What challenge inspired this recipe?
Having a mentor during your volunteering project is incredibly valuable and beneficial for volunteers. A mentor provides volunteers with valuable guidance and direction throughout the volunteering project. We believe that having mentors who have also been volunteers themselves previously can offer added value, such as peer support for the incoming volunteers as they can share their knowledge, insights, and advice, but also relate to volunteer problems or challenges that can occur.
Ingredients :
Some of the key skills a mentor should have include: communication skills, empathy and emotional intelligence, problem-solving skills, encouragement and motivation, time management and cultural sensitivity.
Step by step guide
To implement this best practice it is beneficial to discuss this opportunity already in the pre-departure training, as you discuss what opportunities there are to continue with internationalization and volunteering after the ESC project. This way, the outgoing volunteers already know from the beginning about this opportunity.
After the outgoing volunteer returns to the home country, you can ask if they are interested in peer mentoring for example through an evaluation form. For previous long term outgoing volunteers who are interested in peer mentoring, you can execute trainings or common meetings to discuss the guidelines for mentoring.
If the coordinating organization does not work as a sending organization, they could team up with an organization that sends volunteers.
Important to highlight!To conclude, having a mentor who is also a previous ESC volunteer can provide the incoming volunteers peer support and a safe space to open up about the problems that may occur between them and the project place. A mentor usually can help a volunteer in finding friends or can share some important information about the hosting country. A mentor can serve as an objective observer, providing constructive feedback on volunteer work and progress. This feedback is essential for continuous improvement and self-reflection, which can ultimately lead to a more impactful volunteering experience. |
Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
Sometimes it is difficult to find mentors who have been previous volunteers themselves depending on the local context.
