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Having spent 30 years working for a housing association, Janet Robert's expertise lay in management. In her early 50s and now free of family responsibilities, Janet decided it was time for a change. "I'd always known about VSO," she says, "but I couldn't do it when I was younger as I had a family and a job. But I'd reached a stage where I thought I've got ten years of work left and if I'm going to do something different I'd better do it now."
Janet spent two years in Namibia with VSO as a Training and Project Officer for a small women's NGO and then, after just nine months at home, she went off again, this time to Rwanda. There, against an everyday background of poverty, power cuts and water shortages, she did two jobs - both connected with HIV/AIDS. For three days a week she ran an HIV/AIDS awareness programme in local secondary schools; the rest of the time, she acted as an organisation and Development Adviser to an umbrella association HIV/AIDS group in Rwanda. She found both projects "challenging but incredibly interesting".
At the outset, when Janet told friends and relatives of her volunteering plans, their reaction was overwhelmingly positive, although some did wonder what would happen to her pension - a concern Janet did not share: "If you worry about your pension, you never do anything." Janet shares proud moment with new graduates.
In fact, VSO provides significant financial support, which includes National Insurance contributions and a Pension Contribution payment. The package also covers flights, insurance, a grant towards the purchase of necessary equipment and a grant to help with re-establishment costs when the placement is over. What's more, volunteering does not mean working for free: volunteers receive a modest salary as well as simple accommodation. And there is a holiday allowance, which Janet, from Namibia, spent on trips to Cape Town and Victoria Falls.
In addition to financial support, there is a comprehensive training programme. Once you have been assessed and accepted as a volunteer, you attend a series of courses preparing you both for life in a developing country and for your particular placement.
The all-round support provided by VSO helps ensure that each placement is worthwhile for everyone concerned. Indeed, around 95 per cent of returned VSO volunteers feel that they made a difference through their work; even more, 98 per cent, consider that they themselves benefited from the experience.
For Liz Hardie, a practice nurse in her 60s, in was certainly worthwhile. A few years previously her son had done VSO in Papua New Guinea and after visiting him Liz thought to herself: "If he can do it, why can't I? When I retired I felt that I'd been given a new lease of life. I'd often thought about working in Africa and now it was time to take a chance."
Liz's nursing job had been in a Trainspotting-type area of Edinburgh working with HIV-positive drug users and she hoped that this background would help her handle anything VSO might throw at her. She ended up in Malawi, training student nurses, and "yes, it was important to bring HIV awareness into the course, both for the nurses' personal lives as well as for treating patients." Looking back, she says, "It was a very positive experience - a big challenge but very rewarding. I got as much as I gave and if I hadn't done it I would have been a very grumpy old-aged pensioner. Bored and boring." Find out moregapadvice.org Independent advice on taking time out for people of all ages; features include details on volunteering, destinations, organisations, reference books, online directories, cost calculator and advisory services. To locate opportunities for older 'gappers', look under the Placement Search and use the 'In Retirement' category. www.gapadvice.org
Worldwide Volunteering The charity Worldwide Volunteering lists placements from 1,200 organisations around the world. You can access their databases for a small fee, choose a volunteering opportunity that suits you and make the arrangements yourself; it's up to you to check out the status of the organisation. www.wwv.org.uk
Gap Year for Grown Ups www.gapyearforgrownups.co.uk or tel: 01892 701881
Teaching & Projects Abroad www.teaching-abroad.co.uk or tel: 01903 708300
VSO www.vso.org.uk or tel: 020 8780 7500
The Neem Tree Trust www.neemtreetrust.org.uk or tel: 01225 865789 Pull QuotesProgrammes on offer ranged from teaching English in Mongolia and turtle conservation in Amazonia to caring for the elderly in Goa or orang-utan rehabilitation in Malaysia
There is almost always a community of volunteers at each project - loneliness should not be a problem
Around 95 per cent of returned VSO volunteers feel that they made a difference through their work: 98 per cent feel that they themselves benefitted
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