Dear Petro,
We, volunteers, would like to offer a few remarks and suggestions concerning first the placement, secondly the communication between Projects Abroad Cambodia (PA) and us and finally the living conditions.
Starting with the placement, on page 62 of the handbook there is a chapter concerning Placement Record Files. Are these files available? Perhaps we could be shown these files during the induction? Most of us lack information on the children, on the daily schedule of the orphanage and on the requested work. When we arrive at our placement, we may be presented to an adult who seems to be in a position of responsibility. Unfortunately, if this person speaks English the exchange may be limited to greetings.
The information concerning the children is important for several reasons. From a medical point of view, the children are often ill, are they vaccinated? What kind of disease are they suffering? What kind of life and social background do they have? Why are they in the orphanage? As “western” volunteers, we are generally vaccinated but no vaccination is 100% efficient so the volunteers would be grateful to know at least which disease they are facing so that they are able to take some precautions for their own health. For example TB seems to be quite wide spread.
The children background is also useful information: do they have parents? Do they come from the street? What age? Were they abused? In some instances this information may not be known however the minimum information would help the volunteer to work better. For example one child did not want his pants taken off. To know this previously would help to know how to handle this child. For example if brothers or sisters of a child died, it would be helpful to know before asking this common question. Some of them are semi-orphans or just placed because the parents do not have enough money but they know the parents. This information may also help us to understand their behaviour.
In the orphanage itself, volunteers are left on their own. They don’t know about any activities planned, hours of meals, after lunch rest, routine for their showers, etc. It makes the volunteers unsure about what their role is and how best to perform it. They are often not told about how they can help. Generally, it seems to be difficult to find a person they can seek assistance from in regard to their matters.
One aim of the care and community projects as described in the brochure is washing them, teaching personal hygiene. However what are the means that we have? In one facility, three quarters of the children have lice and there is no anti-lice shampoo, the hair is long. When requested anti-lice shampoo or haircuts, the answer is “it should come from the volunteer”. We are not informed about any extra money we should give out at our placements but this is what we are told they expect from us. It is never mentioned from PA that we have to pay anything more. We feel we pay enough to be a volunteer, sometimes years saving so that we cannot afford to buy extra materials. So how are we supposed to handle these situations, for example open wounds and there is no “dressings” available? How can we teach hygiene when there are 2 toothbrushs available for 40 children? For playing, for any kind of activities, the same issue applies. Without financial mean, limited resources or none eg pens, paper, balls…make it difficult to find distractions for the children.
In Chile, with PA, one volunteer had a different experience, PA was paying for the notebooks for the women she was teaching in jail as well as for the photocopies she would need as teaching material. Here in Cambodia, we get the “dirty WE” opportunity but what is the point of taking the children out for a WE if they do not have decent everyday life conditions? The money could be invested in first necessity products or better nutrition instead.
To summarize, without means, we feel useless and are not able to make any valuable contribution which is one of the value of PA: “worthwhile projects”.
Some of these points we see as real issues may be due to our “western” eyes and the culture difference however some base information may be improved by a better communication between PA, the placements and the volunteers.
The information concerning the orphanage, the children, the notes from previous volunteers may be shared prior to the first visit to the orphanage. During the first visit while the volunteer is accompanied by a member of the PA staff, an informal meeting between a manager of the orphanage, the volunteer and the PA mediator should take place so that the volunteer knows where he is “putting his feet”. The volunteer should know a minimum about the place, the means available, the number of children, important things to know about some of the children (health, social environment, traumatisms) and the expectations of the orphanage concerning the work of the volunteer. A clear person should be identified so that in case the volunteer can ask question to that person.
Apart from the introduction to the orphanage, the holidays are not clear. It seems the orphanage do not know about the holidays we have. It is not very comfortable to announce at our placement we are not coming because it‘s a holiday and the regular staff work. Now we found a holiday list in our apartment but a reminder from the PA team in advance would be useful as well as a copy to the orphanage.
Also we lack general communication about the new volunteers arriving in Cambodia like when are they arriving, in which apartment will they live.
When a member of the PA staff is coming to the apartment, we would be also grateful to be informed previously so that we are prepared. Depending on the time we may not want any visit because it is late or we are not suitably dressed. Also if we have questions or requests, we could better organize ourselves for when the member is coming.
Concerning placement, 1 volunteer did not get the medicine placement described on P.21 of the English brochure she was asking for. She was told that for the second month, a project in a hospital may be organized. She got no news before the second month started. She would have appreciated to be informed before the beginning of the second month where PA was in the application process. In the brochure, plenty possibilities are described “state hospitals…, patients will appreciate any time you have to simply offer support and reassurance,…volunteers have also the possibility of spending some of their placement in children’s hospitals.”
A last point on communication concerns the medical emergency. If a volunteer has serious medical problems, all the volunteers feel concerned. We would be happy to have news from the “patient” on a daily basis as well as from the patient perspective; it would be very good hearing a word from the few people the patient knows.
Finally there are some thoughts about improvements of our accommodation we would like to share.
