Since 1986, the NGO Leigos para o Desenvolvimento (Lay Volunteers for Development – LD) has been a "school" for intercultural co-existence. It is based on respect for and enhancement of different cultures, and on the opportunity for civic-minded participation. It is present in Portuguese-speaking countries through a network of lay volunteers living in one such country for at least a year. Its mission is to foster the thorough and integrated development of people and communities in developing countries and in Portugal, focusing on capacity building and reaching towards self sufficiency, with priority given to the intervention of qualified volunteer missionaries acting as a living testimony.Points of InterventionThe organisation is currently working on development projects in Angola, Mozambique, Portugal and the São Tomé e Príncipe islands. It puts emphasis on education – formal, non-formal and informal – on organising and stimulating community structures, on education and training, entrepreneurship and employability, capacity building among local agents, and the fostering of a voluntary approach within a pastoral framework.Targets and ObjectivesThe Lay Volunteers for Development see themselves in the future as a benchmark NGDO for stimulating human and community development, imbued with a spirit of benevolence, responsibility, quality and participation, providing the groundwork on which to build a world more clearly based on fairness and solidarity.