http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/isabelle-oderberg/ After growing up in Hong Kong, Isabelle Oderberg started her career in Melbourne briefly before moving to London and working in the financial trade press, then for Reuters and Dow Jones. She moved back to Australia in 2006 and was the mining writer for AAP before becoming the founding news editor at Business Spectator, then interviews editor and China commentator. She joined the Herald Sun in 2009 and was the deputy business editor before becoming Australia’s first social media editor. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-could-be-better-than-hands-on-experience/ In 10 days I’m going to get on a plane and go to Kenya. I’ve packed my clothes, my sunscreen, my wide-brimmed hat and my mosquito net. I’ve also packed the $7,000 dollars I raised to fund the building of an orphanage in Mangu – the project I’ll be working on. I’ve also packed another $1,000 of my own money to spend at the local market on gifts, books, schoolbags, pens and paper for the kids. So with this in mind, you can imagine my surprise when this bold opinion piece was emailed to me: “Hands-on help can be harmful”. There are always rotten apples in the barrel and clearly there are some overseas volunteer projects that are not set up with the best of intentions. And I agree that for many overseas projects there should be formal checks on those working with children. Oderbergi@heraldsun.com.au (Isabelle Oderberg) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-could-be-better-than-hands-on-experience/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-could-be-better-than-hands-on-experience/#item7497 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:45:51 +0000 Isabelle Oderberg | Author bios | The Punch