnel at The Children’s
Cancer Foundation, volunteers who provide fun activities for children
in hospital. Aidha has also offered skilled positions for mentors, an
operations manager, a grant writer and an IT manager.
Irene Ibarra
Irene (second left) and Victoria
(second right) with other volunteers