VOLUNTEER TOOLKIT
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YOUR ASSIGNMENT AS A UN VOLUNTEER . 1
End-of-Assignment
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Foreword End–of–Assignment hand book: is a practical guidance on how to cope with transition; remaining engaged after completing your assignments. The tool is part of a Volunteer Toolkit, which contains eight (8) volunteer management tools: The Volunteer Toolkit has been developed to support the implementation of UNV Programme Strategy 2011- 2013, more specifically to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer management and the skills of UN Volunteers to become good advocates of Volunteerism for Peace and Development. The Volunteer Toolkit is to be disseminated and/or made available to UN Volunteers over the course of their volunteer assignment. The objective is to ensure that UN Volunteers (POs, other international UN Volunteers, and national UN Volunteers) can benefit from each tool at the relevant stage of their assignment: Pre-assignment; Support during assignment and End of Assignment.
Front Cover: Two national UN Volunteers support local sustainable livelihoods in remote areas. Referred to as Yanapiris (‘people who help others’) in the local languages (mainly Aymara and Quechua), indigenous UN Volunteers work to advance the MDGs in the Department of Oruro, Bolivia. With a deep knowledge of the region’s sociopolitical context, they are able to adapt MDG messaging to the indigenous philosophy and culture. (Nicolas Josserand, 2010)
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CONTENTS . 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Preparing for the end of your assignment ........................................04 2. Preparing for departure ..................05 2.1 Timeline of the Process .................05 2.2 Self-reflection through the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit ...............08 2.3 Performance Evaluation................08 2.4 Competency Based Letter of Reference .........................................09 2.5 Certificate of Service .....................10 2.6 Final Reports-the Volunteer Reporting System (VRS) ..................10 2.7 Administrative Issues .....................11 2.8 Documentation ..............................12 2.9 Exit Debriefing With UNV Field Units.........................................13 2.10 Planning Your Goodbye...............13 2.11 Handover Note Guidelines ..........14 2.12 Special Considerations for Spouses and Partners ......................15 2.13 Repatriation with Children ...........17 2.14 Senior Volunteers ........................18 2.15 Preparing for what Comes Next ..18
3. What to expect post assignment ...19 3.1 Reverse Culture Shock: what is reverse culture shock? .........19 3.2 Common Challenges and strategies .........................................22 3.3 Stress and Medical Considerations..................................25 3.4 Employment ..................................27 3.5 How to Conduct a Job Search ......27 3.6 Employment Considerations for Spouses and Partners ......................29 3.7 Further education ..........................30 3.8 Sabbatical or Time Off...................31 4. How to stay involved.......................32 4.1 Continue to Advocate for Volunteerism for Peace and Development.....................................32 4.2 Seek another UNV Assignment.....34 4.3 Continue to Volunteer....................34 4.4 Mobilize Volunteers .......................36 4.5 UNV Contact Information ..............37 5. References .......................................38
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2 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
1. Preparing for the end of your assignment Preparing for the end of an assignment is a monumental task that every volunteer will need to undertake. Managing the return to an old environment after experiencing so much transformation and learning can be a challenge. Some of you may be unsure about what to do at the end of your service. Planning the transition at the end-ofassignment is important for many reasons. It presents a clear opportunity to value your role as a volunteer, and the commitment and contribution you have made during your volunteer assignment. It is an opportunity to reflect on what your
plans may be for the future and to map out ways in which you can continue to contribute to the peace and development process. It also ensures that you take the time to prepare for upcoming changes or the experience of reverse culture shock. This manual has been designed to help you facilitate your way through this process, allowing you to forecast the upcoming changes to the greatest extent possible. It has been created with the personal needs of a diverse range of UN Volunteers in mind. Because of this, not all sections may be relevant to you. Please feel free to read only those that you find useful.
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2. Preparing for departure 2.1 Timeline of the Process The following is an approximate timeline of the process that you are about to undertake. How rigidly you follow this programme, as well as what other items you will need to take care of, will depend largely on your personal situation. In the process of leaving, many things need to be done at the host organization, in the community, socially and within your family.
When preparing an action plan, it is recommended to plan all foreseeable activities well in advance. A plan can help to keep the levels of stress within acceptable limits. You may find it useful to do this by creating lists, an action matrix, or mapping the activities out on a calendar. Following, on pages 4 and 5, is a proposed timeline:
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6 . END-OF-ASSIGNMENT HANDBOOK
6 weeks before departure The UNV Field Unit will send you an email or letter alerting you of your end of contract (exact departure date will depend on your leave balance). They will also send you a copy of this handbook. Undertake final self-reflection on plans and goals (see Volunteer Reflection Toolkit). Generate plan for exit timeline. Register for job sites, collect research for your options after assignment, etc.
Continue the process for Competency Based Reference Letter. Begin the Checklist/check-out form for UNV Field Unit. Account if applicable for UN assets (especially multi-user equipment) that are in the volunteer’s name. Prepare the document hand-over and start selecting appropriate documents.
Start to collect stories, souvenirs and photos, and plan your goodbye.
If you are supported by a funding agency for your assignment, check with them for any end-of-contract support or services they may provide or reporting they require.
If relevant, discuss extension with host agency.
Do the final report for UNV (VRS). Open from 2 months before end-of-contract.
Prepare for competency based letter of reference.
Consider how to remain involved with volunteerism.
Prepare for final performance appraisal (only if applicable).
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1 week after departure Sit for exit debriefing with UNV Field Unit Final coordination for flights, payments, etc. Hand in your End-ofassignment Checklist/check-out form and other documents for check-out purposes. Depending on country context, attend End-ofassignment Workshop
Hand in handover notes. Prepare text and email addresses for your last day ‘goodbye’ email. Reserve your last day for saying goodbyes.
Reintegration stress or ‘reverse culture shock’ may have begun to set in. Consider undertaking a medical examination.
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2.2 Self-reflection through the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit As outlined in the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit, coming to the end of a volunteer assignment is an appropriate time to reflect. The end-of-assignment presents a chance to take an inventory of what you have learned and achieved, how you have changed over the duration of the assignment, and in what areas you could improve in the future. Since this is a significant period of change reflection offers you a chance to get to know yourself better, and can help give your ideas that can inform the many decisions and actions that will dominate your life in the coming months. How to reflect, along with suggested methods and examples, is covered in detail in the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit. Questions that you may be better able to answer after a self-reflection process include: ■ What do I plan to do after the volunteer
assignment? ■ Do I plan on going home? ■ How would I like to relate to my family
or home community upon reintegration? ■ Will I need to ask my friends and family
for support during this time?
■ Based on my assumptions, are my
expectations of arriving home realistic? ■ After reintegrating, how will I stay
connected with UNV, volunteerism and development cooperation? Most volunteers who reflect on their volunteer assignment feel that they are better prepared for the end-of-contract transition, and can approach it in a constructive and organized way. The steps for this process are to recognize and examine your feelings, to accept that there will be feelings of loss upon leaving the volunteer assignment and prepare for these, to take stock of the experiences that you have lived through, and finally to prepare yourself for the reverse culture shock that you may feel upon reintegration to your home community. Reverse culture shock is discussed further in chapter 3.
