Photo by PBI-Canada

PBI-USA & PBI-Canada are working together to offer four webinars this year for individuals interested in becoming a frontline volunteer with PBI.

Field brigadistas play a crucial role in fulfilling the mission of Peace Brigades International to physically accompany threatened human rights defenders.

PBI field projects post for new volunteers on a regular basis.

We anticipate that PBI-Mexico and PBI-Colombia will put a call out for volunteers in the coming weeks and that PBI-Honduras and PBI-Guatemala will also do so later in the year.

The webinars can be for those who are interested in applying to be a volunteer this year or even a few years down the road.

The webinars might also be of interest to donors, allies and others interested in finding out more about what accompaniment involves.

We envision the webinars including a PBI field project staffperson (who can answer all your questions about the application process and more), a defender we accompany (who can give another perspective of the importance of accompaniment) and a past volunteer (to provide a first hand account of what it is like to be a PBI field volunteer).

This past year, PBI-USA helped to amplify the calls by PBI-Colombia in October, PBI-Guatemala in May, PBI-Honduras in April, and PBI-Mexico in January.

We did so through articles on our website, and with our weekly e-newsletter, social media posts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and by word of mouth.

But we want to do more.

These webinars organized in collaboration with our friends at PBI-Canada will be one additional way to get the word out about the opportunity to volunteer in Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.

We are also looking at how to reach (virtually) into different communities across the country, including university and community college students, faith communities and activist movements.

We see it as a crucial task to increase our outreach efforts so that we can continue to directly contribute to the frontline physical accompaniment of defenders.

To help equip us with the resources needed to reach these communities in innovative ways, please consider making an online donation to our 40th Year Anniversary Campaign.

Watch for an update about the first volunteer webinar (planned for February) in an upcoming newsletter, as well as on our Twitter and Facebook pages.