Access International Development Training Programme - MODULE 1

Access International Development Training Programme MODULE 1 Exploring the Challenges of Working in Cross Cultural International Development Settings

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Table of contents Module 1 • Exploring the Challenges of Working in Cross Cultural International Development Settings • Rationale for the Module • Aims • Content

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Unit 1: Contrasting the Global North and the Global South • Aims • Learning Outcomes • Going from a World of 20:80 to a 80:20 World • The Bottom Billion

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Unit 2: Exploring Poverty and Justice • Aims • Learning Outcomes • Poverty Facts and Figures

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Unit 3: Culture and Stereotyping Page 6-8 • Aims • Learning Outcomes • What is Culture?

• Values and Beliefs Affect Behaviour • Culture Shock • Some Common Causes of Shock • Strategies to Adjust to Culture Shock • Skills that make a difference in adjusting to culture/culture shock • The Magic Bus Unit 4: Personal Health and Safety • Aims • Learning Outcomes • Responsibility for Personal Health and Safety • Potential Threats to Physical Health • Returning Home • Caring for Your Mental Health • Concluding Remarks • Readings, References and Resources • People in Aid Publications

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Unit 5: Safety and Security • Aims • Learning Outcomes

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Unit 6: Coming Home and Learning • Aims • Learning Outcomes

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Module 1

and keeping safe and secure.

The module content will cover: - Going from the Global North to the Global South - Exploring global poverty and justice - Key challenges to personal stereotypes, attitudes and behaviours: adaptability, empathy, embracing equality and diversity - Personal health and safety

Exploring the Challenges of Working in Cross Cultural International Development Settings

Please note that a number of the links provided in this training manual are available in English only. Where possible, resources available in other languages have been identified as well.

Rationale for the Module Anyone working in, or hoping to working in the field of international development, particularly in an overseas position, must be aware of the wide range of personal challenges they will encounter. These will bring them face to face with their own stereotypes of ‘the other’ and the need to embrace diversity, demonstrate adaptability and communicate effectively in a development context.

This module will serve to clarify the role and the appropriate attributes expected of those working in development contexts. Such personal challenges will be determined by the particular context and an understanding of how an individual is responsible for their own safety in their new context is an important aspect of developing the self-awareness needed to be an effective aid/development worker.

This module is designed to help in developing a greater awareness and understanding of the behavioural/personal demands on an aid/development worker when working in the Global South and how to develop an initial understanding of context and taking personal responsibility for staying safe in new development environments.

Aims This module aims to encourage students to reflect on their own cultural values and predispositions and how they may react to encounters with new and very different cultures and people in a development context. It is important that students arrive at an understanding of the roles those from the Global North play as development workers in the Global South and how the experience may affect them when they return home.

Using scenarios supplemented with related activities and self-reflection questions, students will become more aware of the types of attributes and skills required to be an effective development worker and will be encouraged to be self-critical in analysing their reactions to unfamiliar settings.

Content This module is based on highlighting the key challenges to developing intercultural competence and encouraging self-reflection on the values and attributes required to be a responsible development worker. There will be a focus on developing an understanding and knowledge of the tools required to ensure responsibility for situating oneself in context Page 3

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Unit 1: Contrasting the Global North and the Global South

Reflection Exercise What did you find surprising?

Is there anything you found out that was confusing to you?

How does that make you feel?

What does it make you think about?

What does it mean for your everyday life compared to someone in the Global South?

Aims To understand the comparative differences in commonly used indicators of development between the Global North and the Global South.

To reflect on your understanding of the inter-connectedness of life in the Global North and the Global South.

Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this unit you should: 1. H ave a greater awareness of the contrast in the ‘development’ of the Global North compared to the Global South.

2. H ave reflected on the inter-connectedness of how we live our lives in the Global North and how people live their lives in the Global South.

Going from a World of 20:80 to a 80:20 World - 80% of the world’s resources are accessible to 20% of the world’s people.

- 80% of the world’s people have access to only 20% of the world’s resources.

Why after at least 50 years of development work and $2.3 trillion spent on development efforts are there still children dying for lack of medicines that cost a few pence?

Why are there so many people still living on less than $1 a day without clean water, food, sanitation, shelter, education or medicine?

And yet at the same time more people than ever before are wealthy beyond any reasonable need for a good life.

