Institutional
Volunteer orientation cycle announced
Applications are open for documentation, outreach, translation, and event support. Orientation covers ethics and confidentiality before anyone meets the public.
ACHRC invites applications from people willing to support documentation, community outreach, translation, and event logistics. No legal background is required.
What volunteers actually do
The most valuable volunteer work is unglamorous. Sitting with someone and taking an accurate account of what happened to them. Turning a shoebox of papers into a dated chronology. Translating a primer and then arguing with the reviewer about a word. Confirming that a referral contact is still correct before we send someone to it.
We particularly need people who read and write comfortably in Telugu, Hindi, or Urdu.
Orientation
Every cohort begins with ethics and confidentiality, not with subject content. The session covers:
- Documentation standards, and what may never be written down
- Confidentiality rules and retention periods
- The anonymisation requirement for anything published
- What a volunteer must never promise a person seeking assistance
- Escalation: when to stop and hand a matter to the secretariat
That last point is the one we test hardest. A volunteer who oversteps can cause real damage to someone already in a difficult position.
Commitment
We ask for a realistic commitment rather than an enthusiastic one. A volunteer who reliably gives four hours a month is worth more than one who promises weekends and disappears after three.
Applying
Use the volunteer form on this site and indicate the areas you are interested in and the languages you work in. Suitable applicants are invited to the next orientation by email.