Nicola Stevenson

I am currently working in Lesotho as the British Red Cross Lesotho Fund Coordinator. The fund was set up after Prince Harry visited Lesotho in 2004. I work with the Lesotho Red Cross to support implementation of activities relating to the fund. The Lesotho Red Cross (LRCS) works to prevent the spread of HIV and provides care and support to people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and continues to scale up its work to combat stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV and AIDS. Since the beginning of 2005, eight organisations have received funding for material inputs such Braille equipment, dormitory extension, vehicle, computer equipment, and connection to mains water supply.

Ceri Angood, VIDYA New Delhi Summer 2000, SAI Committee 2001-2002

My current role is as Programme Assistant Intern for Relief International’s new UK office. I have found my experiences on the SAI/DIA committee useful for this position as Relief UK is at an exciting stage of development and the energy and talent of everyone involved is reminiscent of many SAI/DIA meetings in various people’s living rooms!

My areas of work include conducting an Organisational Assessment of the country programmes and HQ in the US to inform a process of organisational change and ICT Programme development work, focussing on access to IT for girls in Bangladesh with a Global Education element of linking to existing Groups in the UK. Prior to this I spent 18 months in Malawi working for Save the Children initially through the VSO Youth for Development Scheme.

Whilst serving on the SAI/DIA committee I worked for 2 years for INTRAC – The international NGO Training and Research Centre, organising conferences and proposal writing. It seems a long time ago now, yet I still refer to my experiences with VIDYA and SAI/DIA in all my job interviews – any excuse to talk about India!

Claire Phillips, DiA Indian Co-ordinator 2004

After six months in India with DiA, I started at SCIAF (www.sciaf.org.uk) in January 2005 as one of two Asia Projects Officers. I started ten days after the Asian tsunami, and was immediately put in charge of SCIAF’s appeal income, significantly increasing my responsibilities and allotted budget! My role within the organisation is to manage existing grants to partners in south India, and to develop new partnerships in the north of the country, as well as monitoring the tsunami relief and rehabilitation work that SCIAF is funding. I travel to India regularly, and am also involved in SCIAF’s campaigning and development education work in Scotland.

My route in to international development has been a slightly roundabout one. Five years ago, people had told me that it wouldn’t be possible; the sector is too competitive, I didn’t have the right degree, I hadn’t done a gap year etc. – I’ve proved them wrong! For me, the pathway was through administrative roles within NGOs, an MSc and volunteering, coupled with a genuine passion for the issues that I have worked on. It’s a real privilege to be able to earn a living helping other people!

Ruth Bergan

After volunteering with DiA in Bangalore for six months, and a year in Pondicherry, I came back and took over the coordinator position for a year. My experience working with DiA, coordinating the charity, working on everything from recruitment and fundraising to planning an exhibition, and with Indian NGOs has stood me in good stead looking for jobs in the development field. Having completed a masters in Development Studies at Manchester, I am about to take up the post of Project Officer for the Asylum Positive Images project at Oxfam in Wales.

Paul Gunstensen

Following a summer placement at DEEDS in Bangalore, I went back to university to do an MSc in Development Studies in London. While in the final furlong of my dissertation I decided to volunteer at WaterAid, the specialist NGO which works in 15 countries in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia, providing safe water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the most vulnerable people in these countries. This volunteering position quickly turned into a temping position while the team in which I worked was restructured and has now turned into a full time position! I work in the Project Funding Team at WaterAid, which deals with a variety of donors from small personal trusts and foundations to larger more institutional donors such as the Big Lottery Fund, US and European Foundations.