sharing skills to change lives.

We focus on projects that compliment our employees’ skills and competencies and align to our strategic focus of helping people realize their true potential. Most Randstad VSO volunteers support projects in East Africa, specifically Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya where empowering people with the skills to find - and create - employment can make a real difference. 

Nicole Hoksbergen is a Randstad / Yacht consultant in the Netherlands and Margareth Bendera is a marketing specialist in Tanzania. Together, they're providing skills training and coaching to Tanzanian entrepreneurs - from soap makers to bakers, tailors to food producers. 

'Our collaboration is so valuable, not just for the people we're training but for each other. We share ideas and draw from our unique experiences, perspectives and cultures. Our differences strengthen us as individuals, pushing us to think outside of our comfort zones and come up with fresh ideas and ways of doing things'. 

'We're helping fledgling entrepreneurs in Tanzania to build a brand. By pairing international and local volunteers, VSO facilitates an exchange of knowledge and transfer of skills. Our different skills complement each other well,' says Hjalmar Darle, a Randstad consultant based in Sweden of Shelembi Mussa, a graphic designer, entrepreneur and Private Sector Engagement Adviser on the EYEE project in Tanzania. 

'Working with a foreigner is a new experience for me and I'm learning so much. Working together brings new ideas and better results than doing something alone,' says Shelembi, who Hjalmar calls 'very intelligent and creative. He thinks out of the box and always has a lot of ideas. It's inspiring and I hope to take some of that with me to my work in Sweden.'