2.3 Performance Evaluation UN Volunteers are encouraged to take part in an evaluation of their performance through the evaluation methodology of their host organization. If your host organization is not conducting performance evaluations, the following points may still be useful to prepare for a final meeting with your supervisor.
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■ It is difficult to conduct a good
evaluation of your performance if you do not have clear Description of Assignment (DoA). If you have realized that your DoA is unclear, find a way together with your supervisor to acknowledge the problem and to carefully list what did you do and get feedback on the real assignment and what was achieved by the end of your volunteer assignment. ■ Take this opportunity to look at your DoA
and reflect on what you have achieved during your assignment in terms of volunteer contribution, self-development, national capacity development and in other areas. If there have been challenges in your assignment, reflect on what can be done in the future to help overcome these. Try to be realistic about things that are out of your control as this will allow you to put your achievements into perspective. ■ Propose changes and suggestions in
the DoA if the assignment is going to be re-filled. ■ Ideally, a performance evaluation is a
two-way meeting. It is your chance to talk about your contribution, as well as your manager’s opportunity to give praise and suggestions for improvement.
■ A performance evaluation can be a
good tool to prepare you for the considerations of what is next. For example, you may want to reflect on what strengths you developed over the course of your volunteer assignment or whether you may need the support of your manager in the future in terms of providing a reference or in a mentoring role. ■ It is recommended to make notes of the
discussions and outcomes of this process so that you are prepared when meeting with your manager, and when the time comes to update your CV or roster information with the competencies that you have developed during your volunteer assignment.
2.4 Competency Based Letter of Reference The reference process is an important opportunity for the supervisor and the volunteer to have a constructive dialogue about the tasks and achievements of the volunteer. UNV is in the process of developing a standard Competency Based Reference letter to be completed and signed by your host agency and your UNV Field Unit you will have an opportunity to provide any comments and add any relevant information on your achievements and performance. The
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letter will include the title and period of your assignment and a general rating of your skills and abilities. Note that if you are thinking of re-applying to UNV in future, you will need a reference from your UNV Field Unit therefore you will be requested to share a copy of the letter with your UNV Field Unit. Please note that this is an open process that has been standardized across UNV, so if you require a confidential reference or a reference letter that is in a different format you will need to make separate arrangements with your host agency if in agreement that are specific to your needs. Make sure that you take a hard copy of the final signed reference letter with you when you finish your volunteer assignment, as it is not the responsibility of the UNV Field Unit to follow up with supervisors for agreement or signatures or corrections before and after you have departed. It is your responsibility to ensure that this letter is completed and signed by both parties prior to your departure. 2.5 Certificate of Service At the end of your contract, you will receive from either UNV Field Unit or UNV HQ a certificate of service. This certificate stands as a token of appreciation of the time, energy and skills that you have
dedicated to volunteering with UNV. It will indicate how long you served and in which country, and it will be signed by the Executive Coordinator of UNV. 2.6 Final Reports-the Volunteer Reporting System (VRS) An important obligation of the UN Volunteer is to prepare and submit to the UNV programme periodic reports, called the VRS. These reports serve as an opportunity for the UN Volunteer, the supervisor and others to discuss and take stock of the progress made towards meeting stated development objectives. It can also help to identify any follow-up actions required. The volunteer reports ensure a learning environment in which the contribution of UN Volunteers can be better known and understood, and experiences shared with others inside and outside the country. The multiple-choice format of this report is designed to account for the ‘Volunteerism for Peace and Development’ dimension of your assignment and can be found at http://vrs.unv.org. The report will be open for you to complete from 2 months before your end-of-assignment. If there are items that are not covered within the report that you feel are important to pass along to the UNV Field Unit or headquarters, note these down and bring the issues with you
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to the exit debriefing. Note that the settlement of the end-of-assignment entitlements is contingent upon the submission of the end-of-assignment report. 2.7 Administrative Issues Following is a list of some administrative issues you may need to take care of before you finish your assignment. This is not exhaustive, and may need to be tailored to meet your personal needs, particularly if you are moving locally or internationally. Your UNV Field Unit has a Checklist/check-out form that is required and complements this list (refer to Appendix XIV of the Conditions of Service). Please discuss with your UNV Field Unit any special arrangements or needs you can foresee when you pick up the checklist. Some items covered may include: ■ Submit the online End-of-Assignment
report (see 2.6 above) ■ Hand in UNV identity cards ■ Hand in national identity cards (for
international UN Volunteers) ■ Provide your permanent address and
telephone number so you can be contacted
■ Change your address/email address
with your host, the UNV Field Unit and any other relevant contacts. Particularly ensure that you give an email address that will be valid after your work account is closed ■ Provide adequate notice as required to
close agreements for rental, utility, phone, etc.. ■ Prepare financially for the departure:
close bank accounts, transfer money, do final medical claims, submit outstanding travel claims, pay monies owed to your host organization, receive End-of-Service payments, plan for the first few months at home. Make clear how you wish to receive your repatriation entitlements. Also make sure official telephone bills are settled ■ Account if applicable for UN assets
(especially multi-user equipment) that are in the volunteer’s name. Start early the process of identifying and locating those items. ■ Make sure your banking details are
correct ■ Pay rent and utilities ■ Consider whether you will need any
statement from UNV for income tax or social services purposes
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■ Complete a Travel Authorization for
homeward travel ■ Re-apply for inclusion in the UNV roster,
if appropriate ■ Complete your VRS (final report) ■ Return items signed out to you by the
office ■ Return confidential documents to the
office ■ Prepare handover notes and back up
your files ■ Put an away message on your
professional email account ■ Collect the contact details and names of
those people you may need to contact again ■ Collect the documents that you may
need in the future (see section 2.8 below) ■ Book flights ■ Arrange visas if necessary ■ Plan for health insurance coverage ■ Plan how you will discard of unwanted
items- selling, donating items, etc ■ Buy gifts and plan how you will pack
gifts that you receive at the last minute ■ Plan your shipping and packing
■ Sign a discharge letter for UNV if you
wish to stay in your country of service ■ Plan where you will live or stay at home
or in your next destination 2.8 Documentation The documents you need from your volunteer assignment will depend on what you are planning to do next. It is easiest to collect any documents you may need before you leave your site. Some ideas: ■ Competency Based Reference Letter ■ Certificate of Service ■ Copies of annual performance reviews
(if applicable) ■ Description of Assignment ■ Copies of any substantive documents
that you have produced over the course of your volunteer assignment. Examples could be project documents, annual reports, or advocacy tools. (These will normally have to be approved by your supervisor, but can act as excellent portfolio examples) ■ A criminal record check from the
appropriate authorities in the location of volunteer assignment, if you think that it will be required by your future employers (e.g. if you are working with children or in certain government ministries).
