VOLUNTEER - KEY TO THE FUTURE
Project Volunteer – Key to the Future!
After the Youth Congress celebrated in Krakow, the Spanish NGOs Confederación Don Bosco and Jóvenes y Desarrollo, which took part in this Congress have organized two actions together, adapted to our reality of big NGO with a huge territory, therefore we have not organized and specific meeting (as travel costs would be massive) but profited other events already organized in the calendar or online actions.
Action 1: Information Stand in a youth party in Madrid
The 17th August took place in Madrid a massive party organized by the Salesian Youth Movement which gathered nearly 8.000 young people coming from many different countries of the 5 continents. The participants of this, mostly young people between 18 and 30 years, and most of them volunteering already in NGOs in their countries had many activities, workshops and games during the whole afternoon.
Part of this organized activities where some information stands in which several NGOs and networks were showing their activities, actions and programmes, and in this context we disseminate the conclusions of our Congress Volunteer – Key to the Future! and the European network Don Bosco Youth Net.
Many of the participants were really interested in the conclusions of this Congress as they have similar problems in the NGOs where they volunteer, and they thanked all the conclusions given by the participants in the Youth Congress, which were delivered to an approximate number of 4.000 people, according to the number of promotional materials that we spread.
Under these lines two pictures of the promotional stand during this party:
Action 2: Survey for NGO leaders
Within the months of July, August and September we have developed a survey to check the use of the tools proposed by the participants in the Congress and it was answered by some leaders and responsible people from both NGOs.
The survey is attached in a separate document and the results of the survey are the following:
Confederación Don Bosco
- The three most important tools would be
- Tool 8: Training of volunteers & leaders for communication
- Tool 5: Don Bosco Style Manual
- Tool 2: Leaflet on workload balance
- Feasibility: for these three actions the marks are
- Tool 8: 9.1
- Tool 5: 7.5
- Tool 2: 8.8
- We already use tool number 2 in some Youth Centres, as some kind of Volunteer’s contract.
- These results may vary a lot depending on the local needs of each Youth Centre and the situation of the Regional Federations.
Jóvenes y Desarrollo
- The three most importat tools would be:
- Tool 3: Continuous Engagement Programme
- Tool 7: Training Course for returned volunteers
- Tool 1: Recruitment and selection of volunteers
- Feasibility
- Tool 3: 8.2
- Tool 7: 7.8
- Tool 1: 7.5
- This three actions are already been developed with different rates of success, also very influenced by the regional situation of each delegation of JyD.
- Some missing themes would be: diversifying funding (not depending so much from one source of funding)
Survey about the Krakow Congress
Introduction
As part of the project Volunteer – Key to the Future! we introduce you the following survey as third and last part of a Youth Democracy Project (Action 1.3) organized by Don Bosco Youth Net and which has been focused in the following challenges that face our volunteers and their organizations in several aspects.
In March 2011 a Youth Congress took place in Krakow, as the central part of this Project, in which participated 24 youth organizations coming from 12 different countries and the volunteers representing them. In this Congress they begin analysing the problems that face organizations and volunteers in order to propose tools which can facilitate these challenges.
In the following pages we introduce you a brief and illustrated presentation of each of these tools, and we propose you a simple survey to value how feasible and applicable are this proposals to Confederación, Federations and Local Youth Centres. It won’t take you more than 10 minutes making us this Little favour.
¡Thank you for your collaboration…
…and we wish that you can profit some of these tools!
Tool 1 – Recruitement & selection
Problem detected: it’s difficult to enrol volunteers for international projects and select those who will profit this experience
Context: lots of countries send volunteers which do not collaborate previously with their organization (most of them remain committed with the sending organization)
Objeticve: develop a good process of enrolment and selection of volunteers
Tool: Strategie of the picture (nine steps)
- Advertise the organization amongst youth environments, youth centres.
- Register volunteers with the organization
- Volunteers work on a local level basis
- Outline the type of volunteer wanted for the particular project.
- Open application forms
- Develop a list of potential and eligible candidates
- Interview the volunteers
- Select the volunteers (according to their socio-cultural background)
- Train the volunteers
Tool 2 – Information Pamflet
Problem detected: in teams of volunteers work is not always well balanced between the volunteers in the project
Context: in any working team, especially in these made of volunteers, splitting tasks may cause conflicts
Objective: achieve a good balance on the workload amongst the volunteers of a team
Tool: Information leaflet (2 parts)
1. Preventive actions
o Reflection at the beginning of a Project (which tasks does the staff and which ones the volunteers) and doing a consensus meeting
o More structure (to make the volunteer aware of what implies the Project and restrict the number of tasks per volunteer)
o Communication (between staff and volunteers, and also outside the organization, for example the website)
2. Solutions
o Integrate social time so people are more comfortable to discuss issues
o Explain clearly that an issue is general and not personal
o In every meeting do not only reflect on what has already been done, but what needs to be done
o In the meeting time should be planned in to do already part of the work: people can help you, questions can be answered immediately and volunteer does not feel isolated in his task.
3. If these actions do not have the foreseen effect or the situation has passed this action plan organize an emergency meeting and remember:
open communication is a necessity!
