Catholic Volunteers Overseas
“There is so much need out there”
An interview with Catholic Volunteer Tony Janssen
Born in Te Awamutu in 1953, Tony Janssen comes from a family of workers. The son of Dutch migrants, Tony was raised in the Waikato, working on his parents’ poultry farm from a young age.
After a stint at Waikato University, Tony turned his mind to travel.
Tony first volunteered through CVO in 1983, doing a two-year stint in Papua New Guinea, living alongside the local clergy. An accountant by trade, Janssen initially worked with the locals to build the account management system, giving them a strong base from which to report spending on development projects.
Since his first stint in Papua New Guinea in the early 1980s, Tony has been back four times. Much of his work has been in the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga, a remote area with little infrastructure or connectivity.
When Tony first arrived in Kiunga in 1983, there was “building of the church to be done, physically and spiritually”. Since then, he has worked, during four stints in the region across thirty years, with the locals in a project-management capacity: overseeing the planning and co-ordination of vital infrastructure projects in the diocese.
Janssen says it was the people that made the experience special for him, “the people are so lovely. It is like God is reaching out and touching you all the time”. He lived in the community with the local Priests and Brothers (of whom he says, “If those guys aren’t Saints, there is no such thing as a Saint!”).
As for his most memorable project, Tony says it was the building of an airstrip in the region, connecting remote villages with larger cities like Port Moresby; and allowing the movement of essential freight and supplies.
Would Tony recommend CVO to others? “Absolutely”.
Janssen warns of volunteering “It’s [volunteering] not for everyone, particularly in the remote areas”. He continues, “There is so much need out there”, “It [volunteering] ... it doesn’t only help your faith; it helps your own development. I think I’m a better person for it”.
Apply
Catholic Volunteers Overseas is the Catholic Church’s international volunteer programme, it matches New Zealand volunteers to situations in Oceania that are appropriate to their skills, and is overseen by Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand’s Programmes team.
Placements vary in length from a few months to a year or two, as do the kinds of skills needed. English teachers are highly sought after, as are builders, electricians, architects, IT and engineers. If you’d like to apply for a placement please email us your CV indicating the skills you could bring to a volunteer placement and any particular countries you have an interest in. You can also download an application form either as a PDF or a Word document below.