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â– Volunteers who have supervised staff
themselves or who have otherwise worked with local people (e.g. national UN staff, Government counterparts, local NGO staff, even personal household help) should, as a matter of courtesy and in line with their capacitybuilding role, give due consideration to provide recommendation/reference letters and/or performance appraisals to such persons, as appropriate. 2.9 Debriefing with UNV Field Unit A debriefing is an excellent opportunity to discuss the outcomes of a volunteer assignment, talk over the competency based reference letter, help to clarify what you plan to do next, and brainstorm ways that you can continue to engage with volunteerism. The debriefing should not deal with just operational issues, but focus on your achievements, challenges and your learning process as a volunteer. The information collected in a debriefing interview will be fed back into UNV headquarters discussions so that the organization can improve its procedures and report on the achievements of its volunteers. UNV is a learning organization, so we rely on your constructive feedback in order to improve and grow. If you have anything that you wish to be discussed confidentially,
please make this clear in advance. Come to the debriefing prepared, particularly in terms of self-reflection, book the appointment for this debriefing well in advance, so that the UNV Field Unit can be ready for the meeting. Where the distance between your duty station and UNV Field Unit is too large, the debriefing may take place by telephone. 2.10 Planning Your Goodbye One of the most neglected aspects of completing a volunteer assignment is the way in which one goes about taking leave. Nobody likes to say goodbye; 72% of former UN Volunteers surveyed felt that saying goodbye was a major challenge in their departure process. Many people put off the process until it is either too late or very rushed. Grieving or a sense of loss is a normal part of the repatriation or completion process. These feelings are often complicated by the fact that you may be busy and also excited and anxious about what is coming up next. Any feelings of loss will be felt two-ways: both by you and by those that you leave behind. Therefore, the opportunity to say goodbye is important not simply for you but also for your colleagues and those in the community with whom you have interacted.
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As well, there may be cultural traditions that are important to follow in order to show respect to the community and to your colleagues. It is useful to ask a local friend or mentor about how to plan a culturally appropriate goodbye party or ceremony. Planning this well in advance is an excellent way to take the stress or anxiety out of the situation. During the exit period, you may also want to take the time to say goodbye to special places that you have visited or that had meaning for you. Many people find that it is important to take some final photographs, make a video, buy a traditional handicraft, learn how to cook a favorite food or learn how to perform a specific cultural or religious ritual before they depart. On the last day, you may want to reserve the day for saying goodbye to colleagues and counterparts. It is recommended to prepare an email and email addresses in advance so that you can send it out upon exit. Ensure that your tasks or projects are properly handed over to colleagues, another volunteer or a manager. If there is no one to take on your tasks, leave a detailed handover note for the person who later pick up where you left off.
2.11 Handover Note Guidelines A handover note is intended to ensure continuity of processes and appropriate follow up on tasks that need to be done after your departure. The note can be given to your supervisor or to your successor, and may contain specific items depending on your role and organization. An accurate documentation of pending tasks, operational and programmatic issues is crucial to ensure that the valuable work you have undertaken can continue. It will also help your volunteer assignment come to a positive closure. In addition to the Handover document you will leave important documents behind. We would like to encourage you to provide your successor (if there is one), your colleagues at the duty station, as well as UNV Field Unit with a clearly structured document handover. Please pass your documents on to your colleagues at your duty station and the UNV Field Units either by saving them on a shared drive or by sharing them on a CD or USB-stick. We all know how frustrating it is to search for documents in chaotic folder systems named in ways impossible to understand and worse when combined with constant information and document overload. This is why we suggest the following steps for a document handover:
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■ Be rigorous: select only the really
important documents that should be passed on. If a successor will take your place, it might be useful to leave more documents behind than in cases where no successor follows, especially background studies and practical manuals. ■ Leave only final documents behind (if
possible) and remember: the fewer documents, the easier it is to find the important ones! ■ Name your documents in a
comprehensible manner: remember that the people who will receive your documents need to grasp the content right from the title. (A Project Document named “PD01” for example cannot be identified as a ProDoc by anyone, whereas a tag such as “ProjectDocument WaterManagement Andhra Pradesh final – August 2009” is easy to understand & to find.) Give the document the clearest name possible, indicate whether it is final or not and include the date. ■ Structure your folders as
comprehensively as possible: The same principles as for documents apply. Bear in mind that the people who will receive your documents are most likely not yet as familiar with the thematic aspects of
your work as you are. We suggest the following folder structure as a guide: ■ Project related documents. ■ Administrative documents. ■ Resource materials (studies, toolkits). ■ Contact lists (as well as names please
add the significance of the people to your work). ■ Important correspondence. ■ Media files (Pictures & Videos) that can
be used for communications purposes. (Where possible consult with the country office and/or host in advance about their needs and only pass on high quality files as media files demand a lot of storage space.) Lastly, please do schedule sufficient time for this; it is not unusual for this process to take up to half a working day. In the long run, it will save others time and effort and make your work more accessible and more likely to be used. 2.12 Special Considerations for Spouses and Partners The personal dynamics of each family unit or partnership are unique. Your partner or spouse needs to be included in the endof-assignment preparations. A second consideration is whether your partner or
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spouse will move with you during your transition. It is important to try to make time for reflection and discussion, and to share as much information as possible, so that you can plan together for the emotional and operational aspects of the move. Each reintegration is experienced through an array of feelings- from positive to negative. The feelings that accompany re-entry are very similar to culture shock (see section 3.4 for more on reverse culture shock) so it may be useful to share this document with your spouse or partner so s/he can see what to expect. UN Volunteers who left their families back home when they were on assignment in non-family duty stations will obviously face additional challenges upon return. These will depend on the length of time away and how closely and regularly the volunteer had remained in contact with their families. Returnees should expect a period of readjustment for everyone, which can usually be made easier by sensitively sharing some of the positive experiences of your assignment (without overemphasizing how much you miss it) while at the same time reassuring your family about how good it feels to be back home and how much you missed them. It is also important to take the time to make collective plans for the future, both in the short term and longer term. Be aware that the routines of family life will at
first feel unfamiliar to both you and for your family - don’t forget they also have to readjust to you being back - but this will ease with time. One factor on how a transition will impact an accompanying spouse or partner is whether s/he will be working on re-entry. Research shows that non-working and accompanying spouses/partners often feel re-entry shock more strongly than the person who is working. This shock is attributed to the pressures placed on the non-working person who may have limited social structures in the place of reintegration while simultaneously being under pressure to find a new place to live and establish basic routines. If your spouse or partner is from the location of assignment, and you will be returning together to your home, there will be many cultural considerations related to the move. Some questions that can be explored together include: Is this his or her first time away from his/her home? Does s/he speak the language of our new location? What are his or her expectations about the move? The way a spouse or partner integrates into your home will be different from the way you reintegrate. All of these factors add stress to a relationship, so advance planning and discussion may help to ease this process.
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2.13 Repatriation with Children How children are affected by reintegration into their home location depends on their personalities, the length of time they have been away from home and their current age. Overall, it is important to allow time and space for children to go through the same steps of reintegration that you are expecting to go through, and to ensure that they are part of the planning and decisionmaking process.
say goodbye properly to their friends and places that have been important to them and to recover from any feelings of grief and anxiety during the process of repatriation. Your children may want to have a goodbye party or some other special event to mark the change. To get them excited about the move, you may want to show photographs of special people or places, or find movies or books that highlight special things about home.
