Our Village

OUR VILLAGE is an independent, Canadian based, non-Governmental organization which aims towards redeveloping international volunteerism.

Through hands on experience and development initiatives, we believe that international volunteer experiences can assist in elevating poverty and creating a global community but also benefits the volunteers themselves.

How Did Our Village Start?

Our Village was founded in 2005 by a young Canadian, Ali Manek. After volunteering with different organizations, Ali consistently questioned, "How are the funds I paid being used." When he realized that the funds were not reaching those who needed it, he decided to "fix what is wrong with volunteerism."

Ali used his innovative method of "direct-donations" to ensure that every dollar donated gets to those who it was intended to benefit. This started after the Pakistan Earthquake in 2005 and continued to lead Ali and his friends on a journey that has reached 22 different countries.

Currently Our Village sends volunteers to a number of different countries and works with local NGO's, work in rural communities ignored by large AID Agencies, and does not believe in sending volunteers into situation where they are taking away jobs from locals.