Welcome to our first blog post!

As Africa Volunteer Corps works to get off the ground and to make a difference in the world, we will be using our blog as a way to keep you updated about our work and our progress as well as issues relevant to Africa, international development, and NGO’s.

First things first, go here to learn more about Tanzania, where AVC is starting. And we would be remiss if we did not spread the word about allafrica.com, a tremendous resource for anyone interested in Africa and a vast and valuable source of information. Use the country/region search to read up on Tanzania-related news, such as this article to kick off 2010.

AVC is currently building our board. We already have the first two board members (stay tuned for more on that in a future post!), so now we’re working to put together the whole team. We are looking for people who believe in our mission and want to be part of a strong and supportive fundraising board. Knowledge of or experience with Africa or the non-profit world is helpful but less important than enthusiasm for our cause and a desire and willingness to fundraise. We also would like in particular to find people with financial and legal expertise to help round out our team. Whoever we find should also be happy to work in a start-up environment, which involves a lot of learning as we go but also a lot of opportunities for everyone involved to have a tremendous amount of agency and get in on the ground floor of something which will someday be much bigger.

One of our other main projects is applying to work with the International Senior Lawyers Project, a wonderful organization that provides pro bono legal services for organizations working in developing countries. ISLP is a blessing for organizations like AVC as we work to get incorporated. Incorporating will allow us to apply for 501c3 status, which in turn will allow us to receive tax-deductible donations. Join our mailing list to get news about AVC and invitations to fun future events.