Concerning the food, in the “how is your money put in use?” section in the handbook, we can read that the fee we pay cover all the food and accommodation costs. As well as in the brochure, they say we receive 3 meals a day. For us “westerners”, a beverage apart from water is part of the base breakfast like tea, coffee, milk or juice. It is not a luxury but an element of the standard breakfast. The same applies for butter. We are also used to having milk products everyday like milk, yoghurt or cheese which are not available in our accommodation and we disagree on the fact it is luxury. It is also part of a healthy diet. Each of us has to buy every week our own tea, milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter…which makes us have an extra food budget we were not prepared to pay for. All the food costs are definitely not covered.
As “westerners” we are also shocked of our cook’s working conditions. She works 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long and does not have any private area in the apartment. She does not even have a cupboard in which to put her belongings and clothes. We feel uncomfortable about her living conditions.
The cook is the only Cambodian person we can have an exchange with (except the orphanages staff which are for some of the volunteers, invisible). So this is the unique opportunity for us to have a cultural exchange. But the cook is not sharing any life with us. She is not sharing the meals and has no time to share any social life with us. And PA promises a “cultural immersion” in its brochure. We really miss the Cambodian culture immersion.
On top of these considerations, we are happy to share suggestions for living conditions of the volunteers. The first idea is a computer with internet access for both apartments. In Chile, for comparison, internet access is free for the volunteers. Even if we would have to pay an extra cost, having a computer with internet access in house would turn out cheaper. The internet is about 100 US$ per month. If we consider that a volunteer uses internet in average 1 hour per day, the saving by volunteer would be 90 US$ a month. Because if a volunteer goes everyday to the internet, it costs him 3 US$: 1 US$ to go, 1US$ to come back and 1US$ for 1 hour internet. On top of that, the volunteers would save the money it costs them to call their families with their mobile phones as they would be able to use skype which is cheaper still.
Second request is about radio. We have a TV whereby we can watch khmer and foreign programmes but it would be a nice improvement to be able to listen to the radio for khmer and other programmes as well as having the possibility of playing our own music: CD, MP3, IPOD, USB drives in the apartment. This would be an opportunity for cultural exchange as well. The request is specially raised by apartment 2 where the overall atmosphere is not very homely and welcoming. Having music downstairs would probably improve the atmosphere. From a financial point of view, according the money dedicated for accommodation and food (about 16 US$ per person per day), we guess radio and internet should be affordable.
We hope you understand our “westerners” requests concerning the placement first, then the communication between PA the orphanages and us and finally regarding our living place. We would be grateful if you could consider these points. We would be more than happy to open a discussion on these points. We look forward to your reactions or comments to our suggestions.
Best Regards,
Some volunteers.
We, volunteers, would like to offer a few remarks and suggestions concerning first the placement, secondly the communication between Projects Abroad Cambodia (PA) and us and finally the living conditions.
Starting with the placement, on page 62 of the handbook there is a chapter concerning Placement Record Files. Are these files available? Perhaps we could be shown these files during the induction? Most of us lack information on the children, on the daily schedule of the orphanage and on the requested work. When we arrive at our placement, we may be presented to an adult who seems to be in a position of responsibility. Unfortunately, if this person speaks English the exchange may be limited to greetings.
The information concerning the children is important for several reasons. From a medical point of view, the children are often ill, are they vaccinated? What kind of disease are they suffering? What kind of life and social background do they have? Why are they in the orphanage? As “western” volunteers, we are generally vaccinated but no vaccination is 100% efficient so the volunteers would be grateful to know at least which disease they are facing so that they are able to take some precautions for their own health. For example TB seems to be quite wide spread.
The children background is also useful information: do they have parents? Do they come from the street? What age? Were they abused? In some instances this information may not be known however the minimum information would help the volunteer to work better. For example one child did not want his pants taken off. To know this previously would help to know how to handle this child. For example if brothers or sisters of a child died, it would be helpful to know before asking this common question. Some of them are semi-orphans or just placed because the parents do not have enough money but they know the parents. This information may also help us to understand their behaviour.
In the orphanage itself, volunteers are left on their own. They don’t know about any activities planned, hours of meals, after lunch rest, routine for their showers, etc. It makes the volunteers unsure about what their role is and how best to perform it. They are often not told about how they can help. Generally, it seems to be difficult to find a person they can seek assistance from in regard to their matters.
One aim of the care and community projects as described in the brochure is washing them, teaching personal hygiene. However what are the means that we have? In one facility, three quarters of the children have lice and there is no anti-lice shampoo, the hair is long. When requested anti-lice shampoo or haircuts, the answer is “it should come from the volunteer”. We are not informed about any extra money we should give out at our placements but this is what we are told they expect from us. It is never mentioned from PA that we have to pay anything more. We feel we pay enough to be a volunteer, sometimes years saving so that we cannot afford to buy extra materials. So how are we supposed to handle these situations, for example open wounds and there is no “dressings” available? How can we teach hygiene when there are 2 toothbrushs available for 40 children? For playing, for any kind of activities, the same issue applies. Without financial mean, limited resources or none eg pens, paper, balls…make it difficult to find distractions for the children.
