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Recent Posts
- Shantha Bloemen reporting from Mauritania
- Our year ahead as UNICEF NZs 2012 Youth Ambassadors – Akane Sandom
- Grains for Change…changing the world one bracelet at a time!
- The Youth of Today
- Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer!
- Climate change – an interview with Mia Urbano, author of Indonesian Study; Part 2
- Climate change – an interview with Mia Urbano, author of Indonesian Study; Part 1
- Karen in Laos- Day Three
- Karen in Laos- Day Two
- Karen in Laos- Day One
Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer!
It’s International Volunteer Day! So it’s a fitting time to thank all the people around NZ who’ve given their time for free to help UNICEF NZ out. Cheesy but true: lots of what we do just wouldn’t be possible without some of our fab volunteers.
Here are just a few people who’ve done something spectacular for us this year.
Michael De Leener. Intern.
Michael De Leener, 'Manager of Changing the World for the Better’
Michael came all the way from Belgium to help out at our office in Wellington. Actually, it was NZ that was part of the attraction (nature, adventure etc.) not just UNICEF NZ. But still, he’s pretty dedicated.
A 23 year old grad with a Masters of Political Science, Michael’s yet to decide on his future career, but is pretty happy “helping people, not working for the self or the economy” with his current internship with UNICEF. Michael self-defines his intern position as ‘Manager of Changing the World for the Better’, and helps us with media monitoring and social media research. Good stuff.
Julian Gillespie. Volunteer.
Julian Gillespie, Volunteering for 10 years plus!
Julian has been volunteering with UNICEF for so long, she can’t even remember how many years it’s been! “It’s somewhere around the 10 year mark”, she says. What a dedicated lady.
The work she does here is “all pretty good. It might seem boring to some people, but it’s necessary work.” With self-confessed “computer illiteracy”, Julian takes a more hands-on role and is in charge of stuffing the all-important donation receipts into envelopes. But most importantly, she’s also chief proof-reader, making sure we don’t send any letters to ‘Mr A. Sample’. Nothing escapes her beady eye!
Julian regularly brings in snippets of development news from the UK newspapers, keeping us up to date with movements in international journalism, and likes to hear the latest about our work in the Pacific and Africa.
Morgan Hanks. Intern.
Morgan Hanks, Star Intern
Morgan is just 3 days into her internship with us. She’s barely had time to work out where the kitchen is, but was happy to pose with the lovely logo and be featured for this blog!
Morgan is working on a research paper with UNICEF on how the NZ Aid Programme has implemented children’s right into its policies and programmes, a great match to her recently-completed Masters in Development Studies at Vic Uni. An American who’s been in NZ for 4 years, Morgan keeps herself busy writing publications from her thesis and contributing to the NZ Aid Development Dialogue (NZADDs). Phew!
Worst thing about interning with UNICEF: “Not having a window next to my desk.”
Best thing: “Working with amazing people [we didn’t make this up, promise] and being involved in the NGO community.”
Sidra Khan. Intern.
Sidra Khan, A Newby to Wellington
Sidra is very new to Wellington, having just moved here from England with her husband. She sought out an internship partly as a way to meet people. She says, “there’s quite an eclectic mix of people here at the UNICEF office, people of all ages and from lots of different backgrounds.”
Sidra comes from the banking and corporate world, and finds the atmosphere and working style at UNICEF quite hands-on, fluid and innovative in comparison. Sidra is writing materials for UNICEF’s community fundraisers, and enjoys having the freedom to use her own ideas in the work.
Although the slog up the steep hill to the UNICEF office is not the best way to start a working day, Sidra’s internship with us could be the start to a career in the NGO sector for her! Good luck Sidra!
Thanks
This blog could be hundreds of pages long if we featured all our volunteers, so we’re going to round off with a selection of photos of just a few of the people who’ve been part of our work for children.
It can be easy to take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. So today we want to thank and celebrate the fantastic people who give so much of their time, energy, thoughts, ideas and passion to UNICEF.