The next on-line course was called ‘Realities of Volunteering’. In this we did some hard hitting work on power and corruption and the day to day realities of potential encounters. VSO expect their volunteers to take responsibility for their own decisions when it comes to potentially corrupt practices and behaviour and we were taken purposefully through different scenarios that built from the bureaucratic nuisance factor imposed by officials through to the highly organised institutional corruption – all the time being asked, what would you do?
A short guideline was useful in terms of considering an appropriate response to a given situation;
Comply?
Circumvent?
Confront?
While all the time considering the Consequences.
Transparency International ranks Ethiopia 120 out of 180 listed countries in terms of corruption, where 1 is whiter than white - Norway! Doesn't bode too well.
We were able to reflect on the power that we may, or may not have and what this would be based on and what the dynamics of that may be. Learning gained for me included the need to develop good relationships at an early stage, culturally assimilate asap and learn the language. No great expectations there then! Should be easy!!!
The last F2F training course really packed in a lot of information. It started at 1pm on Saturday and we finished at 9pm, and for the next 2 days we worked pretty much for 12 hours from 9am to 9pm. There was the sense, for me, that this is important and if you don’t get the message now, you may never and it could ruin your placement.
The first afternoon was a Health and Safety Workshop, where I learnt that I won’t be touching another dog for a year! Withdrawals symptoms immediately!
The rest of the 4 days was this workshop entitled ‘Skills for Working in Development’ or SKWID! Key words like, sharing, empowerment, participation and facilitation dominated the sessions and the associated exercises. We are not teaching, we are facilitating. We are sharing our skills and knowledge and finding out what works best in the local context and we don’t know that. In this connection, we had all done some preparation in advance on well known writers who have developed and advocated/preached participatory approaches in different contexts in development situations. Examples include Paulo Friere and his work on participatory approaches in education, Sherry Arnstein and her work with civic representation in local communities, and Linda Mayoux and her work with women, enterprise and small businesses.
It shook me to realise just how inherently and implicitly I may automatically assume the role of ‘teacher’, while the key skill is to work with (facilitate) in order to draw the solutions from those who are facing the problems/issues. As a result motivation and a sense of being in control, taking charge (lets not use empowerment) hopefully results.
My situation is a good example here. I will be the third VSO Volunteer in Dire Dawa leading the Higher Diploma programme. I sense that VSO want that situation to move on and that we should be ensuring that we make ourselves redundant as soon as practically possible. (Is there an analogy here with the Afghan army?). It was mooted to me that I may be the last volunteer in this position in this location, and I think that this would be an objective to work towards, if realistic. Thus participatory approaches are the only ones that will bring this about.
We had to prepare 2 practical skills sessions where we were expected to facilitate a learning session and demonstrate a participatory approach, working with colleagues and receiving and giving feedback. This was challenging, but great learning. The value of this sort of activity is maximised through a good tutor (facilitator?!) and I think we all felt that the training course leaders were excellent.
Did you realise that in an exercise that requires you to build a bridge, (groan! seen it, done it, got the T-shirt!) that actually it doesn’t matter if you don’t build a bridge as long as you build relationships. Are we too task oriented in the west? How do we marry the need to focus on people and relationships, with the fact that we are here to do a job! For those who know me, you will understand how this is going to be a useful challenge for me!
Finally, thought you may like to ponder on the roles that I am likely to be engaging with while in Ethiopia as a volunteer;
Facilitator, change agent, trainer, co-trainer, mentor, learner (big one), Project Manager, Planner, Service deliverer, catalyst, motivator, networker, advocate, role model and tourist.
Overall, the key challenges that emerge for me include; getting a grip on cultural nuances, spending time to get to know people and understand them and situations, building relationships, (while avoiding any faux pas!) and identifying quickly any difficult situations that have corrupt overtones and knowing immediately how to deal with them.
Within the job, I believe it will be motivating participants and this involves putting them in the driving seat in a way and to the extent that is practical and realistic, judged by the situation while finding innovative and creative ways to fulfil my role as facilitator, change agent and trainer.
And its going to be hot!
Wish me luck.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Pre-departure training
VSO take a very thorough and professional approach to ensuring their volunteers have the right skills and knowledge for working in development before they leave for their placement.
In 2010 I was expected, (its mandatory) to participate in 2 on-line training courses and to attend 3 courses at their training centre in Birmingham.
The training ‘season’ started with the on-line introduction, Volunteering Starts Here. If I recall this was more about learning to work on line and how to communicate as a team using the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment technology. For my Bournemouth University colleagues this will bring a smile to their faces when considering the years spent working with BU students, learning to engage with the VLE! As well as being on the other side of the fence with technology, did you know I have had a Placement Advisor!!
All the exercises are very practical and participative and the use of case studies, videos and images are widely used. As well as exploring what we, and VSO mean by development, on-line we were introduced to some concepts around culture and all those who have done it may remember, in particular, the iceberg diagram with the seagulls flying overhead representing the volunteers who fly in and are able to fly out again and interact with the place while they are landed a bit like a bird, picking up what they want in a potentially selective and superficial(?) way. However, like birds we have the choice of the extent to which we wish to make the land our home.
