Portrait: Ashok B. Pillai
 

Ashok Pillai from India is a self-confessed online volunteering "addict" and the driving force behind the RESPECT University project. The project of the Canadian NGO RESPECT International, which is run by around 30 online volunteers, provides post-secondary correspondence courses to refugees and internally displaced persons in various countries.

As someone with a passion to help bring about positive change, Ashok found that volunteering online was the perfect solution to combining volunteerism with his personal and professional obligations – as a senior government official, his job is to promote Agri-business Units in rural and remote areas of his country.

Every day, Ashok spends about three hours on his volunteer assignment as project coordinator, liaising with online volunteer tutors, on-site coordinators and students around the world. “On average, I get over 10 emails. During the day, I keep checking for emails on my mobile phone almost every time I have free time (even when I am stuck in a traffic jam), whenever possible, I respond immediately. I feel that I should not keep someone waiting.” Besides resolving issues and responding to various queries, his task involves initiating contact with potential partner organizations, recruiting new tutors, etc.

Marc Schaeffer, president of the organization RESPECT, commends Ashok for his leadership and dedication: “Ashok continues to build RESPECT University with a passion – clearly with a very strong personal vision for the potential of this program to help war-affected youth. He has the ability to infect others with his enthusiasm. The RESPECT University team is exceptional in its drive, under Ashok’s leadership, to fulfil a dream together.”

There certainly are challenges. "While conducting correspondence courses is not easy, conducting such courses in war-affected areas with poor communication links is even more difficult," Ashok says. However, responses from refugees have been very positive, and in 2009 his team hopes to double the enrolment of students from 100 to 200.

The nature of online volunteering helps the international team meet its objectives. "Everyone by his or her own free will takes up the responsibility to ensure that the set goal is reached," says Ashok. "There are times when the online volunteer gets more friends on to help with the project. The entire project is transparent, and when an online volunteer stops contributing temporarily for personal reasons, there is always someone else to take their place."

In terms of personal fulfilment, Ashok feels that his volunteer assignments have been incredibly rewarding. "I have gained a lot from volunteering," he explains. "When I receive a letter from a refugee that he could find a job in an NGO, or that he plans to put what he has learnt to good use, I feel great satisfaction."