Volunteer fury

Two weeks ago, VSO London announced a 20% cut to the volunteer allowance in Cambodia. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the volunteer community is furious. As a member of VolCom, the VSO volunteer committee, I have been in the thick of all kinds of heated correspondence, calls and threats of action. Volcom held a weekend meeting to discuss the situation. Many volunteers felt devalued, and believed that the decision and the process for making and implementing the decision was flawed. The strength of feeling against the cut was heard loud and clear by the London office, and today’s response is that the decision has been suspended, so that further consultation can take place. The right short term decision, but in the long term the agony is prolonged! This has been a rather uncomfortable fortnight...