If your children have never lived in the place that you call ‘home’, bear in mind that they may experience considerable culture shock when you move. This transition will present challenges in terms of building an identity around the home culture, developing relationships with other children or extended family members, and possibly integrating into a new school system. Teens may find this time particularly difficult, as there are so many other changes going on in their lives in addition to the move. Issues emerge, such as how to make friendships within groups who may have bonded many years ago, or questions of what is current in terms of language, current culture, and fashion. Culture shock may present itself as a loss of energy, irritability, feelings of inadequacy, and periods of isolation.
Another situation may involve moving with children who have been born at the assignment location and/or are still too young to have lasting memories of the move. Children of a young age adapt fairly quickly, particularly if their parents or caregivers are present to provide them with reassurance. In this case, you may be more concerned about the logistical arrangements of the move, such as getting passports or working out how to travel with small children, which can require considerable advance preparation. However, even young children can feel the stress of a move without being able to verbalize or otherwise express their frustrations. This may erupt as tantrums, clinginess or other forms of socially inappropriate behavior.
When moving with children, it is important to allow them time and opportunities to
When returning home with children it can be useful to prepare friends and relatives
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for the homecoming. Well-meaning family members may have expectations of how to interact with the child or of how the child will behave, which can place unnecessary stress on the reunion. For example, the child may not like the food at home, or may be afraid of all the smiling faces. It is important to prepare people in advance for the extra personal or parental time that the children may need. Note that if you have adopted children in the location of assignment, it is recommended to do research well in advance of returning home, as there are many national and international laws regarding the legal adoption of children. 2.14 Senior Volunteers The process of returning home as a senior volunteer will depend on what plans you have for your return. If you took a sabbatical from a job at home in order to undertake a volunteer assignment, research suggests that your primary challenge may be how to integrate the lessons learned from the assignment into your regular routine. If you will be looking for work after your assignment, your extensive experience and the networks you possess may be a major asset. The time it takes to find a job may be your first real experience of being unemployed, which can be difficult both emotionally and financially. Planning ahead can help to
prepare for some of these challenges. Other alternatives, such as retiring, spending time with family, or continuing to volunteer will involve many personal decisions and implications. Research done has shown that the decision to volunteer once you return back home is influenced by your age and stage of life. Approximately 70% of a survey group of older volunteers found that the volunteers who continue to volunteer at home were influenced by factors such as having more free time, and finding the activities a rewarding and stimulating substitute for paid employment (CIDA). 2.15 Preparing for what Comes Next Over the coming months, you will face a number of options- some of which may present themselves easily and others that may take more time and energy to discover. Since your choice as to what you do at the end of your assignment will be tailored to you as an individual, we cannot give details on every option you may pursue. Those that will be covered in this document are future employment, further education and taking a sabbatical; they will be covered in Sections 3.3, 3.5, and 3.6. Guidance on how to go through the preparation process is outlined in the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit.
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3. What to expect post assignment 3.1 Reverse Culture Shock: what is reverse culture shock? Reverse culture shock is defined as the “reactions which occur as a result of readapting to our home culture. … The reentry process has some things in common with culture shock but also has the added factor of surprise: we don’t expect our home culture to be so unreceptive to us, and to be so difficult to come back to.” Janet Bennett, Transition Shock: Putting Culture Shock in Perspective
Source: ‘Almost American’ Blog
As this definition suggests, culture shock and reverse culture shock are similar, but have different symptoms and will be experienced differently given the unique dynamics of returning home. The diagram below shows a comparison. Note that these shocks, when lived through, are more often a series of small shocks occurring on a daily or weekly basis, and culminating in the overall pattern shown below:
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The stages and characteristics of reverse culture shock are described below: ■ Taking Leave: This stage includes
saying goodbye (section 2.11), and preparing to take leave (Chapter 2). It is likely to be a series of emotional ups and downs before your departure, and is often all the more stressful due to the time and energy constraints that are felt during the process of concluding your assignment. Try to make time to think about what it means to be ending your assignment, to visit a place that you have always wanted to see or to otherwise mark the end of your assignment while reflecting on what it means to be coming to the end. ■ Excitement: You are excited to be
home, and are anticipating the upcoming changes. You may be excited and relieved to see family and friends and to have access to all the aspects of home that you have missed during your volunteer assignment. ■ Anxiety and Feelings of Loss: You may
begin to feel that parts of your home culture are irritating, illogical, or generally unexpected. You may miss aspects of life at the location of your volunteer assignment. The reality of settling in begins to set in!
■ Reverse Culture Shock: Classically
experienced as a period of depression or apathy, this stage can be very challenging. Feelings of isolation and confusion are common. The low period in reverse culture shock begins earlier than it would if you were experiencing an initial shock to the location of volunteer assignment. The lowest periods normally occur during the second and third months home, and balance out approximately six months after you return (Nancy Adler, International Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour). ■ Recovery: Slowly you begin to reconcile
what you have experienced in your volunteer assignment with life at home. ■ Re-integration: A balance is found
between the two cultures and differences are appreciated. There are many reasons why reverse culture shock occurs, but the major contributing factors are: ■ The reality of home differs from the
home you remember: Over the course of your volunteer assignment you may have idealized or romanticized home. It is easy to forget or minimize the problems or issues that once were sources of stress in your everyday life.
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When you return home, the juxtaposition of reality to ideal can create conflict. ■ Things change: Change has occurred to
everyone and everything. Learning about these changes and adjusting to them can be very stressful. As well, you have changed over the course of your volunteer assignment, and it may be difficult for people to know how to react to you. ■ People may not react to you or your
experiences in the way you expected: Many returnees find it difficult to connect with people and society in the ways they used to or may be frustrated by people’s limited attention span for their experiences, which may last only five minutes. Connections can feel superficial or unrewarding in comparison to the relationships you developed whilst on assignment. ■ Re-integration is generally not
understood by family and friends: Reverse culture shock is not well understood, and is even less so by those who have not lived through it. The lack of tolerance and patience displayed at home may make you feel displaced or misunderstood, and may reinforce any feelings of depression that you may be experiencing.
The intensity of the reverse culture shock that you feel will depend on a number of factors, including: ■ the degree of cultural difference between
the home culture and the host culture ■ the depth of cultural immersion that you
experienced ■ changes that have occurred in your
home environment, particularly in the field of employment and technology if you plan to enter the workforce ■ the length of your volunteer assignment ■ whether you had another person or
many people to share the volunteer experience with ■ prior experience(s) abroad ■ your reasons for returning. Note that if
you returned from a post conflict situation or a situation where there were significant security risks, your reverse culture shock may be very extreme and may culminate in post-traumatic stress syndrome. Do not hesitate to seek social or medical support if needed. ■ the expectations for the return ■ other personal factors, including your
gender, age, education, networks of family and friends (Adapted from: What’s Up with Culture? at http://www3.uop.edu/sis/culture/index.htm)
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Each of these factors can be explored in isolation; the better you understand the changes and challenges, the better prepared you will be for the reintegration process. Research suggests that there is no definite timeline for the process of reintegration. Some people will have a few weeks of discomfort, whilst others feel that their whole life has been impacted by the process of reconciling what they have seen and learned on assignment with the realities of home. For some returnees, the initial period of excitement lasts less than a month with others reporting it to last only a few hours. 3.2 Common Challenges and Strategies Volunteers who return home find that there are common feelings and experiences that they encounter. Some of these include: ■ Boredom: After the dynamism and
challenge of your volunteer assignment, some people find their home environment to be stagnant or boring. ■ Feelings of mourning or loss: It is
common to feel sadness about the people or life you have left behind or for the situations that you simply could not resolve before departure.
