The duties of any volunteer at this early stage may not be specific but could include

• 1.Assisting in the management/updating of the website
• 2.General administrative duties especially with regard to legal and/or financial issues.
• 3. Searching for and contacting other organizations or individuals who may be able to assist or cooperate with us.
• 4.Drawing up and/or reviewing action plans and offering and/or integrating fresh ideas to appropriately steer the organization. All the above as advertised in the metro, are about getting SAK International well established to begin with. Thereafter, as a well established organization, volunteers taking up various positions could also be involved in:
• 5.Coordinating and/or organizing activities to increase public awareness
• 6. Helping in coordinating/maintaining contact with and updating other members and volunteers on pertinent issues and needs.
• 7.Travelling to the Niger Delta (Nigeria) to monitor the activities of the local arm (SAK Nigeria) and carry out specific tasks that may arise.

As we progress more hands would of course be needed in various capacities. Please note that volunteers may also help in the general process of getting books and other materials published. One particular book is hoped to be able to raise a considerable amount of funds for us and hopefully other books may do the same. There are in fact a wealth of west African history, cultural dynamics and evolution to what it is today that are quite clear to me but are yet to be properly researched and documented. Some of it is heart-breaking though but would all the same, make an interesting reading. I could probably say at this juncture that even the opening statement on the SAK International website does appear a bit unusual considering the mix of Environmental issues with anti-corruption and human rights issues. This is because what is going on in the Niger Delta is actually a complex mixture of so many things that gets the international community and even the natives themselves confused. Ultimately from this mixture, there are of course monetary benefits to a few (some of them are here with us) on the one hand, but poverty, tears, blood and environmental degradation to a lot more. There are available videos and photographs which may give a picture of what is going on out there but ultimately there is nothing like actually embarking on a "see for your self" kind of mission. The piece "why oil an mangroves do not mix" written by Mangrove swamp Action Project may give an insight to this sort of trip. At this early stage the most important thing required of a volunteer is probably the declaration of intention to help the peoples of the Niger Delta by registering online as a member or by e-mailing me and making contact details available. Suggestions, comments and opinions by a volunteer on how best to pursue our task are considered to be crucial at this embryonic stage. A volunteer hereafter could be expected to assist in raising public awareness of the on-goings in the Niger Delta by taking this upon himself or herself as a personal task. One way of doing this is to add the website as a "signature" to one's e-mails and encourage others to visit the website and possibly do the same. A volunteer could be expected to the seek more information relating to our concerns and mail the general secretary any relevant/pertinent information that he/she may stumble on. The ultimate duty of a volunteer for SAK International would be for a volunteer or a group of volunteers to visit and or/work in the Niger Delta. This I personally believe would be very rewarding in several ways but could also be exciting as you are bound to see Africa as never seen or known by most people who have visited Africa . To this end, a volunteer can help raise funds for other volunteers or a group of volunteers can on their own raise funds for themselves with SAK International providing all the other necessary support and advice.

Actual work/Activities in the Niger Delta could include:

• 1.A "see for your self" mission.
• 2.Working for the SAK Foundation/SAK Nigeria in a town called Warri in the Niger Delta. (The SAK Foundation is at the moment in the process of conducting a census of the Escravos people and also using the process to conduct vital health surveys. Other very important data would also be made available by the whole process. This process would then serve as a template for assessing the impact of oil exploitation in quantifiable terms in all the regions of the Niger Delta, (funds permitting) a task that the government and the oil companies have been avoiding. A proper unambiguous environmental impact assessment is yet to be conducted in the Niger Delta and in fact, there is a lot of work to be done out there)
• 3.Mentoring of Children
• 4.Mediating and possibly acting as an international advocate/observer in community affairs. This has the potential of diffusing unnecessary tension which sometimes brew when there are some crumbs falling from the table of oil wealth for the down-trodden to pick up. All the communities in the Niger Delta may fight amongst themselves, but never known to hurt foreigners. There are at the moment, various nationalities from all over the world working out there in the Niger Delta but for financial gains only .
• 5.Enjoying the company of poor but nice people who would forever appreciate you.(This can actually be nice!).

Like I mentioned earlier on in this letter, things are very much in its embryonic stages but should begin to mature anytime from now with your vital help. I would be very pleased to answer any question(s) that you may have and I would be quite happy to have suggestions from you on how we can help you to help us. Thank you so much for your interest.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Temi Metseagharun.

General Secretary, SAK International.