To write a profile, I check out a website, highlight the most relevant info, and link to that website. Do not assume that I have experience with a particular organization unless I specifically say I do – and even then…this is just not insurance that the organization is a good one. Things can change. People have different experiences. While I wouldn’t profile an organization that seems shady, I certainly can’t confirm that one is good simply by looking at the website. Sometimes, in the Around the Web on Volunteering, I link directly to an organization mentioned in a news story. I generally have a quick look over these sites but do not poke around the same way I do for a profile

Profiles are there to point readers to additional resources. Even if you don’t want to go to Asia, reading about what’s on offer in a particular program is a good way to expand your mental database of volunteer projects – so when you do come across something that interests you…it isn’t the first or second or third page you’ve looked at…it’s then fiftieth or seventieth. There’s something to be said for having perspective.

I’ll be honest - I also like doing the profiles because daydreaming about all these places and projects is fun!

One of the abilities my undergrad study in Sociology and Philosophy developed was critical or analytic thinking (and hopefully writing!), and combined with my experience of more than three years abroad – in Eastern Europe and India with a brief jaunt to Turkey - I hope that I can apply this as perspective here.

Please keep all of this in mind when you are reading profiles or other sites the Volunteer Logue links to.