In Chile, with PA, one volunteer had a different experience, PA was paying for the notebooks for the women she was teaching in jail as well as for the photocopies she would need as teaching material. Here in Cambodia, we get the “dirty WE” opportunity but what is the point of taking the children out for a WE if they do not have decent everyday life conditions? The money could be invested in first necessity products or better nutrition instead.
To summarize, without means, we feel useless and are not able to make any valuable contribution which is one of the value of PA: “worthwhile projects”.
Some of these points we see as real issues may be due to our “western” eyes and the culture difference however some base information may be improved by a better communication between PA, the placements and the volunteers.
The information concerning the orphanage, the children, the notes from previous volunteers may be shared prior to the first visit to the orphanage. During the first visit while the volunteer is accompanied by a member of the PA staff, an informal meeting between a manager of the orphanage, the volunteer and the PA mediator should take place so that the volunteer knows where he is “putting his feet”. The volunteer should know a minimum about the place, the means available, the number of children, important things to know about some of the children (health, social environment, traumatisms) and the expectations of the orphanage concerning the work of the volunteer. A clear person should be identified so that in case the volunteer can ask question to that person.
Apart from the introduction to the orphanage, the holidays are not clear. It seems the orphanage do not know about the holidays we have. It is not very comfortable to announce at our placement we are not coming because it‘s a holiday and the regular staff work. Now we found a holiday list in our apartment but a reminder from the PA team in advance would be useful as well as a copy to the orphanage.
Also we lack general communication about the new volunteers arriving in Cambodia like when are they arriving, in which apartment will they live.
When a member of the PA staff is coming to the apartment, we would be also grateful to be informed previously so that we are prepared. Depending on the time we may not want any visit because it is late or we are not suitably dressed. Also if we have questions or requests, we could better organize ourselves for when the member is coming.
Concerning placement, 1 volunteer did not get the medicine placement described on P.21 of the English brochure she was asking for. She was told that for the second month, a project in a hospital may be organized. She got no news before the second month started. She would have appreciated to be informed before the beginning of the second month where PA was in the application process. In the brochure, plenty possibilities are described “state hospitals…, patients will appreciate any time you have to simply offer support and reassurance,…volunteers have also the possibility of spending some of their placement in children’s hospitals.”
A last point on communication concerns the medical emergency. If a volunteer has serious medical problems, all the volunteers feel concerned. We would be happy to have news from the “patient” on a daily basis as well as from the patient perspective; it would be very good hearing a word from the few people the patient knows.
Finally there are some thoughts about improvements of our accommodation we would like to share.
Concerning the food, in the “how is your money put in use?” section in the handbook, we can read that the fee we pay cover all the food and accommodation costs. As well as in the brochure, they say we receive 3 meals a day. For us “westerners”, a beverage apart from water is part of the base breakfast like tea, coffee, milk or juice. It is not a luxury but an element of the standard breakfast. The same applies for butter. We are also used to having milk products everyday like milk, yoghurt or cheese which are not available in our accommodation and we disagree on the fact it is luxury. It is also part of a healthy diet. Each of us has to buy every week our own tea, milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter…which makes us have an extra food budget we were not prepared to pay for. All the food costs are definitely not covered.
As “westerners” we are also shocked of our cook’s working conditions. She works 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long and does not have any private area in the apartment. She does not even have a cupboard in which to put her belongings and clothes. We feel uncomfortable about her living conditions.
The cook is the only Cambodian person we can have an exchange with (except the orphanages staff which are for some of the volunteers, invisible). So this is the unique opportunity for us to have a cultural exchange. But the cook is not sharing any life with us. She is not sharing the meals and has no time to share any social life with us. And PA promises a “cultural immersion” in its brochure. We really miss the Cambodian culture immersion.
On top of these considerations, we are happy to share suggestions for living conditions of the volunteers. The first idea is a computer with internet access for both apartments. In Chile, for comparison, internet access is free for the volunteers. Even if we would have to pay an extra cost, having a computer with internet access in house would turn out cheaper. The internet is about 100 US$ per month. If we consider that a volunteer uses internet in average 1 hour per day, the saving by volunteer would be 90 US$ a month. Because if a volunteer goes everyday to the internet, it costs him 3 US$: 1 US$ to go, 1US$ to come back and 1US$ for 1 hour internet. On top of that, the volunteers would save the money it costs them to call their families with their mobile phones as they would be able to use skype which is cheaper still.
Second request is about radio. We have a TV whereby we can watch khmer and foreign programmes but it would be a nice improvement to be able to listen to the radio for khmer and other programmes as well as having the possibility of playing our own music: CD, MP3, IPOD, USB drives in the apartment. This would be an opportunity for cultural exchange as well. The request is specially raised by apartment 2 where the overall atmosphere is not very homely and welcoming. Having music downstairs would probably improve the atmosphere. From a financial point of view, according the money dedicated for accommodation and food (about 16 US$ per person per day), we guess radio and internet should be affordable.
We hope you understand our “westerners” requests concerning the placement first, then the communication between PA the orphanages and us and finally regarding our living place. We would be grateful if you could consider these points. We would be more than happy to open a discussion on these points. We look forward to your reactions or comments to our suggestions.
Best Regards,
Some volunteers.
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