Make a difference in the lives of some of San Diego’s most vulnerable residents.

Volunteer today!!

To learn more information about volunteering  contact Volunteer Services by e-mail: volunteer@alliance-for-africa.org

Click here  to complete the volunteer Application.

Or by telephone: (619) 286-9052 ext. 240  or fax at 619-286-9053.

                 Volunteer Opportunities

AAA has many exciting volunteer and internship opportunities including, but not limited to:

• Mentor a refugee family.
• Market AAA’s programs and services to businesses and individuals in the community.
• Assist office staff with data and file management.
• Connect Burmese refugees with resources and services in their community.
• Collect demographic data to help advocate for the rights of newly established populations.
• Provide medical and/or translation services for the Alliance Health Clinic.
• Help refugee youth learn the basics of Financial Literacy.

·        Learn more about other people and yourself.

·        Help someone adapt to life in the United States.

·        Understand aspects of another culture.

·        Gain a new perspective on International events.

·        Build experience working in a non-profit environment

·        Use your skills and experience to make a difference

                               Make an Impact

 For refugees, partnership with AAA’s Volunteer’s  is an opportunity to: 

·        Share the story of the country and life they left behind.

·        Acquire and practice English skills.

·        Ask questions about American culture.

·        Become acquainted with their community.

Help meet the challenges of building a new life.

In the simplest terms, a refugee is a person who is afraid to go home. To be considered a refugee a person must fit the definition given by the United Nation in 1951. This states, “A refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

But that description does not begin to tell the story of the traumas refugees endure. Usually forced to leave their homes suddenly, their possessions are reduced to what they can carry—sometimes no more than the clothes on their backs.

Once refugees cross into a neighboring country, they are interviewed by U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees staff to determine their status. Those who meet the official UNHCR criteria are documented as refugees and allowed to remain in that country, usually in a refugee camp.

Once admitted to these camps refugees subsist in a state of waiting – waiting to return home, or waiting to be allowed to resettle in a new country. Harsh conditions, overcrowding, lack of privacy, and inadequate food, water, sanitation and medical care are common in camps. Everyone faces the grinding tedium of passing time without sufficient income-generating activities for the adults or educational opportunities for the children.

The few refugees fortunate enough to be repatriated often find their homeland devastated by war. Some refugees stay in the country where they are waiting, but other countries have difficulty absorbing refugees into their economies. Resettlement in a third country is an option for less than one percent of all refugees.

Each year the president, in consultation with Congress, sets the number of refugees who may be resettled in the United States. Refugees who want to come here must register with a U.S. State Department representative and be interviewed by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service staff. Those approved for admission are allocated among the resettlement agencies.

For more information about the programs and services  , please contact Volunteer coordinator Jen-Marie Merriman  by phone at  (619) 286 - 9052,  ext. 240     vvolunteer@alliance-for-africa.org