Tool 3 – continuous engagement programme
Problem detected: the permanence of volunteers in the organizations, both those who volunteer usually and those who participate in only one speficic action
Context: is a common problem amongst all the organizations, because in some of them volunteers don’t commit themselves after their experience and in others the duration of volunteers at local level finishes quick
Objective: promote the long-term implication of volunteers
Tool: Continuous Engagement Programme
Consists on the design of a Programme in three phases
- Before they leave (1st image): signing a contract of engagement after the Project showing the existing possibilities.
- With short - term volunteers: meetings to reflect about their experiences, and consider their options with regard to the future opportunities in our projects.
- In long – term volunteers (2nd image): being in charge of searching new volunteers (designing new promotional tools or delivering workshops), training new volunteers, taking part in exchanges and developing publications.
In addition we intend to (3rd image):
- Turn them into responsible people for the contact with hosting organization and follow up
- Create a databe, as a reference point for new volunteers, and as quick access to existing volunteers
- Make a structure that takes care of exvolunteers: paid staff to achieve this follow up and fund this project
Tool 4 – Information booklet on volunteering for teachers
Problem detected: very few young people are committed with volunteering and have very small interest in changing the world that surrounds them through social projects.
Context: in some countries is considered necessary to promote volunteering amongst the pupils of last school classes
Objective: promote volunteering and the role of the volunteer among the students of schools and institutes.
Tool: Leaflet for teachers “Volunteers change the World” in which are given some clues to develop training sessons with their pupils and several materials to work with them
- Contents:
o What’s volunteering? Benefits
o Posibilities of volunteering in the country
o What’s Don Bosco style?
o Projects in Salesian style
o Article from exvolunteers
o Possibilities of activities in class
- Phases:
o Phase 1: inform all the educative authorities (recognition)
o Phase 2: invite schools to some informative sessions about volunteering
o Phase 3: session booklet for the teacher
o Phase 4: Realización de la sesión con los estudiantes
Tool 5 – Don Bosco style for volunteers
Problem Detected: Many animators believe in Don Bosco but not in God.
Context: In some Eastern European countries, it’s beginning to occur, that some animators are not Christian or non practicing, and at the same time see as a worry the decreasing religious identity in other Salesian organizations in Europe
Objective: lead young people to God imitating Don Bosco’s main aim
Tool: Manual about Don Bosco style
It has 4 fields of action. Phases:
Field 1: Holy Mass
- Comments to the Holy Mass for all year connected with Don Bosco spirit.
- Common pray
- DBYN’s book song
Field 2: Animators
- Christian Formation connected with the letter of Rector Major of Saleians
- Regular meetings with local salesians (to discuss)
Field 3: Praying together
- Network of prayers in internet (in several languages)
- Glroy Evenings
- Moments of reflection (for example, videoclips, short films…
- Compile “good mornings” and “good nights” (working group)
Field 4: Values of Don Bosco’s Pedagogy (3 phases)
- Phase I: local meetings
- Phase II: european congress
- Phase III: share the results with the local organization
Tool 6 – Retreat work
Problem Detected: Lack of leisure activities offer which enables maturation
Context: in some countries need educative and leisure time activities that work both fields of human and spiritual growth.
Objective: offer young people a time to reflect and discover themselves, and grow up as mature people.
Propuesta: Proposal of work camp and retreat
It would consist on camp for children between 4 and 18 years old, with European volunteers, in which the programme would work on the four pillars of Don Bosco style:
Home
School
Playground
Church
Tool 7 – training course for returned volunteers
Problem detected: After taking part in an experience of one year of volunteering, volunteers have the need once back in their country to change society surrounding the, while they are working or studying.
Context: two organizations from Germany and two from Austria work sending volunteers to developing countries.
Objective: train volunteers after coming back from their volunteering experience abroad.
Tool: training course together with volunteers of other organizations. Contents:
- Structure & preparation of the course
- Games and methods (intercultural context)
- Analysis, feedback and reflection of the things learned while volunteering.
- Fair of good practices and knowledge between the organizations
Tool 8
Problem detected: Lots of communication problems exist in organizations and turn into conflict originated by how the volunteer began his activity inside the NGO
Context: in all the organizations (as in every single human group) exist conflicts amongst volunteers, and also between them and those responsible for the projects.
Objectives:
- Train volunteers so they get to know the project that they are developing
- Train those responsible of projects in motivating volunteers
Tool: analysis of the process which has two parts. From one side the indicators of existing conflicts, or those to happen, and their origin. From the other side some possible solutions that can be given.
Part I: Analysis
How identify problems (blue):
- Tension, uncomfortable silences
- Informal talks and absence in activities
- Lack of interest and absence to meetings
What’s wrong?
- Lack of goals and challenges
- Lack of contribution
- Lack of recognition
- Verbal Demotivation
- Collaborate with a wrong aim
Solution: Training
- Volunteers
- See common expectations
- Conflict management
- Teamwork skills
- Communication
- Spiritual skills
- Responsible of projects
- Leading by example
- Conflict management
- Communication
- Team building
- Train facilitators
Questions of the survey
- Order from higher to lower priority for your organizations the tools presented to solve the detected challenges. Do you think they are useful?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
- Out of the three most important tools, which ones do you think are feasible for your organization? (Give a mark from 1 to 10, 1 minimum and 10 maximum)
1.
2.
3.
- Do you organize in your NGO any of the tools presented to face this challenges. Which one? How? Does it work?
- In this survey we have presented only some tools to some detected challenges; but we are sure that there are more affecting your organization that are not considered. State a maximum of 2 that worry your NGO.
1.
2.
THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR TIME