May 01, 2005

how to deal with a volunteer

There’s a foreign volunteer in the office – a first in its 30 years. The volunteer is assigned in the division where I belong and in fact, we’ll be working together for an advocacy project. Below are some tips that I gleaned from the the anticipatory days and the first three actual days of the volunteer’s stay.
The guiding rule is never alienate the volunteer. So prior to the volunteer’s arrival, see to it that the volunteer is in the daily conversations. Make some guesses on the appearance and if you can’t, think harder. Make sure that the room is squeaky squeaky squeaky clean. Hold a lunch party on the volunteer’s first day. Orient the volunteer with a power point presentation. Speak English, especially if the conversation is within the volunteers’s earshot. Assume the volunteer’s accent or the volunteer might not remember it. If you want to switch to favorite conversations like Darna, make sure that you tell the entire story to the volunteer. Assume that the volunteer is always interested in what you are talking about. If the volunteer is silent, ask the volunteer some trigger questions like if the volunteer knows how to cook rice. It doesn’t matter what the volunteer would answer, any mumble from the volunteer’s lips must signal you to talk about the procedures on how to cook rice through (a) rice cooker, (b) electric stove, and (c) wood fire. Make sure that you take a picture of the volunteer every three seconds and your picture together every four seconds. Explain to the volunteer about the kodakan culture of the Filipinos. Explain further to the volunteer that kodak is a brand name of film used in taking pictures. Tell the volunteer some native words including their synonyms, antonyms and homonyms. Applaud when the volunteer writes these words down. Never allow the volunteer to keep silent. Remember, you don’t want to alienate the volunteer. If you can’t think of things to ask the volunteer, ask the volunteer about the previous questions that has been asked. Rejoice if the volunteer answered correctly. If not, explain again the supposed answer in an enthusiastic manner. When the day ends and the volunteer is preparing to get home, ask the volunteer if the volunteer remembers the way home. Then tell the volunteer what would be your schedule for tomorrow regardless of whether the volunteer is part of it or not. Say goodbye in the native tongue then translate it to the volunteer even if the volunteer has already one foot outside the door. Wave and say waving is a Filipino culture. Congratulate each other for a successful day of not alienating the volunteer.

eyed at 11:01 PM

6comments

6 Comments

at 6:11 PM Blogger bananarit said...

you can also tell the volunteer that she need not worry if she doesn't have a rice cooker. comfort her with the idea that in case she burns the rice, it will go well with sinigang.

then continue the conversation by telling her that sinigang is one of the favorite dishes of Filipinos. there's sinigang na hipon, sinigang na baboy, sinigang na bangus, etc. then go on by giving her the recipes of these dishes. don't forget to applaud if she writes down the recipes.

other topics of conversation so as not to alienate the volunteer:

- explain how each of you got your names (this is perfect if you have a long name; in case you have names taken from your relatives' names, make sure that you give a profile of your relative to the volunteer)
- talk about the commercials frequently shown on tv (commercials which have ongoing plots are perfect, e.g., surf, tide, coffeemate, etc.)
- before the volunteer leaves the office, you can also ask her to watch a particular show on TV; make sure that you also do the same, so the next day, you have an instant topic of conversation (it will also be great if you do a research on the artists of the TV show; the volunteer would be very grateful about this "big-time knowledge")
there are a lot of ways, actually. just always bear in mind that your goal is NOT TO ALIENATE THE VOLUNTEER!

 
at 7:36 PM Blogger ikabod said...

first off, you must make it clear that here we take baths at least once a day, and it's against our culture to have to endure demonstrations of alternative hygiene.

then pop the balut challenge as soon as possible after the arrival pleasantries, but postpone the actual balut eating until near the end of the volunteer's stay. this ensures that you have an emergency conversation any time you get bored with each other..."how'd ya like t'have that balut right now, ha?!"

local nicknames never fail to fascinate them: door bell names- bing, bing-bong, ding, ding-dong; echo names- bimbim, ging-ging, tata, toto, nong-nong, che-che; grown men called boy, old women named girlie....

of course, you could never go wrong with teaching your intern all the local cuss words, pinoy slang of body parts and vulgar sex words.

make it clear that all this you would do only if your volunteer takes a bath everyday.

 
at 8:21 PM Blogger eyed said...

salamat sa mga tips, sasabihin ko yan sa mga office mates ko na ayaw tantanan ang volunteer. nagawa na rin pala yung tungkol sa nga pangalan ("i don't like my name coz it's named after a movie star who we call the diamond star...no, stress on the second syllable...it's maRIcel...yes, that's right").

aktwali, mabango sya, hehe. cute din. mukhang mabait. tama, tuturuan ko sya nga mga cuss words (e.g., lumayas ka sa harap ko, ugok!) para meron naman syang masabi pag naiingayan na sya. nyehehe...

 
at 7:30 PM Blogger ikabod said...

mabango, cute at mabait.... hmmmm....

 
at 11:41 AM Blogger click & crash said...

ay delikado na... time to ALIENATE THE VOLUNTEER!!! daliiii!

 
at 3:43 PM Blogger batik billy said...

But most importantly - DO NOT GIVE YOUR BLOG ADDRESS TO THE VOLUNTEER!! Hee hee, no just joking - Thank you for sharing your blog I!

 

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