■ No one seems interested: It may be
difficult to find people who understand your experiences or who are deeply interested in what you have lived through. This may be because they have limited abilities to draw comparisons with their own lives or have different interests and world views. ■ Reverse homesickness: If you adapted
to your host culture, a part of you is now ‘at home’ there. Because of this, you may feel alienated at home or miss certain aspects of your assignment location. ■ Things at home have changed: People,
places and things change in ways that are both positive and negative. Some relationships will have been strengthened while others weakened. ■ You have changed: Integrating your
new experiences and knowledge into your home context may be challenging for you. Other people may misunderstand you or your new ways of ‘being and doing’. ■ Feelings of depression, void, apathy or
lack of energy and enthusiasm: It is very common to go through a period characterized by these feelings. How long these periods last depend on your coping strategies and the support that you receive from your community.
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■ Changes in status: As an expatriate
volunteer, a volunteer serving within the UN system, or as a person bringing expertise, one is often placed in a position of respect and authority. The high status that is held whilst on assignment is often a contrast to the status that one normally holds at home, and it may be difficult to accept what may be perceived as a fall in status upon return. ■ The contrast in life, culture and weather:
Inevitably, you will make comparisons between life at home and life at the duty station. Things such as the vibrancy of the people, the access to goods and services, the changes in the weather, etc can make you idealize one place or the other or cause situational stress.
feelings now and over the course of reintegration. The different reflection fields might be: ■ social relations (you may also find
yourself exploring how you and the people around you have changed as you might have grown apart from some friends, you no longer have the same interests, it might become necessary to find new friends) ■ search for job/training (You may think
about how you will market the competencies gained whilst volunteering, etc) ■ cultural life ■ physical environment (housing,
space) ■ ways to link your host culture to your
As with every aspect of the reverse culture shock process, the way in which you overcome the challenges you face will be highly personalized. Simply being aware that reverse culture shock exists will already ease the process to some extent. Some possible strategies and solutions are outlined here; chose those that fit with your situation and personality. ■ Start mentally preparing for the
adjustment process before ending your assignment: Ongoing reflection is useful in terms of clarifying your thoughts and
home culture (find ways to incorporate your news interests and cross-cultural skills into your life here – keep in touch with your experience!) ■ See the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit if
you are interested in more ideas or guidance. ■ Give yourself enough time:
Reintegration is a process not a onetime event. Avoid putting time pressures or deadlines on how you feel or on major life decisions.
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■ Learn about what has changed: Family
members, friends, politics, job markets, technology, popular culture and even your favorite restaurants may have changed since you left for your volunteer assignment. Look for ways to learn about your own culture. ■ Avoid being defensive, aggressive or
making excessive comparisons: People at home may not be able to understand your ideas or empathize with your experiences. This can be extremely frustrating for a returnee; try to remain positive and flexible when in these situations. ■ Cultivate good listening practices: One
of the best ways to ensure that you have an audience for your stories is to show that you care about their stories. Being a good listener will reinforce mutually respectful and beneficial relationships. ■ Seek support networks: Many people
find that the biggest challenge of returning home is finding people who are like-minded or with whom they can share their experiences. In a recent survey of former UN Volunteers, 70% of those surveyed felt that finding someone who might understand their experience was a significant challenge to their reintegration process. In order to
overcome this, you may want to maintain contacts with other volunteers, develop contacts within sociallyoriented organizations, discuss your experiences with people who travel frequently or people who visited you on your assignment, take language classes, or generally find other outlets that attract people of a similar mind-set. All of these social networks can now be maintained in person or online; recently, UN Volunteers have been communicating by means of blogs and online forums. ■ Find ways to manage your stress: There
are many techniques to manage stress, and you will know best what works for you. Some ideas are to continue to keep a journal, do meditation, get involved in sports or start to volunteer. ■ Teach people about your host location:
People may have a short attention span for stories, but there are other ways to bridge the cultural gap. Try teaching people about your host location through cooking lessons of traditional foods, giving dance or music lessons, etc. The benefits of volunteering outside of your home culture are many, but these benefits and what they mean to you may not be immediately apparent. Thinking back over what you have learned, the
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people you have met, the lives you have impacted will be the legacy you carry throughout reintegration and to your life beyond. 3.3 Stress and Medical Considerations Attention to your health may not be foremost in your mind given the number of other things you have to take care of when you return from your volunteer assignment. However, during this transitional time, it is very important to guard your health. You may expect some extra exhaustion, depression or anxiety, which are normal accompaniments to long distance travel and the stress of returning home. Most of these conditions are temporary and preventable to some degree, but will require planning, understanding and attention to your personal limits. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that there are certain health risks that increase after extended periods of time in areas where hygiene and sanitation are inadequate, medical services are not well developed and clean water is not easily available. The risks you have faced personally depend on many factors, such as how different the location of assignment is from your home, how much time you spent in the field and your personal behavior patterns. If you have
been accompanied by children, they have encountered health challenges that are different to those that adults experience, so it is recommended to be particularly diligent with respect to their health. Many tropical illnesses do not exhibit symptoms for months after being contracted or may be confused with the exhaustion and stress of the move. In order to rule out tropical illnesses, it is advisable to talk to a doctor with experience in tropical medicine about having a basic medical checkup. If you wish, an exit medical can be done at the UN Clinic before your repatriation travel, if such a clinic exists. This makes sense if there are unresolved medical issues of which the UN doctor is aware. Get a copy of your medical records to take home with you. Alternatively, you can undertake the exam in your home medical system with a doctor who specializes in tropical medicine or who is familiar with the region you have been on assignment to. Always mention to your doctor where you have been living. In either case, discuss cost recovery charges with the doctor before undertaking the exams, as these costs are not currently covered by Vanbreda insurance or the UNV programme. In a world with HIV, it’s important to know one’s own HIV status. This is even more
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important if you have been living abroad for a long period of time, far away from home. If you are HIV-infected, it is important to be tested as early as possible, so that a doctor can monitor your health and begin therapy when it will be most effective. If you are not HIVinfected, being tested can help reduce your anxiety and provide an opportunity to personalize your own HIV-prevention plan with a trained counselor. In most countries, there are many places where you can get tested for HIV. It is recommended that you get the HIV test done at a health clinic or at a specialist HIV & AIDS voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) site where confidentiality is guaranteed. When you go to get tested, you will see a doctor, trained counselor, a nurse or another health professional in private. He or she will explain what the test involves and what the results mean. More information is available on HIV at www.uncares.org. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of each individual to protect their health and welfare upon return from their volunteer assignment. Up-to-date and in-depth information is available on the international travel advisory site of the WHO at http://www.who.int/ith/en/. Reading can be targeted at health considerations that are specific to the
area or country in which you were living. If malaria exists at your location of assignment, but not at your home location, look for the symptoms. If you exhibit these symptoms, you should take into consideration you may have malaria and immediately consult a doctor. Many volunteers find that readjusting to life at home can be difficult and generate mixed emotions; this is discussed in detail in the section on reverse culture shock. In addition to the normal stresses encountered at the end of an assignment, you may experience “burnout”. Burnout is a state of mental or physical exhaustion, due to work-related or emotional stress. If not caught in time, burnout can lead to both physical and emotional illness that will need the support of the medical community and your social networks to overcome. As with all other medical issues, it will be important for you or people within your support network to be able to recognize the possible signs of burnout. These include: ■ Chronic fatigue - exhaustion, tiredness,
a sense of being physically run down ■ Anger ■ Self-criticism
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■ Cynicism, negativity, and irritability ■ Frequent headaches or gastrointestinal
illness ■ Weight loss or gain ■ Sleeplessness and depression ■ Shortness of breath ■ Suspiciousness
irrelevant. What it does mean is that the types of positions you are interested in, the type of office environment that you may find rewarding, and the competencies you bring with you to the employment arena are likely to have changed. These changes can be reflected upon and planned for, and doing so will ultimately enrich your job seeking experience.
