Our online UN Volunteer Hind Dihan explains how she started her role with ASCOA

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With COVID-19 keeping us all tethered to our homes, it’s easy to get restless, especially for those of us who love to volunteer abroad. But just because travelling isn’t an option doesn’t mean that we have to stop volunteering and giving back. For the past few months, I’ve been volunteering online.

I’ve been volunteering online for a civil society organisation called Association for Community Awareness (ASCOA) based in Cameroon that promotes peace-building, fights against climate change, empowers women and girls among other things. I write and edit content for their website and newsletter- all done online and from the comfort of my own home.

Volunteering online used to be something I did because it was a convenient way to help other people in another part of the world. Now, it may serve as my lifeline. I want to explain to you how I started online volunteering- and more importantly- how you can do the same.

How did I get involved volunteering online?

I came across ASCOA through the United Nations Online Volunteering website. They promote opportunities for charities and non-profit organisations all over the globe to help connect them with skilled and passionate volunteers who want to help make a difference.

Signing up is easy, the only requirement is that the volunteers are aged 18 or older. Then you have the pick of over a hundred different roles to choose from.

How to find the right volunteering online opportunity for you?

There are multiple opportunities that can be found on the UN website and it can be quite overwhelming at first. But the searching process is accessible and easy to use.

By filtering the search results, it’s a simpler way to finding the opportunity that best suits you. This could be based on the region of the organisation, the tasks you want to do (such as research, translation or writing and editing), the numbers of hours a week you’re willing to contribute and finding a role focused on one of the seventeen UN sustainable development goals.

This way, it’s easier to volunteer for an organisation with a development goal you are passionate about like gender equality. For some of the roles, there are more advanced requirements that you may need.

For instance, if the role is to write a university lecture on architecture, the requirements will most likely be that you need an architecture degree and even a PhD. This can limit your options but not all of the role requires such advanced skills that not everybody has.

For me, I chose my volunteering role at ASCOA because I wanted to utilise my greatest strengths- my writing and editing skills. From there, I filled in an application where I listed my motivation for volunteering, both my volunteering and work experience, my skills and qualifications for the role and my language skills. The latter is particularly significant if you want to take on a translating volunteering role.

What happened next? Volunteering online is the new volunteering abroad

After I submitted my application, ASCOA got back to me a few days later with an arranged Skype interview with their CEO, Linus Ayangwoh.

As with any interview, I prepared extensively. First, I googled the organisation so I would be familiar with the kind of work that they do and what they would expect me to write about. Then, I checked out their social media accounts and followed all the relevant pages on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Finally, I created answers based on typical interview questions. I was more than ready to show that I was the right candidate for the role, just like I would for a potential job interview.

It wasn’t stressful though; on the contrary it was fun to find about all the different ways ASCOA helps people in Cameroon.

Luckily, the interview went excellently. Linus was impressed with my dedication, passion and how extensively I’d researched ASCOA. However, it was a competitive position with 50 other applicants applying for the same role as I.

In an attempt to bolster my chances, I offered to submit a piece of work for their website to demonstrate that I had the skills to be their Content Creation and Editing volunteer. Linus loved the idea and I got right to it.

Later, when I got the email confirmation that I’d gotten the role, they detailed how something that had set me apart was the work that I’d submitted for them. Showing that bit of initiative allowed me to get the role.

Now I have it and I have been able to make a real difference.

What have I gained from my volunteering experience?

Having this volunteering opportunity has been incredible. It’s been a chance for me to use my voice to help make a difference in the world. I can inform others about people’s lives in the villages of South-East Cameroon, where they are struggling for different reasons.

I can illuminate people on how ASCOA are helping change and empower communities in so many ways. For instance, they create skills workshops for women to become more financially independent and they have initiatives to help fight climate change at a time when the world really needs it. Their goals and passions are so similar to my own and it has been such a rewarding experience. It gives me a break from the stress of my university work and allows me to make a difference, even though I’m not there myself.

In light of the recent global pandemic, my work with ASCOA has brought me hope and brightness at a time when I feel very lonely and isolated from the world. And I imagine that this feeling of isolation is the case with a lot of people, not just me. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Social distancing from each other doesn’t mean we have to distance ourselves from helping make the world a better place.

So, what are you waiting for? Go online and check out the UN online volunteering website and find the perfect volunteering opportunity for you. Let’s try and bring a little more light in the world in this time of struggle. Happy online volunteering!

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Volunteering online is the new volunteering abroad – Here’s how to do it