Impact Beyond Volunteering Award

Winner: Mwarabu Adam, former ICS volunteer and community volunteer in Tanzania 

Former ICS volunteer Mwabaru helped to break down stigma towards people with disabilities during his ICS placement and is now continuing to support young people in his community. 

He has created a community- based organisation to support young people to address issues of climate change- setting up school clubs on environmental conversation and running community clean up days, and provided training to people with disabilities.

Ummul Khayer Fatima, former ICS volunteer and NYEN member in Bangladesh 

A former ICS volunteer and member of the national youth engagement network (NYEN), Ummul led efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to spread awareness around the virus within communities. She supported vulnerable people who were not able to work and earn during the lockdown, providing support to 500 families.  

Alongside this, Ummul also contributed to providing schooling for underprivileged children, supporting 160 students in Kishorganj, 20 students in Thakurgaon and 20 students in Rangpur. She also has been organising virtual protests tackling issues such as gender-based violence, rising commodity prices and inequality.

Jessica Sanyu -Ugandan returned volunteer who volunteered in Rwanda. 

Jessica volunteered as an Education Adviser in Rwanda, supporting school improvement planning and helping to support schools in the region to be more resilient to the shocks and risks that might impact upon children’s learning. After her placement, she continued to remotely support monitoring of this work, and also took part in volunteering research to help VSO understand how different types of volunteers are making an impact. 

 Although Jessica officially finished as a volunteer in April 2020, she continues to support, motivate and encourage schools in Rwanda to give children more access to education in a safer and more child friendly environment. Her ongoing dedication has resulted in many schools reducing their risks for children. She is now back in her hometown in Uganda and always supports Ugandan children, youth and those working in education, whilst always being willing to act as mentor for the schools in Rwanda.

Nicholaus Jackson, former ICS volunteer in Tanzania 

Former ICS volunteer and member of Tanzania’s National Youth Engagement network volunteer Nicholaus has been supporting young people in Mtware district to improve their livelihoods and have their voices heard by decision makers as well as contributing to VSO’s efforts to raise awareness about COVID-19. Nicholaus supported 3 young people to establish businesses making soap and face masks following the onset of Covid 19. He connected to them to the Tanzanian chamber of commerce for support, and these businesses are now thriving. 

 He also set up a community youth voice group for young people who are now campaigning on environmental conversation activities and supporting public health awareness activities on Covid 19. Conscious that their efforts weren’t reaching enough people, Nicholaus had the idea to train tricycle drivers which helped them reach over 19,000 people over 3 months.

Mariam Omar Mahomed, former ICS and NYEN member in Tanzania 

 A former ICS volunteer and member of the national engagement network in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Mariam has led a range of activities to support young people in her community, including setting up girls to educating young girls about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

Determined to ensure that people affected by gender- based violence are appropriately supported, she volunteers with the Governments’ regional gender desk to ensure that cases are followed up and psychological support is given. Mariam has also supported youth clubs to engage in environmental activism, promoting recycling and supporting unemployed young people to find jobs in waste management.