OGCEYOD Promotes Local Volunteering

The Organization enhances youth capacity through local volunteering. Graduates from state owned Universities and other private institutions always have the opportunity to excel in all of the Organization’s projects. The number of local volunteers retained by the Organization each year depends on the number and scale of the projects that exist. However, volunteers are empowered through capacity building courses in order for them to come up with individual proposals, fundraise and act as project coordinators for their respective projects.

A routine training package is made available to them immediately when they begin working with the organization. The following courses constitute OGCEYOD’s training package – Project writing, Project Management, Fund Raising, Leadership skills, Team Building and Power Point Presentation. The raison d’être for these capacity building skills is not just for them to conceive and be able to implement their own projects; but it also aims at getting them to think beyond their sphere so that they are able to stay at the helm of any situation at the level of their communities and why not their country.

The period of stay for these local volunteers varies. Volunteers come in for a period of a year and others for less. In most of these cases the individual must have decided to further his/her studies which is usually facilitated by the organization. Nonetheless, others are usually integrated fully into the organization.

The decision on full integration depends solely on OGCEYOD management. It is worth pointing out that OGCEYOD gives privilege to female volunteers because one of its goals is to encourage female participation in development projects. The organization currently hosts three local volunteers – Lema Janet Ngetike, Mamua Ruth Meoto and Nyake Sone Ebokolle; all of them graduates from the University of Buea with the first having a Bachelor Degree in Management and the last two a double major in Women and Gender Studies with Sociology and Anthropology. It is worth noting that these local volunteers work in collaboration with the international volunteers in accomplishing OGCEYOD’s mission.