We pride ourselves on running responsible international internship and volunteer programs
It is a sad fact that not all volunteering programs achieve what they set out to do. And even worse, that many do more harm than good.
While many set out with the best of intentions, the international volunteer and education sector can be guilty of the commodification of local people, places and animals.
As international program providers, we have a responsibility to our stakeholders in the countries where we operate, to ensure that we consistently do the right thing.
At Start Me Up, we have always chosen to run small high-quality programs focused on just a few areas, as opposed to mass placements spread across many locations.
We think that makes us better able to understand the communities we serve. As an organization, we spend considerable time and effort understanding the needs of the local organizations and communities we work with. Ensuring that our participants support local objectives, as opposed to detract from them, is essential.
We support partnership organizations via donations, consulting and by screening participants to ensure they are a good fit and we do not work with organizations involved in unsustainable practices.
Our ethical principles
1. Not running any kind of placement that harms communities where we operate
2. Strict vetting of the organizations we work with to make sure they are ethically sound
3. Ensuring our participants are qualified to do the tasks that they need to complete their work
4. Educating our participants about local norms and nuances
5. Ensuring our participants have the appropriate training before they start their placements
6. Supporting the organizations we work with before and during the placement process
7. Ensuring that our participants do not take jobs away from local people, such as manual labor or teaching.
8. Forbidding the photography of children on our marketing materials and during our programs
9. Ensuring that reports produced by our participants are translated into Indonesian, so knowledge remains in Indonesia after the participants leave
10. Partnerships with local universities to provide paid opportunities to local students.