Video: Watch this short film. http://www. developmenteducation.ie/video-animations/poverty.html (from the website:www.developmenteducation.ie) Activity 1: Look over the United Nations Human Development Reports (HDRs). They provide a picture of development indicators across the globe. These can be accessed in a variety of languages at http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/ (English) or http://hdr.undp.org/es/informes/ (Spanish) or http://hdr.undp.org/fr/rapports/ (French)

*Paul Collier 2008 – The Bottom Billion

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You may use other pages of the Global Sherpa website and/or the 2011 UN Human Development Report http://hdr.undp.org/ en/reports/global/hdr2011/ to help you answer the questions: After taking the quiz and having reflected on the issues, go to the IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis website: http:// www.irinnews.org/ (English) or http://www.irinnews.org/fr/ (French). This will introduce you to credible web based news sources bout the Global South.

Ask yourself these questions: How does the standard of living you expect in your cultural context compare to that of countries based in the Global South and; What, if any, are the connections between my life and the lives of those who live in the Global South?

It is generally accepted that:

Select a few countries you are interested in, make sure to include at least one from the Global North (a term used for those countries in the world that are economically rich) as well as some from the Global South (a term used for those countries in the world that are economically impoverished).

Activity 2 Take some time to complete the following quiz which will help you think about the key issues in international development related to sustainability and equity - . http://www.globalsherpa. org/hdr-2011-quiz-equity-sustainability (English only)

You may find it useful to use the following as a guide but feel free to add as many other comparisons and contrasts as you wish – infrastructure, utilities and standards of housing access to employment opportunities, education and healthcare

The Bottom Billion “The Third World has shrunk. For forty years the development challenge has been a rich world of one billion people facing a poor world of five billion [..].Most of the five billion, about 80 per cent, live in countries that are indeed developing, often at amazing speed […]

The countries at the bottom co-exist with the twenty-first century but theirs is a fourteenth century reality: civil war, plague, ignorance […] We must learn to turn the familiar numbers upside down: a total of five billion people who are already prosperous, or at least on the track to be so, and one billion who are stuck at the bottom. […] This problem matters, and not just to the billion people who are living and dying in fourteenth-century conditions. It matters to us. The twenty-first century world of material comfort, global travel, and economic interdependence will become increasingly vulnerable to these large islands of chaos. And it matters now.

(Extract from Paul Collier (2008), The Bottom Billion, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3-4) Thinking Point: Do you agree or disagree with Collier’s assertion? Do you see yourself as part of the problem or part of the solution?

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Unit 2: Exploring Poverty and Justice Aims 1. To begin to explore the nature of poverty in the international development context.

2. T o begin to understand that poverty eradication is not merely a matter of charity but rather is an issue of justice.

Learning Outcomes

a right implies an equivalent obligation on the part of each person. To the local, national, global society that provides this right is owed an obligation to extend this right to all others.

As we benefit from this right, so too do we come under an obligation to struggle for its wider enjoyment.’ (Christian Aid, International Development NGO) ‘The right to development is a fundamental human right rooted in international law. Individuals, states, local organisations and authorities, private companies, aid donors and international institutions all have a role to play in helping people achieve that right.’ (Dochas, Network of Development NGOs in Ireland) Readings, References and Resources UNDP Fast Facts (2011) Poverty Reduction: http://www.undp. org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/fast-facts/english/ Poverty%20Reduction.pdf (English)

On successful completion of this unit you should: 1. H ave a better understanding of the issues of poverty and justice as issues to be addressed by international development work.

2. H ave reflected on the nature of poverty and injustice and some appropriate responses to these important issues.

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/es/home/ourwork/ povertyreduction/overview.html (Spanish)

Poverty Facts and Figures Read this article: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/ poverty-around-the-world (English) Activity: Have a look at the compendium of statistics and information about world poverty on the Global Issues website to reinforce your reading: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-andstats.

Chapter One of the Office of the United Nations High Comission for Human Rights (2003) publication, Los Derechos Humanos y La Reduccion De La Pobreza , pp.5-12: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/ (Link to publication in other languages can be found under drop down menu Publications and Resources: Special Issues section) Christian Aid’s 2008 position paper on Poverty and Justice: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/doing-justice-topoverty.pdf (English only) Caterina Ruggeri Laderchi, Ruhi Saith and Frances Stewart, ‘Does it matter that we do not agree on the definition of poverty? A comparison of four approaches’, Oxford Development Studies 31 (3) 2003, pp.243-274. Access at http://www3.qeh.ox.ac.uk/pdf/qehwp/qehwps107.pdf (English only)

Then go on and have a look at this link to the World Poverty organisation. You can see what they have to say about some of the reasons for World Poverty. There are other links on the lefthand side of the webpage that you can look too if you are interested http://world-poverty.org/ Activity: Try this short quiz about world poverty to test your perceptions about poverty: http://compassionquiz.com/ poverty-quiz/poverty-quiz.html Charity versus Justice “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of fundamental human rights.

