Guidelines - Responsible Exchange and Volunteering 2018

3. On-Project Living – where a placement lives on the project site. This is most common on school, orphanage/child care and social support projects. This is often considered the most difficult and high-risk format for both the hosting organisations as well as the participants. I. General awareness and preparation – in this regard, as a host organisation offering on-project living, you must consider all points made above. II. Importance of “being a role model” – due to the typical nature of these arrangements for projects, it is imperative that the concept of “role - model” is understood by the participant as they will be regarded by the children/learners at the project in this way. III. Living & integration – as outlined above IV. Organisational structural awareness – participants must have a clear awareness that they are support to existing structures and therefore subordinate to local permanent staff – even if they have a lower educational background! V. Recharge time – Participants must focus on regularly leaving the project in order to recharge batteries. It is advised that this should not be longer than three weeks in the project without taking at least a full weekend away. For host organisations, this should be incorporated into your operational planning so as to support the recharge time effectively.

Benefits of on-project living:

I. Project connectivity, emersion and relevance – being on-site is a powerful and intimate engagement with the project and its needs, with the culture into which the participant is placed and into the lives of those with whom the project works. Clearly this has the potential for co-benefits to host, participant and other persons linked to the project. II. Logistics and participant management – with the participant living on site, it can reduce logistical aspects and costs for the host organisation.

Typical on-project living challenges:

I.

Comfort zone – as outlined above

II.

Cultural incompatibilities – as outlined above

III.

Safety – as outlined above

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