European Disaster Volunteers

EDV was founded in September 2008 by a group of experienced disaster responders led by Andy Chaggar. Andy is a survivor of the 2004 Asian tsunami who holds a Master’s degree in social policy and development with a focus on disasters.

Our founding members were motivated to found EDV after working with several other landmark organisations which were set up to challenge the notion that “ordinary” citizens can't be disaster response volunteers. Their formative experiences as volunteers showed our founders that supposedly ordinary people working together under the guidance of knowledgeable leaders can make an extraordinary difference in the lives of those affected by or vulnerable to disaster.

Together, the founders decided that they would build on their collective years of experience to found an organisation which would have several key focuses including:

• Committing to long-term sustainable recovery
• Focusing on the future by improving the resilience of vulnerable communities both before and after disaster
• Filling the gaps that are often left behind when more traditional groups withdraw
• Working in close partnership with survivors and local NGOS
• Charging volunteers a low fee which would keep volunteering accessible without burdening donors
• Raising awareness about how the actions we take at home every day affect disaster survivors around the world.

Today, EDV is the organisation which our founders envisioned. From June 2010 to December 2011, EDV worked in Haiti and exceeded all expectations for a new charity launched in a recession. Learn more about EDV’s successes in Haiti here.
We’re still support our education programmes in Haiti while also getting ready to launch operations in the Philippines in 2013.