Everyone everywhere has the right to live with dignity, free from fear and oppression, free from hunger and thirst, and free to express themselves and associate at will.” (Nelson Mandela (2006) Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award acceptance speech) Thinking Point Consider the following statements and then address the question: Does it matter whether we see eradicating poverty as a matter of charity or a matter of rights? Why? ‘Poverty is disempowerment and the injustices that result. […] we would cast this empowerment as a right – a right to power over their own lives, a right to live outside of poverty. Such

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Unit 3: Culture and Stereotyping Aims The aims for this week are: 1. T o understand the types of attitudes and aptitudes required of effective development practitioners 2. T o explore your understanding of culture 3. T o begin to examine aspects of stereotyping and racism 4. To explore your own tendencies to stereotype and your attitudes to racism

Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this week you should have: 1. D eveloped an understanding of some of the intercultural competences that are required to be an effective development practitioner 2. G ained a better understanding of your existing attitudes towards culture and the role it plays in your identity 3. D eveloped an initial understanding of how stereotyping and racism pervade our views of ‘the other’ 4. Reflected on your awareness of your own attitudes to stereotyping and racism

What is Culture?

Culture is “[…] an integrated system of learned behaviour patterns that are characteristic of the members of any given society [...] the total way of life of particular groups of people. It includes everything that a group of people thinks, says, does, and makes, its customs, language, material artefacts and shared systems of attitudes and feelings. Culture is learned and transmitted from generation to generation.” (L. Robert Kohls, Survival Kit for Overseas Living, Maine: Intercultural Press, Inc. 1996:23.).

Culture is not fixed or rigid, even though cultural norms and values can often seem that way. Culture is dynamic and its norms and values are constantly being refreshed or challenged by members of the groups of people who belong to the culture in question. It is for this reason that cultural change and adaptation is an inalienable feature of all cultures.

Culture has been aptly compared to an iceberg (cf. Edward T. Hall 1976 Beyond Culture). Just as an iceberg has a visible section above the waterline, and a larger, invisible section below the water line, so culture has some aspects that are observable and others that can only be suspected, imagined, or intuited.

Also like an iceberg, that part of culture that is visible (observable behaviour) is only a small part of a much bigger whole.

WHAT YOU SEE

DEEP STRUCTURE IS

WORDS TONALITY BODY LANGUAGE GESTURES BELIEFS VALUES BIASES PREJUDICES

EXPERIENCES FEARS DREAMS FEELINGS

Source: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Edward+t+Hal ls+Iceberg+Model&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=A7n&rls=org. mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=fflb&prmd=imvnsb&tbm=isch& tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JC98UOmGDKnA0QXu1YDYBg &ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1280&bih=846

Values and Beliefs Affect Behaviour The values and beliefs you cannot see affect behaviour.

To understand where behaviour comes from - to understand why people behave the way they do - means learning about values and beliefs.

The reason any behaviour makes sense is simply because it is consistent with what a given person believes in or holds dear.

Conversely, when we say that what someone has done “makes no sense,” what we mean is that that action contradicts what we know that person feels or wants.

People from different cultures have different values. This may sound patently obvious but its implications for working in different cultural contexts to your own are significant and challenging for everyone who crosses cultural contexts.

Culture Shock Culture shock is defined as a psychological disorientation that most people experience when living in a culture markedly different from one’s own. Culture shock occurs when our “... cultural clues, the signs and symbols which guide social interaction, are stripped away. ...A difficult part of this process for adults is the experience of feeling like children again, of not knowing instinctively the ‘ right’ thing to do.” (Piet-Pelon & Hornby, 1992:2).

