Untrained on the frontline: The importance of predeployment training for aid workers and volunteers

BASEL — Using the light on his phone as a torch, James worked into the early evening to reconnect the water supply to a refugee housing unit on a long-term camp in Greece. It was well past curfew and unsafe for him to be on camp. He was not supposed to fix the plumbing for individual units in any case. But that night, none of that mattered to him; people needed his help. That is why he volunteered in the first place, after all. But, he could have put himself and the family he wanted to help in danger. James didn’t know any better: An education training manager and student with no experience in crisis response or coordination. He only had a 45-minute briefing in a hotel and a one-hour walk through the camp before he interacted with the vulnerable population. With a high turnover of volunteers, it was all the new nongovernmental organization could manage. Why training matters This story is not unique. As the European refugee crisis spread throughout Europe, a swath of NGOs and grassroots movements were set up in different countries to support the sudden humanitarian demand that was overwhelming large and established organizations. Volunteers helped fill roles from construction to emergency distribution, but a constantly evolving and oftentimes hectic atmosphere left many new volunteers without adequate training before they were deployed to support vulnerable populations. This can have an impact both on their well-being and vulnerable populations they went to serve. So, how can new NGOs help to prepare their ground staff, even with limited time and resources? James’ story: Safety a secondary concern I met James, who requested to remain anonymous due to employment sensitivities, in a refugee camp in Greece in early 2017, where he decided to volunteer with a small NGO that was responding to the ongoing and growing refugee crisis. Though admirable, his actions to reconnect the water supply highlights the impact of limited and inadequate training for onsite volunteers responding to the crisis. Not only did his actions raise concerns over his safety but providing uncoordinated material or assistance to vulnerable populations could present several additional issues, says Colin Jones, training team lead at ShelterBox, an international emergency response NGO. What if his actions meant the family were precluded from long-term assistance? Could a perception of preferential treatment make them a target for violence? What if it caused issues between the NGO and the host community? “It's really easy, especially in a disaster context, to actually make people's lives much worse, even with the best of intentions,” he says. “That kind of hot empathy that you feel can both detract from your physical and mental well-being, but that will, in turn, impact your decision-making, which can have ramifications for the people you're trying to do the right thing for.” Alongside ensuring personal safety, it seeks to find a balance between emotion and reason, ensuring that decisions are based on logic and situational analysis. It aims to help staff and volunteers prepare for both the physical and emotional stress of the demands of fieldwork — as well as mitigate against potentially negative impacts on the vulnerable community being served. Marwa’s story: Best practices for mental welfare “You expect the worst, but you can never fully train yourself,” Marwa says of her time on Lesvos in 2015. It marked the beginning of her career in refugee aid work. A student of global affairs at the time, she travelled solo to support efforts watching the waters, welcoming Europe’s new arrivals. Though she had read about the situation, she was still overwhelmed by the reality she confronted: Speed boats full of people in a variable state of euphoria, shock, and fear. Though mental health among aid workers is a well-documented issue, a traumatic incident can affect anybody, professional or volunteer. As such, new recruits for organizations such as ShelterBox and International Committee of the Red Cross undertake rigorous programs — including online webinars, real-life scenarios, and on-the-ground briefings — to ensure that they are as prepared as possible. “We can’t prepare people for everything, but we strive to do so, at least for what we know they should be prepared for; essential things,” Hicham Hassan, ICRC’s head of learning and development unit for Asia-Pacific, says. “The consequence of lack of preparedness could be really severe.” Best practices for small NGOs For new NGOs, it may be difficult to provide this level of training. So, what can they do to best prepare their staff and volunteers for the realities of fieldwork before they head out in the field? At ICRC, the aim is not to provide a strict methodology of actions for staff to follow throughout their deployment, but to get them asking themselves the right questions: What is the best course of action in this situation? Am I affecting people negatively or positively? “All simmering down to knowing where you are, knowing your limits and capacity, knowing the culture and the place where you work, and respecting a code of conduct,” Hassan says. Without the ability to deliver in-person training, online tools and resources are available and freely accessible for small NGOs to communicate basic humanitarian principles and best practices, and deliver effective and comprehensive training to volunteers. Build knowledge of basic principles online There are several resources available online that cover a range of learning modules for humanitarian and aid workers. DisasterReady.org — developed in collaboration with aid agencies and humanitarian experts — has a library of over 600 course titles covering topics like logistics, security and safety, among other humanitarian essentials — all available for free. This allows organizations to choose content that best meets their needs without scrambling to find budget to pay for it. But, when it comes to online courses, make sure to go through the course yourself, and add any information that may be relevant to your organization: Do you have a different style of tent? Does distribution work differently in your organization than described in the module? Create team dynamics via video chat Being prepared for deployment is about more than just technical knowledge and skills. “It also has to be training that prepares individuals as individuals, and as part of a team, to be able to respond effectively in those contexts,” Rachel Harvey, operations coordinator at ShelterBox, says. Developing team building skills among volunteers can be tough if you are not able to deliver face-to-face training. Facebook or LinkedIn groups are a good place for volunteers to share ideas and build an online community, which can then transpose itself offline. Video calling services such as Skype or Google Hangout also provide an opportunity for NGOs to invite new recruits to a “virtual coffee morning” or meetings among team members who are already deployed. Not only will this allow new and old team members to meet and share ideas, it can help new recruits get an understanding of the situation on the ground, so they can better prepare themselves before they go. However, precautions should be taken to ensure sensitive material is not shared. Post-deployment debrief “What I think is just as valuable, and just as important, is the continued training and the debriefing,” Harvey says. “It is time consuming, it is a bit of a millstone, but it is absolutely worthwhile.” A post-deployment debrief not only allows volunteers and staff to reflect on their time working with the vulnerable community, but can help new NGOs to review and revise their training. This can be as simple as filling out a survey, followed up with a phone/Skype call. The process can help identify what works well and areas for improvement, such as personal and institutional lessons learned and recommendations for future deployments. Ultimately, as Harvey points out, “[volunteers are] by far and away your most valuable resource so you've got to look after them.”