■ Feelings of helplessness ■ Increased degree of risk taking
If you find yourself experiencing these symptoms, don’t ignore them. Talk to whomever you feel will provide you with the best support: family members, friends, medical professionals or supervisors. 3.4 Employment Looking for employment is something that many full-time volunteers pursue at the end of their volunteer assignments. However, be prepared that you may not face your employment search in quite the same way that you would have previously expected. In a survey of 549 Canadian volunteers, 46% of respondents found that their career decisions were greatly affected by their volunteer experience, and another 40% had their career decisions impacted to some extent (CIDA). This does not mean that everything you know about job search is
3.5 How to Conduct a Job Search The stages of an effective job search include reflecting on your priorities, doing background research, planning, taking action and re-adjusting your strategy. Reflection: Begin with brainstorming what you want in a job. You likely started this process with your end-of-assignment reflection exercises, but it can be done separately if you prefer. Use mind-maps, lists or matrices to begin to clarify what you are looking for in a job. Examine your interests, skills, and preferences. Background Research: In this phase, start to look at the types of work, organizations, and postings that match the criteria you are interested in. Where you will look for job postings will be greatly influenced by your home context. Perhaps you live where everything is done by word-ofmouth? Or conversely, you may live in an
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internet society. Consider whether the method of posting jobs has changed since you went away. If you are moving on to a third culture, it will pay to investigate how and where DoAs are posted in the target location. Some former UN Volunteers find looking for employment in the social sector or with in other institutions with strong social mandates to be the most fruitful. Other volunteers chose to setting up their own business. Planning: In this stage, you will set out your strategy, along with a concrete plan of action. Include a timeline or other motivational milestones in your plan. Consider your financial situation, your list of contacts, what method of application will you use (online, direct, etc), and what other actions you need to take (revising CV, buying job search clothes, etc). Taking Action: You have made your plan, now pursue it! Some tasks in this phase may be: Write or revise your CV: There is good online advice on CV writing.. The biggest tips are to ensure that you contextualise your CV in terms of what is appropriate for the post and country of application, and to ensure that you have someone else proofread your CV.
Before revising your CV, think critically about what you have learned during your volunteer assignment, and what competencies you now possess that put you at an advantage over other job seekers. The reflection process may help you to identify these skills. Through your volunteer experience it is likely that you have learned new skills or enhanced skills that you already possessed by applying them in a new context. Most returning volunteers feel that the level of professional and cultural complexity they are now able to manage has greatly increased. They often feel improved confidence, flexibility, resourcefulness, patience, tolerance, openness and ability to manage under change. Make contact with your networks: Prepare emails, social events, visits, or phone calls with the people you have identified as key contacts. If you are shy about ‘networking’, contact them to say ‘hello’ and to let them know you are back from your volunteer assignment. Practice interviewing: There are many generic interview questions that come up over and over again. It pays to have practiced responses to these and clear examples of your work experience related to the DoA so that your preparation for an individual interview is streamlined. Search
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for ‘interview questions’ online. It is recommended to practice your responses out loud, and if possible do a mock interview with a friend or family member asking you the questions. Interview: An interview is a presentation of you. Think in advance of what questions employers may ask and read up on their work. It is well known that many posts are never advertised, but filled informally through the process of ‘I know someone who would be good at this’. Therefore, it is worth it to add the following techniques to your job search repertoire: Call select organizations: The primary objective of this tactic is to make a human contact within an organization, whilst finding out more about what they do and what their values are. Prepare a script before you call, and practice what you would like to say. Be respectful of people’s time, as it will reflect poorly on you if you are not. If you are nervous about this process, start by doing a practice phone call with a friend. Ask them to act the part of a potential employer. Book an informational interview: If your phone call was successful, try to book an appointment or informational interview with someone in the human resource
department or the department that you are interested in. Focus on fact-finding rather than ‘getting a job’. Re-adjustment: Take the time to reflect on what you have learned thus far and incorporate this into a revised plan. 3.6 Employment Considerations for Spouses and Partners The preceding section on employment contains information that is relevant to spouses and partners who are planning to look for work upon their arrival home. They will also benefit from the reflection process as outlined in the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit. In addition to these tools, there are a few considerations that may be specific to spouses and partners, particularly if s/he was not working at the location of the volunteer assignment: ■ The process of clarifying what
competencies the spouse or partner has developed is very important. S/he will likely have developed language skills or contributed substantially to the logistics of setting up and operating a household. Perhaps s/he volunteered his or her time, joined community groups, worked part time or completed consultancies. All of these activities will be sources of skills and competencies.
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■ Non-working spouses or partners may
not have up-to-date networks that they activate easily, so they may want to focus in this area well in advance of a move. Some ideas are friends and family members who are working in your field of interest, former colleagues, mentors, or alumni groups. ■ Letters of reference can be difficult if
one has not been working. Fellow team members from volunteer groups are useful in this respect. Another idea is to alert previous referees that you will begin looking again, and ask them if they are still willing to give a reference on your behalf. 3.7 Further education You may decide to pursue further education or a change in your field of specialisation after you have completed your volunteer assignment. The steps to take when considering your educational options are very similar to job search: reflecting on your priorities and interests, doing background research, planning, and taking action.
During the reflection phase for your educational options, things that may come up are: ■ Your areas of interest ■ New technologies or areas of research
that have developed since you last studied ■ Time availability (Part time, full time, for how long?) ■ Finances ■ Location (Near your home town, online,
elsewhere in the world? Factors that may influence this are the specialisations offered at the institution, costs or timing of the programme.) ■ Employability (Is it important that you
are more employable at the end of this? In which areas? Do the prospective programmes have good employability ratings?) Other factors to consider will likely come up as you progress through the reflection and onto the research stages.