Symptoms of culture shock include: • Homesickness • Boredom • Withdrawal • Excessive sleep • Compulsive eating/drinking • Irritability • Stereotyping host nationals • Hostility towards host nationals

*L Robert Kohls - Survival Kit for Overseas Living, Edward T Hall 1976 Beyond Culture, Piet-Pelon & Hornby 1992: 2

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Personal Reflection: Note down what you personally think the causes of culture shock are or might be? Have you ever experienced any form of culture shock? What caused you to feel culture shock (or if you haven’t experienced it personally, what do you think might cause it in general terms?).

• • • •

Some Common Causes of Shock For more information on culture shock see: http://www. peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/enrichment/culturematters/ ch1/tocch1.html (English only) Some common causes of culture shock include: • The actual situation not matching preconceived ideas of what it would be like • Unrealistic goals • Not being able to see results (because of the enormity of need, the nature of the work, the shortness of time of your involvement) • Using the wrong methods to achieve objectives i.e. inappropriate to the culture

Strategies to Adjust to Culture Shock • •

Be aware of your own ethnocentrism – and the fact that people of the host country are also ethnocentric Try not to make comparisons – your culture is ‘different’

• • •

not ‘better’ Avoid generalising (stereotyping) where possible Learn as much as you can about the country and culture you are going into Associate with local people Keep a journal - this will help you to track your learning journey and be more critically reflective as a practitioner Observe without making value judgements Don’t disparage the host culture Have faith in yourself!

Skills that make a difference in adjusting to culture/culture shock • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Tolerance for ambiguity and for difference Open mindedness Non-judgemental Empathy Communicativeness Flexibility and adaptability Curiosity Sense of Humour Warmth in Relationships Motivation Self-reliance Strong sense of self-awareness Perceptiveness An ability to fail and learn from it

September 21 The saga continues at the clinic. I think I understand better how things work around here, but I have to say I’m not happy with my progress, or lack of progress. I’ve made some very good friends, one or two of whom even confide in me, but I didn’t come to this country just to make friends. The problem seems to be a lack of funds to buy the materials I need to get started.

Actually, that’s not 100 percent true; the money is there, but it’s not coming to me. I’ve asked several times, but everyone says it’s up to Mr. Beton, the clinic manager, with whom I’ve never even had a one-on-one meeting. I did meet him in the beginning, when I first came here, but he was with a lot of other people, so I didn’t get to discuss my project. I did meet his boss one afternoon, though, when she was on a tour of the clinic and passed by the office they let me work in. She asked me how things were going, and I said fine, except I had no money to buy materials. She said she would check into it, but nothing has happened. A few days after that, I asked for a meeting with Mr. Beton, but so far, he hasn’t responded.

While I’m waiting for some movement, I’ve stumbled across another job I can do. I noticed one day that the clinic has no sign-in forms to record the number of visitors each day. I know the clinic needs this information because the ministry asks for these numbers every quarter, and the clinic’s annual budget allocation is based in part on this information. The clinic used to have a form, someone told me, but ran out of copies several months ago, so the receptionist just keeps track with tick marks on a piece of paper. I asked what the old form looked like and then designed a new one and showed it to the man in charge of volunteers. He said it was nice and took it away for approval. I expect it will show up any day now at the front desk.

I guess the lesson in all this is that you have to make your own work, not wait around to be told what to do (like most of the staff here seems to do). Once you start looking for ways you can make yourself useful, there’s no end to what you can do. At a staff meeting they invited me to the other day, I explained about the new sign-in form and asked people in other departments to let me know if they had similar things I could do for them. I then mentioned again that since I wasn’t getting the money I needed for my primary project, I had plenty of time to work on other things.

A funny thing happened at that same meeting. Mr. Beton wasn’t there, so his deputy ran the meeting. One item on the agenda was a report on the progress of the addition that’s being built on the back of the clinic, to consist of two more examining rooms and two waiting rooms. Ground was broken last month, but nothing-and I mean nothing-has happened since. But in his report, the deputy said we had made great progress on the addition. When I asked him when construction was going to start, he said he didn’t know!

Source: this extract is taken from http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/enrichment/culturematters/ch1/ betweenthelines.html Page 7

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Activity 1 Read the passage below and as you read Jan’s journal, mark where you think the author has misunderstood workplace norms or projected some of her own attitudes and values on to the host culture.

Jan has now been at her site a little over a year. In this excerpt from her journal, she writes about her experiences at the local AIDS clinic where she volunteers one day a week. Her task there is to work with a local health educator and design posters and illustrated pamphlets to use in AIDS education talks at the clinic and in nearby villages. In her interactions with clinic employees, she has run into a number of workplace issues.

