See our activities page. On this page you'll find details of how AVSO defines voluntary service activities , voluntary service organisations and volunteers . We also include short quotes from former volunteers on their experience. Voluntary Service Activities are defined by volunteers and their organisations as learning and working for the common good.
Volunteers participate in the on-going processes of political and social change.
They are learning by doing in the social or non-governmental sector. Volunteers and their organisations participate in local projects which promote intercultural and social learning. The volunteers engage themselves on the basis of a personal decision concerning their own development and commitment to the volunteer philosophy. Volunteers shall not used as 'cheap labour' but rather add value to the hosting projects. Voluntary service organisations engaged in transnational voluntary service, carry out training and preparation of volunteers before they leave their home country, they provide language training and intercultural training both before they leave and in the host country, depending on the structures of the organisation.