Based on an ethnographic study of thirty-four Eritrean associations in four cities, the aim of my research is to explore the ways in which members of the Eritrean diaspora engage in volunteer activities in their place of residence and in Eritrea. Specifically, I undertake an ethnographic research to analyze the activities of the associations of the Eritrean diasporas in four cities, namely Amsterdam, Milan, Stockholm, and Washington DC. I will explain how the associations of the Eritrean diaspora operate, mobilize resources, and organize their volunteering activities. In doing so, and based on field notes and interviews with respondents, I will provide answers to my guiding question: why do they engage?

Despite the geographical and political obstacles regarding the access of data, I was able to conduct forty-five individual interviews, three focus groups and three informal discussions with members of associations of the Eritrean diaspora.