Activity 2: Any Baggage?

This exercise helps you reflect on some of the stereotypes you may hold without realising it and your cultural preferences. It is best done by first providing a set of photos after participants decide who they want to sit beside. The photos challenge the descriptions.

The Magic Bus You are on a long bus ride and your fellow passengers include the following: • A couple celebrating their anniversary • An athlete • Someone with a mental illness • Three asylum seekers • A convicted criminal • A farmer • A Muslim • A single parent • An international student studying in your country • A refugee

Fritz Heider asserted that we are all naïve psychologists who try to make sense of the world so that we can make predictions about people and/or situations that we find ourselves in or observing and therefore increase our comfort or ease. To do this humans have developed a range of strategies for simplifying things and the process known as categorisation, which includes stereotyping, is one of these strategies (cf. Heider 1958, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations).

Stereotyping is a process based on the idea that certain groups of people (religious, gender, social ethnic) share a common set of identifiable characteristics. This form of categorization makes people that we don’t otherwise know personally, predictable.

One of the most notable psychologists of the twentieth century, Elliott Aronson argued that we are social animals in a complex and unpredictable world (cf. Aronson 1972 The Social Animal) and yet we like to feel secure, thus we use stereotypes to help us make judgements about people and/or situations that we do not know personally or intimately. Stereotyping performs an important psycho-social function as we cannot know everything about everybody in the world. The tendency towards categorisation is common to all humans and again, is not merely a personal characteristic of particular individuals.

The stereotypes we hold may be positive or negative, based on what we think we know about “the other”. Negative views that are held of “the other” are an expression of prejudice, often based on ignorance that is perpetuated by a lack of engagement with anyone from “the other” group of people.

Such ignorance can therefore be addressed by creating situations of contact, which is the premise of much cross community peace building work. This kind of work is an example of contact hypothesis theory being put in to practice.

Who would you most like to sit beside? Who would you least like to sit beside? Rank all the above in preference of who you would like to sit beside on the journey, with #1 being your most preferred companion. Just note down your answers for yourself on a piece of paper.

When you’ve made your decisions, look at the answer sheet with the description belongs with each picture. For example, the couple are a lesbian couple, the person with the mental illness is a Hollywood movie celebrity, the athlete is a ParaOlympian, the asylum seekers are Albert Einstein, the Dalai Lama and Sigmund Freud, the criminal is actor Hugh Grant.

(The answer sheet is provided in another document called Answers to the Magic Bus Activity).

Prejudice is a type of attitude and involves affect (feelings), behaviour (actions) and cognition (thoughts). Bias and/or prejudice can be located at all three levels – societal, organisational and individual – you could theoretically have a biased system and the people working in it might be unbiased – but it is unlikely – this can be related to the claim that Nazi soldiers were just doing their jobs but were not anti-Semites, discussed in Daniel Goldhagen’s book ‘Hitler’s Willing Executioners’.

Personal Reflection: On what basis did you make your decision of who you would most and least like to sit beside? Do the photos/descriptions cause you to change your mind? Have you ever been in a position where someone ‘stereotyped’ you?

How did it make you feel?

Basic Social Psychological Perspectives on Attitudes and the Social Nature of Humans

The Magic Bus exercise was designed to draw out and challenge some of the characteristics that you may normally ascribe to groups/types of people like those listed on the bus.

Important to note that stereotypes and prejudice affect us all – where do you sit on the bus, in the doctor’s waiting room – what do you do when you see someone collapse in the street?

A typical answer from a social psychologist would be that it depends on each scenario fits your categorisation system.

Stereotyping can lend itself to racism if and when we hold on to negative and derogatory notions of groups of people based on their cultural membership, despite being presented with the

*Heider, 1958 The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, Aronson 1972 The Social Animal

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opportunity to have prejudicial values challenged and changed through greater awareness of and interaction with members of the group that we have stereotyped.