The fish swimming around below the iceberg are native to the waters, immersed in the culture and with a perspective that is submerged.
The key animal in this metaphor is the penguin, who has the ability to dive into the waters, or local territory and who are very familiar, comfortable with the environment and culture, and who can also move around on the land and relate to the birds who come in to land. The key message is to find your penguin to help good cultural assimilation! Someone who has local knowledge but who also is able to assist and relate to the birds, or VSO volunteers.
The first residential course was entitled Preparing to Volunteer, and having discovered that VSO is big on acronyms, its more usually described as P2V.
This course introduces us to issues around development, including the historical context of aid and trade including the background to institutions such as the World Bank, WTO and IMF. Through some very hard hitting exercises (eg The Trading Game) we learnt about the debt crisis and Structural Adjustment Programmes and the cycle of disadvantage, and how it feels to live in Tanzania, as opposed to America for example, from the point of view of trade advantage.
Then we moved to consider ourselves as volunteers in this context, the role that VSO plays, its strategy and focus and aspects of the work it does and how this changes to reflect the changing environment. VSO currently has 6 main areas of contribution: education, HIV and AIDS, disability, health and well being, secure livelihoods and participation and governance. I will be working in the education area.
I recall a particularly powerful practical exercise that reinforced how it might feel to be culturally incompetent and learnt the importance of mirroring the behaviour and language of the person you are interacting with.
We spent time reflecting on what we could bring to the work of VSO and the extent to which our values, approach and skills are consistent with that of the organisation we will be representing. The assessment criteria that we were all selected against were used in this context, and it was a sobering thought that we were all still being assessed against them during this early training.
The course finished with more personal reflections about how we may cope and how we might organise ourselves and our lives in our new environments to ensure an easy adjustment, - the Me Map.
The course was meaningful in helping us to see everyday life through the position of disadvantage and gaining a better idea of the causes of that disadvantage, and then to locate ourselves in that context as a VSO Volunteer.
In 2010 I was expected, (its mandatory) to participate in 2 on-line training courses and to attend 3 courses at their training centre in Birmingham.
The training ‘season’ started with the on-line introduction, Volunteering Starts Here. If I recall this was more about learning to work on line and how to communicate as a team using the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment technology. For my Bournemouth University colleagues this will bring a smile to their faces when considering the years spent working with BU students, learning to engage with the VLE! As well as being on the other side of the fence with technology, did you know I have had a Placement Advisor!!
All the exercises are very practical and participative and the use of case studies, videos and images are widely used. As well as exploring what we, and VSO mean by development, on-line we were introduced to some concepts around culture and all those who have done it may remember, in particular, the iceberg diagram with the seagulls flying overhead representing the volunteers who fly in and are able to fly out again and interact with the place while they are landed a bit like a bird, picking up what they want in a potentially selective and superficial(?) way. However, like birds we have the choice of the extent to which we wish to make the land our home.
The fish swimming around below the iceberg are native to the waters, immersed in the culture and with a perspective that is submerged.
The key animal in this metaphor is the penguin, who has the ability to dive into the waters, or local territory and who are very familiar, comfortable with the environment and culture, and who can also move around on the land and relate to the birds who come in to land. The key message is to find your penguin to help good cultural assimilation! Someone who has local knowledge but who also is able to assist and relate to the birds, or VSO volunteers.
The first residential course was entitled Preparing to Volunteer, and having discovered that VSO is big on acronyms, its more usually described as P2V.
This course introduces us to issues around development, including the historical context of aid and trade including the background to institutions such as the World Bank, WTO and IMF. Through some very hard hitting exercises (eg The Trading Game) we learnt about the debt crisis and Structural Adjustment Programmes and the cycle of disadvantage, and how it feels to live in Tanzania, as opposed to America for example, from the point of view of trade advantage.
Then we moved to consider ourselves as volunteers in this context, the role that VSO plays, its strategy and focus and aspects of the work it does and how this changes to reflect the changing environment. VSO currently has 6 main areas of contribution: education, HIV and AIDS, disability, health and well being, secure livelihoods and participation and governance. I will be working in the education area.
I recall a particularly powerful practical exercise that reinforced how it might feel to be culturally incompetent and learnt the importance of mirroring the behaviour and language of the person you are interacting with.
We spent time reflecting on what we could bring to the work of VSO and the extent to which our values, approach and skills are consistent with that of the organisation we will be representing. The assessment criteria that we were all selected against were used in this context, and it was a sobering thought that we were all still being assessed against them during this early training.
The course finished with more personal reflections about how we may cope and how we might organise ourselves and our lives in our new environments to ensure an easy adjustment, - the Me Map.
The course was meaningful in helping us to see everyday life through the position of disadvantage and gaining a better idea of the causes of that disadvantage, and then to locate ourselves in that context as a VSO Volunteer.
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