Read the latest news and updates from volunteers, partners, and staff across the moana working collectively towards a world with thriving communities.
Growing resilience
VSA volunteer Clint Smythe to develop the Cambodia Melon Growers Association in partnership with global development organisation iDE.
The work before the food is on the plate
With concerns about the potential for an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Samoa, the nation moving into lockdown, and with no veterinarians available to her team in 2019, Volunteer Service Abroad’s assistance came at the perfect time for Principal Biosecurity, Officer Talei Fidow-Moors.
Keeping language alive
Kia orana kōtou te ꞌititangata Kuki ꞌAirāni e noʻo nei ki Aotearoa. Noatu ko ai koe pēra katoa, ki ꞌea koe, e ꞌakamāroꞌiroꞌi tātou ki te araara i tō tātou au reo Māori.
National Volunteer Week 2021
New Zealand Scholarship alumni Liria da Silva is helping to lead innovative approaches to waste management in Timor-Leste.
Cook Island Volunteers
Kia orana kōtou kātoatoa tei runga i te Vaka. No te Moana-nui-o-Kiva tōku ꞌai tūpuna, nō reira ‘e inarere au mei te moana ē tōna au enua.
Unexpected doors open when volunteering
Dana MacDiarmid is now a VSA Council Member. How did she get there and what did her volunteer assignment do for her?
Any VSA…
Tongan diplomatic and volunteer connections celebrated
Rachel Harrison’s experience as a volunteer could have been cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but instead it led to e-volunteer…
How volunteering 50 years ago has impacted Chris Hawley's life
50 years ago Chris Hawley took up a VSA assignment at a newly founded university in Khon Kaen, Thailand. An assignment that was…
Rising to the challenge
For VSA CEO Steve Goodman, the urgency and effect of the pandemic on the organisation’s operations has been profound but has also…
Partnership with Downer supporting future leaders
Ask Downer Talent Development Manager Ryan Jacobs about the partnership the firm has had with VSA for the past six years and…
New Zealand and Vanuatu volunteer connections resume
Staff at two of Vanuatu’s key hospitals await the arrival of two medical staff through a programme with Volunteer Service Abroad…
Sharing the VSA message through community outreach with water professionals in North America
Roanna Purcaru, a VSA returned volunteer, recently completed the prestigious Water Leadership Institute (WLI) program run by the…
Rich life-long relationships
20 November 2020
“The first weekend I was in Niue, I assembled my bike and rode around the island. It was hot in January and…
VSA’s Chief Executive elected Vice Chair of international forum
19 November 2020
Stephen Goodman, CEO of Volunteer Service Abroad Te Tūao Tāwāhi, has been elected Vice Chair of The…
Mentoring in Timor-Leste
6 November 2020
Nearly two weeks into her one-year assignment, Jolene Simoes, senior communications adviser in Timor-Leste found…
Improving outcomes for communities in PNG
27 October 2020
In 2018 Neal Hartley travelled to PNG for what seemed like a simple enough assignment - to create a website and…
New partnership supports emergency care development in the Pacific
19 October 2020
Volunteer Service Abroad Te Tūao Tāwāhi (VSA) and the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) have…
October 2020 update
Kia ora koutou katoa,
Over recent months we have shared a number of updates about COVID-19’s impact on Volunteer Service…
Fifty years supporting VSA
21.09.2020 - In the late 1960s, while he was teaching at Queen Victoria School in Fiji, Gavin Kerr helped VSA with a young…
A passion for quality education - Tonga
11.09.2020 - “There is a real passion for quality education in Tonga,” says VSA volunteer Julie Mcllwraith. “Tongan tertiary…