To help you better understand race and racism please read the following: Angela Harris, ‘Critical Theories of Race and Racism in World Perspective’. provides a good academic definition of race and racism as well as a historical overview of some key related themes. Accessed here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers. cfm?abstract_id=1954726 (English only) And ‘The construction of race and racism’ accessed here: http://www.ncnonprofits.org/sites/default/files/public_ resources/WesternStates-ConstructionOfRace.pdf (English only)

Unit 4: Personal Health and Safety Aims The aims for this week are: • To understand the key ‘threats’ to physical and mental health • To understand that your are responsible for your own health and how your health contributes to collective health and safety • To familiarise yourself with actions you can take to help ensure your health and safety

Learning Outcomes

Hall, E.T. (1976) ‘Beyond Culture’ overview http://region10.acui. org/region/10/conference/2011/presentations/Hall%27s%20 Iceberg%20Model%20handout.pdf (English only)

On successful completion of this week you should have: • Identified the key threats to your health, safety and security • Reflected on your responsibility to take due care of your own physical and mental health and personal safety • Explored the ways in which you can maximise your chances of staying healthy and safe

Responsibility for Personal Health and Safety A sending organisation or employer has the responsibility to ensure you are healthy before departure and that your living and working environment is as safe and secure as possible.

Most do that and have sophisticated measures in place for doing so, including pre-departure check-ups, medical insurance, health policies and guidelines, security guidelines and possibly a security officer at your location/who has at least visited your location.

For what to expect see People in Aid Code of Good Practice: http://www.peopleinaid.org/publications/ codeofgoodpracticeenglish.aspx (English only) However, you have a responsibility to take due care with your personal safety and physical and mental health – just as you would at home.

Activity 1 Make a note of any potential threats to your health that you think you may encounter while working in the Global South/ away from home?

Potential Threats to Physical Health In your list you might include: Malaria, Dengue fever, Diarrhea , Cholera, Dysentery, Too many parties, Hangovers, AIDs, Road traffic accidents , Sexually Transmitted Infections, Adverse climatic conditions, and/or Altitude sickness.

*Angela Harris – Critical Theories of Race & Racism in World Perspective

We can categorise these potential threats into 4 broad areas: • Environmental factors (climate, arduous conditions, etc) • Disease/Infection (often spread by insects such as mosquitos) Page 9

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•

Lack of public infrastructure and health policies (poor roads, no control of motor vehicle quality or licensing) • Own behaviour (too many parties, not enough sleep, sexual behaviour) There are a number of ways to address and manage these potential threats to physical health.

Comhlamh’s Volunteer Charter *http://www.comhlamh.org/ support-for-development-workers-before-going-overseasvolunteer-charter-and-code-of-practice.html (English only) outlines some specific responses, such as: • Abide by the advice of your sending organisation • Apply common sense and take necessary precautions e.g. use mosquito nets, don’t drink water unless you know it’s safe • Familiarise yourself with your organisation’s health and safety guidelines and agree to uphold them • Behave in ways that do not jeopardise your health (or that of others) • Ensure you have relevant health and travel insurance • Ensure you have all required vaccinations and supplies of prescription Activity 2 Do you agree or disagree with this following statement? Why/why not? Are there situations where you can imagine yourself ignoring your own health? What would prevent you from doing so?

“Personal health can’t be stressed enough. You are no good to anyone when you are sick for months when a good rest could have cured you initially. I was amazed at how fragile my body was in Africa. I was more prone to illness and I could feel my immune system weaken even if I had sufficient sleep.”

(Comhlamh’s Volunteer Charter, pg 21)

The Headington Institute The Headington Institute identify the following pressures as being associated with working in Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) – many of the same points can be made about those who work for IGOs (Intergovernmental Organisations) as well: •

•

•

•

•

•

Returning Home Finally, remember that some symptoms of ill-health may not appear until after you’ve returned home. Despite having ready access to good quality medical care, hazards remain, for example: • • •

many workers struggle to find a healthy balance between the demands of the work and the need to pay some attention to their own physical and emotional well-being.”

symptoms may be unfamiliar to doctors in the Global North symptoms may pass unrecognised correct diagnosis may not be considered until it’s too late

For those of you who are considering working in a developing world context, you will need to pay attention to your physical health after you return home as well.

•

Threat and violence: Whether it is the result of natural disaster, civil conflict, or increased domestic crime, many NGO workers witness violence and its after effects, or are exposed to upsetting stories of personal tragedy.

Social dislocation: In some cases NGO workers experience separation from their social support networks, such as friends and family.

Cultural dislocation: Living and working in another country or with a new group of people often means that new rules for communicating politely and effectively must be learned.

Spiritual dislocation: Separation from familiar religious frameworks, exposure to radically different views about spirituality and religion, and exposure to traumatic events can challenge and alter an NGO worker’s religious beliefs.