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Once you have mapped out your criteria, it will be easier to proceed with the research and planning stages. In order to conduct research, most institutions have web pages that give an overview of their courses. However, you may want to request a calendar from certain institutions so that you have detailed information about their entrance schedule, entry requirements, and costs. Some institutions offer ‘open days’ where prospective students can visit the campus and get a sense of its culture and programmes. This often includes a tour of services and a discussion with current or graduated students. If you cannot make it for the day, try requesting the documents and contact information of student representatives from the day. Sources of funding for your education will be country specific and depend on your background. Some scholarship or bursary programmes are run through embassies or development programmes and will require country specific research. Information on many scholarship programmes can be found through
internet search engines if you search for ‘scholarships’ in the country and language that you are interested in studying in. 3.8 Sabbatical or Time Off Some volunteers may decide to take a break or sabbatical after their volunteer assignments. This may be due to a multitude of personal considerations including wanting time with one’s family, needing time to recuperate from a stressful volunteer assignment, taking care of one’s health or to simply needing some time to relax. Whatever the reason that you chose to take a sabbatical, note that you are not alone: 66% of people who participated in a Swiss survey and who did not return to work immediately after a volunteer assignment cited personal reasons or a sabbatical as their reason for not doing so (CINFO).
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4. How to stay involved Your assignment is complete, but the learning experience you have taken part in does not need to be over. Your assignment is just one stage in a lifelong commitment to making positive change. As each of you is a unique individual, the activities you undertake will be as diverse and dynamic as you are: it doesn’t matter where you are based, how much time you have, or whether you promote volunteerism for peace and development specifically. You have a valuable role to play. “If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to sleep with a mosquito.” Anita Roddick,(Founder of The Body Shop)
This final chapter will outline a few of the ways you can stay involved. These include continuing to advocate for and promote volunteerism for peace and development, seeking another UNV assignment, continuing to volunteer, mobilizing volunteers, and staying in contact with the UNV programme. These ideas do not present the end, but simply a beginning, to the ideas and opportunities that you can generate.
4.1 Continue to Advocate for Volunteerism for Peace and Development In today’s information age, advocacy is an important tool to capture the attention of governments and of general populations. The role that media plays in our societies cannot be underestimated, with the opinions of international organizations, governments and local communities being heavily influenced by what is portrayed. Laws and policies are influenced by these opinions, which in turn have direct impacts on people’s day-to-day lives. Advocating for and promoting volunteerism for peace and development is your chance to influence how people perceive volunteerism and volunteers, and to move their understanding beyond philanthropy and skills development. Volunteerism is a powerful tool that can be used to generate a momentum, mobilizing other people into serviceoriented action. With this in mind, advocating for volunteerism can mean many things. It may mean raising the profile of volunteers within your community by writing an article about local volunteers for the newspaper or by designing a volunteer recognition
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ceremony for a local organization. Presentations at local organizations or universities are a way to demonstrate to the next generation the value and complexity of volunteering. Advocacy could mean getting involved with larger organizations, marches, or public events, all the while highlighting ways that volunteerism can provide greater leverage to these agendas. You may also want to advocate for the UNV program itself, encouraging people to consider the broader principles that we embrace and possibly to apply to become a UN Volunteers themselves. If you are short on ideas, try talking to people around you or looking on the internet for topics that might interest you. At the end of your volunteer assignment, you are strongly encouraged to write about your experiences. How to get started on this process is covered in the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit. The stories, lessons, and other documents that you generate will help to raise awareness about volunteerism and of the positive impacts that it can have on development. If you share this information with UNV, it will improve UNV’s ability to meet the needs of the poor, through more informed programming. It will also serve to support incoming volunteers’ needs for information, good practices and tested
advice. Channels for sharing these items are: ■ Via your UNV Field Unit: Share photos,
stories, project documents. The UNV Field Unit in your country of assignment will then link with the UNV Knowledge and Innovative Section and Communication Unit at headquarters, the UNDP Public Information Unit, with local press and with volunteer networks in other countries. Note that UNV is in the process of setting up a social network for former UN Volunteers which you can access once it is fully operational (see point 4.3 below for more detail) ■ Submit article ideas through your end-
of-assignment report: Near the end of your report, you will be asked to submit ideas, articles, etc on your volunteer assignment activities. ■ Upload your documents onto the World
Volunteer Web at http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/tools/ contribute.html. The World Volunteer Web supports the volunteer community by serving as a global focal site for information and resources linked to volunteerism. These can be used for campaigning, advocacy and networking.
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For ideas or inspiration, try looking back at your journal, photographs, project documents or other notes that you have kept. If appropriate, telling stories can outline the special role that being a volunteer or volunteerism played in helping you reach the objectives of your assignment. See the Volunteer Reflection Toolkit for guidance on how to write articles.
Prior to reactivating your profile in the UNV database of candidates, UNV will request a recommendation from the UNV Field Unit of your country of assignment. Subsequent to this, the recruitment will follow the usual process of waiting for appropriate assignments to become available, interviewing against the Description of Assignment, and waiting for selection.
To stay abreast of UN advocacy tools, try searching UN agency websites. Alternatively, there may be a chapter of a United Nations Association (UNA) in your home country. These groups have regular meetings to discuss UN activities and to plan events at the national level.
4.3 Continue to Volunteer A research on the effects of the national UN Volunteers programme in Mongolia found that 100% of the former national UN Volunteers said that they were somehow involved in volunteer activities on a regular basis after their UNV assignment (CSD, Centre for Coscial Development, Ulaanbaatar). The findings of the research also suggested that the former volunteers “developed pro-social attitudes such as helping others, looking for possibilities to improve their social environment and situation, involvement in volunteer activities, civil society and NGO activities and developed leadership skills in encouraging other to participate� (CSD). Many former volunteers feel that this is important in order to maintain their new beliefs while at the same time apply their new skills and competencies in the home context. Consider where you would like to donate your time, what type of volunteer
4.2 Seek another UNV assignment In a 2007 survey of former UN Volunteers, 85% of the volunteers who were interested in staying involved with the UNV programme were interested in applying for another UNV assignment. If you are interested in doing the same, you must activate your profile in the UNV database of candidates by updating your availability and your entire profile through http://MyProfile.unv.org. A summary of your experience as UN Volunteer should be added to the professional experience section of your profile.
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assignment would be rewarding to you, what type of skills you would like to use or develop, and how much time can you afford to give. If you are looking for ideas on how or where to volunteer, many countries or cities now have websites that function as clearinghouses for volunteer assignments. Another idea is to look on the World Volunteer Web at http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/takeaction/be-a-volunteer.html. Additional sites can be searched online. Another option is to approach organizations that are of interest to you and ask them directly if they are willing to take you on as a volunteer. If you are interested in directly contributing your local knowledge, consider becoming a buddy or a mentor to local organizations or universities that send students on international assignments. Unfortunately, after the end of your assignment you may find yourself with a desire to continue volunteering but overwhelmed with time constraints and family obligations. If this is the case, you may want to consider volunteering during your holiday periods, or volunteering online. By continuing to volunteer over the internet via the UNV Online Volunteering Service (www.onlinevolunteering.org) you
can directly assist development organizations, working from a computer anywhere in the world. Volunteering online gives you a great degree of flexibility, there is no travel involved and you can volunteer the hours that fit your schedule. Finally, you may feel that the best way for you to continue to donate your time is via a direct linkage to a community that you got to know during your UNV assignment. If so, supporting them through a small project may be appropriate. Some steps are: ■ Take the time to speak with local people
and generate a general concept or idea of what you would like to do. This can be discussed with other colleagues, or you could conduct a needs analysis. If a similar project already exists, how would this project be different or what could it add? ■ Make the appropriate contacts before
you leave your assignment location, as these may be difficult to secure later. ■ Research broad ideas as to who could
be potential funders in this area. What are their areas of interest and criteria? ■ Select the appropriate funders and
prepare your application according to their application requirements.
