An International Support Network for Isolated Aid Workers

International development work is often difficult, exhausting, and isolating. Many people who seek to serve and live abroad often become burned out by the overwhelming nature of their work.

One international aid worker said, “I feel isolated, uncertain and a little forlorn about finding my way into development-related work, and would like to have someone to share my experience with, who is perhaps also experiencing the same thing.”

To combat this issue, a team of international humanitarians is creating whydev.org, an online platform where international volunteers and workers can connect and discuss their challenges and experiences, allowing them the opportunity to connect with others across the globe who are also making a difference.

The success of whydev is centered around peer coaching—the idea that every individual has a unique experience which can be offered to the entire group.

In order to fully create and implement whydev, the team is asking for support to raise seed funding. Funds will be used to fully develop the whydev platform where people can be effectively matched with peer coaches and take advantage of the fully functional website.

To raise these much needed funds, the whydev team has launched a campaign on StartSomeGood to build an international support network for isolated aid workers. The campaign just reached the halfway point of its $3,000 tipping point, but the team is striving for the $10,000 total funding goal to fully be able to realize the potential of whydev’s platform. This campaign will help connect 300 aid workers with each other for support, potentially reaching thousands of people who can directly benefit from aid workers that are more supported, less stressed and, therefore, more effective.

Callie Hammond

I am currently an MPA student at the University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on Nonprofit Administration. My experiences as a social worker and a teacher in the Philadelphia School District have not only made education reform my passion, but have also led me to create a start-up nonprofit organization, Library Build, which is dedicated to revitalizing and restocking public school libraries with books, technologies, and librarians. You can follow on my blog, The Start Up.