IS professionals not only use their skills in the workplace. There are many ways they can proactively make a difference to the world, and just one of these is through charitable work. Many trained specialists take the leap of offering their abilities up to charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), making a difference to people and communities worldwide.

Charity begins at home, and many people make a difference by helping out in their local area in different ways. But some, however, take things even further by getting involved with organisations such as RedR, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), Merlin or Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) where they use their specific skillsets to create better living conditions for communities across the globe.

Communities are in need of IS and IT skills globally, and trained specialists can go forth to help set up systems that will improve living and working conditions. In addition, during disaster situations, IS/IT skills are urgently needed to put together communications to help coordinate rescues.

In emergencies, there is an urgent need for food, water, medical care and shelter etc. None of these things are possible without reliable telecommunications. TSF has approximately 40 full time employees or volunteers with IT and Telecom skills who deploy to the field. Their job is to help others in saving lives in emergencies where there are no traditional communication networks.

“They are on one of our bases either in France, Managua or Thailand ready to respond to emergencies,” explains Oisin Walton, from the charity. “Our ICT emergency responders deploy satellite-based Emergency Communication Centres for aid agencies right at the heart of an emergency. These centres offer laptops connected to broadband Internet, phone and fax lines, printers, scanners.

“Most of our responders have a Degree or a Masters in computing or telecommunications. They use their skills not only to set our equipment but also to provide IT assistance to our beneficiaries. Aid workers using our centres often need assistance in configuring their laptop. This assistance would be similar to the work of an IT person in an office in any company around the world. The big difference is of course the work environment.”
 
“Most of our responders say they are really happy to have found a way of applying their skills to the humanitarian world. When studying computing or Telecom they would never have thought they could help others to save lives and work for an NGO in that area.”

t doesn’t matter what your age or experience might be, there are opportunities for you to offer your skills. Take for example Colin Smith. He first volunteered with VSO in 1964 as a new graduate. An experience he enjoyed greatly, he decided to volunteer again when he began to plan his retirement.
“I certainly learned far more than I taught during my first experience, and I hoped that after a lifetime as an IT professional, I would have more to offer. In 2007 I was offered a six months assignment at a hospital in Kupang, the capital of the Indonesian province of NTT. VSO partners had been working for some years to improve the management of the public health system in Indonesia. They had worked with the managers of this hospital and had identified the need to improve their information systems. As I had been an IT specialist with the NHS for 30 years this was an ideal match.”
The hospital had installed a simple billing system some years before but they lacked any IT skills and the system had never worked effectively. It was proposed that Colin come in and help develop an IS strategy. They quickly assembled a multi-discipline team interested in developing their own skills and learning about IS implementation and management in their own environment.
“I established a working pattern of weekly day long team meetings, with tasks allocated to them during the rest of the time. These weekly sessions started of as largely tutorial, but then became workshops with presentations by members of the team, discussion and formulation of ideas. At the end of my assignment the team presented an IS strategy for the Hospital covering management, HR and technical aspects together with a fully costed implementation plan.
Colin was later asked to return to help establish an IT department, IT training and system procurement.
“Fortunately my wife, Rosemary, a university IT lecturer, was by then also retired and was happy to come with me provided she could be usefully employed,” Colin says. “When we arrived Rosemary started planning an EDCL course for ten key staff who it was planned would then train others, while I worked with a young clerical assistant who had an interest in IT, to set up a training room. We collected a number of redundant computers from around the hospital and assembled a Win 2000 network. VSO and partners kindly donated computer desks and air conditioning and within a few weeks Rosemary was able to start training while I worked with the team to prepare an operational requirement for a new information system.
But things don’t always run smoothly. Unfortunately after four weeks of the planned five-week course, a fire destroyed the training room. However this disaster prompted an immediate response from the NGOs and hospital and within a month a new room had been quipped, Rosemary completed her training programme and the trainers started their own staff training sessions.
Both Colin and Rosemary feel they have benefited from the experience, and that even at retirement age, their skills are useful, and they can make a difference.
“It is important for me that I feel useful,” he says. “This becomes increasingly difficult as you get older and so finding that my fading IT skills were in demand and appreciated was a great privilege. Added to this we had the chance to live, work and travel in a fascinating country of enormous cultural and scenic diversity and met and made what we hope and expect will be lasting friendships both from among colleagues in the Hospital and from the VSO community there.”
Mark Hawkins has worked with many organizations, and now actually has a career within charity. He is currently the technology manager for the medical charity Merlin, and also assists with RedR training. He began as a volunteer himself.
“My responsibilities are to ensure that all IT systems run smoothly in the London HQ. I also support field sites throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. I often travel to field sites to conduct training, and to implement satellite and radio communications systems,” he says.
“There is a mixture of hands-on set up and passing skills onto others through capacity building. A normal trip to the field would last for about two weeks. During this period, I will work with local IT staff and provide on job training. When I leave, there is an ongoing relationship as I can continue to provide advice from the distance.”
There are many benefits to the communities that volunteers visit. One of the main advantages has to be that where they have trained local staff, the skills will often remain in country.
“Many of the staff I have trained have remained in touch with me as they have moved on from Merlin. Some have moved into the UN, Local Government or local commerce. Its great that the skills they have gained remains in country for the benefit of others,” says Mark.
In addition, it’s a great feeling for the volunteers themselves and an amazing experience to be involved in. They come away feeling they have gained more than they have given.
“It feels good to leave something behind. Over the 10 years I have worked with Merlin, I have visited many countries. Some like Liberia on several occasions. Going back to the same place is great when you see that the systems you have built are still working. It’s also great to see some of the general change for the better in some locations as they begin to recover from natural disaster or years of war.
“Through my many visits, I have learnt about other cultures and the daily challenges people face. This means that I do not take the western living style for granted. On the professional front, I have had the opportunity to try things out and deliver solutions to issues we do not face in the UK. Over the past ten years I have gained a wealth of experience about setting up systems in remote and challenging environments. I am in a position to pass this knowledge onto other projects as Merlin moves into other countries,” he adds.
IT/IS is culturally neutral and skills are in huge demand - professionals will be welcome wherever they go and will find the demands of the working environment familiar. Whether you volunteer as a new graduate, as a career break or during retirement, volunteering will bring different challenges and different rewards.

For more information on charities and NGOs that look for IS-skilled professionals go to:
Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) – www.tsfi.org
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) – www.vso.org.uk
RedR – www.redr.org
Merlin – www.merlin.org.uk