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■ Follow up on the applications you
submit Online research or lessons learnt from other projects can provide a good basis for developing these ideas. The former UN Volunteer network UNV is currently developing a ‘former UN Volunteer network’ to be launched in 2011 as part of the celebrations to mark the 10th Anniversary of International Year of Volunteers. The network, to be built initially online, is designed to provide a forum for peer-peer support, to facilitate peace and development related discussions and the exchange of resources, as well as to create and promote opportunities to stay involved with volunteer related activities online and onsite. At the time of writing we are piloting the network hosted on a platform, developed by UNDP called ‘Teamworks’. Once the pilot phase is complete, the intention is to open it up to all former UN Volunteers for which we will develop a user-friendly registration process and communicate this to all former UN Volunteers that we can contact. In the meantime to keep up-todate with developments and opportunities you can visit http://www.unv.org/how-tovolunteer/former-unv-volunteers/the-ne
twork.html. For further information you can email the Volunteer Networking Specialist responsible for the network, at Former.Volunteers@unvolunteers.org.
4.4 Mobilize Volunteers A very practical way to stay involved in volunteerism is to continue to mobilize volunteers. If you know of dynamic, skilled and committed people who you can recommend to roster with UNV, this is most appreciated. Or perhaps you will see an opportunity to mobilize volunteers within your community or an organization that you are involved in. If you are in a position to plan projects that could be made more effective through the use of volunteers or require ideas on how volunteerism could magnify the impact of the organization’s developmental efforts, please contact the UNV focal person closest to you. 4.5 UNV Contact Information As one of the nearly 40,000 members of the UN Volunteers alumni, (know as former UN Volunteers) you are part of a global community and an extended member of the UNV family. If you are interested in staying informed about what is happening within the organization as well as in finding local and global opportunities to remain active with peace
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and development issues through peer discussions and events reach us at the information below: General enquiries: Email: information@unvolunteers.org Or: former.volunteers@unvolunters.org Tel: +49-228-815 2000 Fax: +49-228-815 2001 Web site feedback/queries: webmaster@unvolunteers.org Mailing Address: United Nations Volunteers Postfach 260 111 D-53153 Bonn Germany
“Remember it’s a time of transition. Be good to yourself by taking the time to relax, reflect and re-enter your home.”
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References Adler, Nancy J. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, Fourth Addition. South-Western, 2002. Association Française des Volontaires du Progrès. Le Carnet de Route du Volontaires du Progrès. Available at: www.afvp.org [Accessed 6 November 2007]. Australian Volunteers. Website. Available at: http://www.australianvolunteers.com/part ners/index.asp?menuid=230.020 [Accessed 28 April 2008]. Bennett, Janet. ‘Transition Shock : Putting Culture Shock in Perspective’. Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication. Intercultural Press, 1998. Bridges, William. Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes. AddisonWesley Publishing Company, 1980. British Red Cross. Good practice guide for leaders and managers of volunteers in the British Red Cross. British Red Cross, 2003.
Cadenhead-Hames, Rhona. Study Abroad Re-Entry Handbook: Returning home after a study abroad experiencesmoothly. University of Buffalo, 2004. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The Power of Volunteering: A Review of The Canadian Volunteer Cooperation Program: Evaluation Report. CIDA, 2005. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/37/44/354 19744.pdf [Accessed 24 April 2008]. Centre d’Information, de Conseil et de Formation Professions de la Cooperation Internationale (CINFO). Cooperation internationale : Les Defie Lies au Retour, August 2002. Available at: http://www.cinfo.ch/mAny/mResource/pd f/PU_D20f.pdf [Accessed 28 April 2008]. CSD. Study on the Effects of the National United Nations Volunteers programme in Mongolia, Centre for Social Development, 2005. CINFO. Intercultural Communication. Veronique Schaeffel. PowerPoint presentation. CINFO, 2006.
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Comhlanh. A Returned Development Worker’s Handbook, Fourth Edition. Comhlanh, 1998. Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Government, AusAID, Volunteers and Australian Development Cooperation. Available at: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pd f/volunteers.pdf [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Esslinger, Sonia. “International volunteers returning: an insight”. Australian Journal on Volunteering, 10:1, pgs 4851. Hartzell, Nedra K. Next Steps: Life After Americorps. Available at: http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/ filemanager/download/Next_Steps/Next Steps.pdf [Accessed 14 April 2008]. International Crescent of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). International Recruitment Handbook. IFRC, 2000. International Voluntary Service. T-Kit Number 5. Available at: www.trainingyouth.net [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Council of Europe and European Commission, 2002.
Kelly, Sean and Robert Case. The Overseas Experience: A passport to improved volunteerism. Available at: http://www.cuso.org/images/DOCUMEN TS/PUBLICATIONS/CUSO_OverseasEx perience070111_E.pdf [Accessed 29 April 2008]. Imagine Canada, 2007. Longo, Manuela. Life After UNV. UNV Philippines, date unknown. Mayo Clinic. Job Burnout: Know the signs and symptoms. Available at: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/burno ut/WL00062 [Accessed 9 May 2008]. McCurley, Steve. Volunteer Evaluation. Available at: http://www.casanet.org/programmanagement/volunteer-manage/voleval. htm [Accessed 28 April 2008]. On-line Cultural Training Resource for Study Abroad. What’s Up with Culture? Available at: http://www3.uop.edu/sis/culture/index.ht m [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Pascoe, Robin. Website. Available at: http://www.expatexpert.com/rr_coming_ home [Accessed 24 April 2008].
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Schlossberg, Nancy. “A Model for Analyzing Human Adaption to Transition”. The Consulting Psychologist, 9:2, pgs 2-18. Service Civil International. A Handbook for SCI Activists and Volunteers: Longterm Volunteering in SCI, Version 3, 2004. Available at: http://www.sciint.org/LTEG/ [Accessed 14 April 2008]. Storti, Craig. The Art of Coming Home. Available at: www.craigstorti.com [Accessed 28 April 2008]. UNV. Conditions of Service for international UN Volunteers. UNV, 2006.
UNV. Volunteer Reflection Toolkit. UNV, 2008. Volunteer Canada. Website. Available at: www.volunteercanada.ca [Accessed 29 April 2008]. Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO). Looking Ahead: A Leavers’ Pack for Returning Volunteers. VSO UK, 2005. VSO. Preparing for the Future: A selfstudy guide for returning volunteers. VSO UK, 2005. Wikipedia. Third Culture Kids. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Culture _Kids [Accessed 28 April 2008]
UNV. Guide for UN Volunteers on promoting volunteerism for peace and development. UNV, 2009. UNV. Former UN Volunteer Survey; Survey Live: 05/10/2007 - 19/10/2007. UNV, 2007.
This is a living document that will change as your needs change. If you have comments and additions that you feel can make it more useful, please send your feedback to volunteer_tools@unv.org.It is hoped that the exercises and topics discussed will help to make your transition a successful one. We look forward to hearing from you in the future.
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NOTES
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NOTES
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UNV is administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)