Poverty and deprivation: NGO workers often work in the midst of extreme poverty and its associated suffering without enough resources available to combat the problems. This can lead to feelings of impotence and being overwhelmed.

Moral dilemmas: Humanitarian work may involve facing moral dilemmas such as negotiating with warlords, or witnessing human rights violations but being unable to respond due to operational considerations.

The work environment: Common work stressors include: interpersonal and culturally-based conflict among team members; role ambiguity; lack of appropriate resources, personnel, time, logistical support, or skills to do the job expected; and heavy workload and long hours.

Self Reflection: How do you think you would cope with each of the pressures identified by the Headington Institute? If you have previously faced any of these types of pressures, how did you deal with them?

Concluding Remarks Caring for Your Mental Health “The traditional image of NGO workers is that they are selfless and tireless. They, themselves, tend to expect that because their work is for a good cause, they will somehow be immune to pressure. However, they do feel the impact of their work. They often leave at the end of the day feeling that they have not done enough because the scope of the need is so overwhelming. They can be troubled by witnessing violence and poverty, and by hearing the stories of refugees and disaster survivors. In this service-oriented profession,

Paying attention to your personal health and safety is imperative to ensuring that you can be an effective development practitioner who is happy and fulfilled in the role you have chosen to undertake. There are a number of key points to remember: Expect to have to pay attention to and take responsibility for your personal health and safety Do your best to understand how traumatic stress works, in its direct and vicarious forms, and develop strategies to help prevent or alleviate traumatic stress reactions

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Readings, References and Resources Headington Institute resources accessed at: http://headington-institute.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2259 (English only)

Unit 6: Coming Home and Learning The topic of this unit is preparation for coming home – which can be as daunting as ‘going away’ and brings the development practitioner’s motivations, impact, experience, learning and knowledge into focus. We will also be examining the importance of being open to learning if you are to be an effective development practitioner.

From People in Aid: Approaches to Staff Care in International NGOs accessed at: http://www.peopleinaid.org/publications/ StaffCareInternationalNGOs.aspx (English)

Aims

Research Paper on the Phenomenon of Burnout accessed at: http://www.peopleinaid.org/publications/Burnout.aspx (English)

1. To understand more about the need to prepare for home coming in advance and the benefits of ‘debriefing’ 2. To explore what thoughts, feelings and behaviours they may experience on return and how to deal with them 3. To reflect on how the experience, knowledge and learning from the Global South can be channelled back into your society 4. To understand more about the role openness to learning plays in the practice of international development 5. To explore you own attitude and aptitude for learning from the Global South

How to Be Resilient at Work accessed at: http://www. peopleinaid.org/publications/resilientatwork.aspx (English)

People in Aid Publications Available in Spanish: http://www.peopleinaid.org/resources/publications. aspx?language=Espa%c3%b1ol

Learning Outcomes

Available in French: http://www.peopleinaid.org/resources/publications. aspx?language=Fran%c3%a7ais

Unit 5: Safety and Security Aims 1. T o understand the key ‘threats’ to your safety in development contexts 2. T o understand how your actions contribute to collective safety and security 3. T o familiarise yourself with methods to analyse threats and risks to your security and identify actions you can take to reduce those risks

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this week you should have: 1. Developed an understanding of the importance for preparation to return before you arrive home 2. Reflected on the emotional responses to leaving the Global South and returning to the Global North and how you might deal with them 3. Explored ways to channel knowledge and learning from the Global South into your own society 4. Developed an understanding of the importance learning plays in effective personal and professional development for those wishing to work in the field of international development 5. Gained a better understanding of your own willingness to be a learner If you are interested in continuing your learning, the content for Unit 6 can be accessed via the European Certification and Qualification Association (www.ecqa.org) under Access International Development. Content will be available from early 2013.

On successful completion of this week you should have: 1. E xamined ways in which to identify key threats and risks to your safety and security 2. R eflected on possible prevention and mitigation actions to maximise your chances of staying safe and secure 3. Reflected on your responsibility to take due care of your own safety and security If you are interested in continuing your learning, the content for Unit 5 can be accessed via the European Certification and Qualification Association (www.ecqa.org) under Access International Development. Content will be available from early 2013.

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For more information on the programme please contact Roisin McEvoy International Development Programme University of Ulster Northern Ireland Email: r.mcevoy@ulster.ac.uk Or visit the project website www.aidproject.eu This project has been funded with the support from the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme. This website reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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