International Volunteer
Day
Today (5 December) was International Volunteer Day. Volunteers from all walks of life - from sport coaches to firefighters, ESOL teachers and former overseas volunteers - gathered in centres all around New Zealand to mark the event. International Volunteer Day is promoted by the United Nations as a day on which volunteers around the world are recognised and celebrated for their contributions and dedication.
In Bhutan, construction adviser Dean Rawlings and human resource adviser Richard Harris, both New Zealand volunteers working through Volunteer Service Abroad, were interviewed on television and took part in a tug of war with local volunteers. In Cambodia, local and international volunteers banded together to paint classrooms in poor schools located within 30-40 minutes of Phnom Penh.
(See also www.stats.govt.nz for newly-released statistics on volunteering).
Photographed: Liz Thomas, Carolyn Mark and Sue Watt remember around 100 volunteers working overseas through Volunteer Service Abroad on International Volunteer Day. VSA volunteers are in 13 countries overseas.
ENDS