Leverage your experience and talents to make a real difference in the developing world
We all have a unique set of skills, forged from our genes, education, experience and the general blood sweat and tears of life. Some of us are fortunate to be employed to apply our skills; others apply them to their passions outside of work. If you have the opportunity to do what only you can do best, you can achieve great things. But those opportunities can be rare.
Many of us like to help others. We fundraise, volunteer or run marathons to help support our favourite cause. But we may not always have the chance to apply all our full potential for the cause – All of our skills, talents, wisdom, experience, knowledge, creativity, insight, intuition, objectivity, business acumen and of course our, passion, enthusiasm and energy. (Usain Bolt may run faster than you but does he know how to run a P&L or fix a water well?) You have a unique wealth of abilities - used to their full you can achieve great things and make a difference in the world.
WE2 was founded specifically to help you bring your full potential to those who need it most. WE2 helps charities in Africa build new programs that improve lives by leveraging the skills and expertise from our volunteers. So our volunteers exchange their professional expertise and experience for the life-experience of working on projects in the developing world. Read about our volunteers experiences on the stories & gallery page
Health Warning – may change your life and will certainly change your perspective.
If the developing world needs to develop and (if) we are from the developed world (?), then maybe we are well placed to coach, mentor, advise and support this development. In reality, the developing world has a lot to us teach in return.
There are infinite ways you can help this development. Here are a few ideas from our projects.
Please see the side bar to see more details of our projects.
"I have a diploma in electronics, which is 40 years old and things have moved on somewhat since then. I have designed and sold large IT systems to major corporations. I am not a doctor or a teacher. My DIY skills are atrocious. What could I possibly do for the people in a rural community in Africa?
I visited Uganda on the MBA Social Entrepreneur module with a group of fellow students. We did make a difference and I was surprised to find that I could apply my skills and experience to help. Visiting such an environment certainly changes your perspective and makes you think – maybe I can help?
For the past 10 years of my career, I have worked on developing alliances and partnerships between large IT suppliers – bringing the best of both organisations to create something new and more powerful than the sum of the parts. I realised that I have a skill for bringing diverse people and organisations together to create something new or do something that couldn’t have been done before. If it works for large corporations – maybe it would work for charities, universities and individuals. It does work! So I have traded my corporate life for a life of applying my skills to help others – bringing organisations and individuals together to make a difference. It sounds corny but the experienced changed my life !! – for the better. Give it a try" Peter Clarke WE2
Past, present and some ideas for future projects here -
How the model has been successfully implemented
Projects currently being developed
How our projects can help charities
Situation Overview
Young people in Uganda leave secondary school with good academic results. However, in a primarily rural community they do not have the vocational skills to become economically self-sufficient. The charity would like to establish a vocational training centre to give students the life, technical and business skills to build their own businesses and so become self-sufficient. This facility needs to be commercially self-sustaining as income from donations is not predictable over the long term. The charity has no business skills or experience.
Deliverables
A feasibility study and budgetary model, making recommendations to the charity on the best approach.
Over a period of a month, the team spend a few hours a week
A two week field trip to the charity in Uganda
A two week period back in the UK
The £1800 package includes
Personal expenditure – travel insurance, visas and vaccinations. Optional safari and activities