I had a group of 5 grad students come out from one of the area universities a couple of weeks ago. There were two projects we asked them to do
- Set up an apartment for a new resident, and
- Give the small group kitchen a thorough cleaning.
And yet, when I asked the site director how the kitchen looked the following day, she hesitated and said: "It looks alright, I guess."
I had my doubts about the group. One girl came in a dress and espadrilles. Never a good sign. And the two girls (they were all girls) who made the bed didn't really know what they were doing... they didn't know to tuck the sheets in under the mattress. Who doesn't know how to make a bed?
I'm sure the kitchen cleaning would have gone better had I been there overseeing each step, but honestly, what part of "take items out of the cabinets, wash the cabinets, and put the items back in, getting rid of the expired foods" is hard to understand? And even though we asked them to also clean out the fridge, they didn't even touch it. And, I was told, the group left two hours early (after arriving an hour late - although that part I didn't mind because I got lost on the way to the site too).
I realize my blog is turning into a never-ending rant and whine about volunteers and volunteer coordination, but good grief!
I have had fantastic groups of grad students from this same university so I don't want to dismiss them entirely. But the so-so groups vastly outweigh the good ones.
My question is, how do I politely let the volunteer coordinator at the school know that the volunteers they sent weren't very good? Is there even a point in doing so? And how much is my fault? I thought I provided adequate instruction and supervision, but maybe I didn't.
3 comments:
If your instructions said "clean out the refridgerator" and they didn't, I can't see how your instructions were at fault. I would call the school and tell them about your experience. Schools that have service days are under pressure to actually have service opportunities, and if you're dissatisfied enough to stop giving them opportunities, they're in trouble. It's up to them to tell the students what is expected of them (show up on time, dress appropriately, don't leave early, follow instructions) and as you've said earlier, you have plenty of other schools looking to volunteer.
I don't think you're overreacting at all.
More charities should demand that a group leader make an advance site visit to learn what is expected/required by the charity and how to instruct participants on advance preparation including attire, as well as how to get there. This group leader should be present on the volunteer day and take charge, not depend on the charity to manage the group.
As some may know, at People Making a Difference (PMD), we provide a detailed checklist for participants so that they dress appropriately and understand the impact of their work and the consequences of late arrivals and early departures. We empower our volunteer leaders, called project managers, to turn away people who are improperly dressed, unprepared (i.e., no drinking water at an outdoor project), and/or a safety hazard to themselves or others.
If you want to learn more about training volunteer groups to give their best, email me for an article I wrote, plus some tips that I developed with the Emmanuel Gospel Center, Pine Street Inn, and the Boston Project Ministries.
lori at pmd dot org
Ich habe fantastische Gruppen grad Studenten aus derselben Universität hatte, so will ich nicht, um sie vollständig zu schließen. Aber die so-so Gruppen weit überwiegen die guten.
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