Working World

It’s heartening to see that even in the midst of financial crisis, more and more people are filling employment gaps by giving back. It’s also interesting to note that many small organizations, international or otherwise, often don’t have the resources to utilize a large number of volunteers. (I know from the Alliance’s perspective, our office of four wouldn’t know what to do if four volunteers showed up at our door.) Reports the NY Times:

Many who run nonprofits have marveled at the sudden flood of bankers, advertising copywriters, marketing managers, accountants and other professionals eager to lend their formidable but dormant skills.

But others grumbled that the current love affair with volunteerism, encouraged by President Obama’s nationwide call to public service, can be a mixed blessing. Smaller organizations, with staffs of fewer than 20 and no full-time volunteer coordinator, have struggled to absorb the influx, especially since many of them have simultaneously had to cut back on projects in the face of dwindling donations and government grants.

From a purely self-centered career persecptive, it’s worth pointing out again something Sherry has always trumpeted, and something I’ve then come to see as absolutely true: offering your pro bono services to an organization you’d ideally like to work for (or is in the same field in which you’d like to work) is a great way to network, to make a solid impression, and to become a “known quantity.” When positions do open then, the organization is much more likely to go with the known quantity—the person who has already proven his dedication to the field and his invaluable skills— than the unknown.

Of course there are so many other better, less selfish, more altruistic reasons to volunteer.  Once the economy picks back up and these volunteers are back in jobs, as they should be, let’s hope the volunteer spirit that seems to have come out in full force manages to remain in some form.

Several months back I posted about the idea of voluntourism, which is just what it sounds like: using your vacation to do volunteer service work abroad. Certainly a very worthwhile notion. This idea led to a discussion of the fact that many people interested in international careers (and many interested in other careers as well) would love to volunteer abroad, for both the service aspect as well as the international experience, but simply can’t afford it.

While there are ways one can try to scrape together the cash to volunteer abroad, it’s still not an easy prospect, which is one reason among many why it’s heartening to see a higher power getting involved—not that higher power but rather Senator Russ Feingold! Sen. Feingold (D-WI) introduced to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations yesterday a bill (S.589) to establish a Global Service Fellowship Program and to authorize a new office called Volunteers for Prosperity (VFP).  The goal of this legislation is to increase the number of Americans volunteering abroad and to facilitate international volunteering experiences for U.S. citizens by promoting both short and long-term opportunities. Specifically, the legislation, if enacted, will provide financial support for Americans looking to volunteer abroad:

[The] bill would reduce financial barriers by awarding fellowships designed to defray some of the costs associated with volunteering. The fellowship can be applied toward many of the costs associated with such travel including airfare, housing, or program costs. By providing financial assistance, the Global Service Fellowship program opens the door for more Americans to participate—not just those with the resources to pay for it.

This is good stuff. We’ll certainly be tracking this at the Alliance but if you’ve got a spare minute, contact your Congressional members and let them know you support it. The full text of Feingold’s statement on the bill is after the jump.

(more…)

Amy Elizabeth Smart, writing in the Chronicle of Higher Education, takes Americans to task for the dodge we’ve been known to adopt abroad: we’re from Canada, we say. What brings about this lie in us? Smart reports:

When asked why, almost no [American students] cite fear of physical violence. They’re mostly worried about hostile comments, rejection, or heated political debates. Above all, many dread being associated with the Ugly American, the obnoxious know-it-all traveler who brays questions like “Why can’t you speak English?” and “You call this tiny thing a cup of coffee?”

A few months ago, the Washington Post and I hoped that Barack Obama’s election means, among many other things, that Americans won’t feel like they have to resort to the Maple Leaf anymore. Smart argues that it’s up to culturally sensitive young Americans abroad, who may deny they are American because they believe they are being culturally sensitive, to actually come forward as Americans because it’s the more culturally sensitive, and beneficial, thing to do:

It’s precisely because of the Ugly American stigma that culturally sensitive students from the United States need to stand up and be counted. Americans aren’t all ignorant, aggressive, and badly dressed, but the stereotypes will stand unchallenged if Canada gets the credit for our better-behaved students.

More important, the lie short-circuits the primary purpose of study abroad: intellectual and personal growth. Many people who criticize America don’t assume they’ve stated an unassailable position; they’re opening what they hope will be a lively conversation. While engaging with people who simply want to vent against the United States is unwise, too often American students confuse “arguing” with “fighting” and miss the chance for precisely the sort of intellectual stimulation we want them to experience. And assuming that “foreigners don’t like Americans” or “foreigners will think I’m a warmonger” is patronizing.

So is that what’s been happening all these years? Canada has the good reputation and the U.S. doesn’t because the well-behaved Americans are shuffling all the credit to Canada? Smart also points out an interesting psychological aspect of why American students abroad may choose to lie:

Many students who deny being American have caught what used to be called the Peace Corps Syndrome and is now described, according to the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, as “reversal.” A bit of travel and education reveals to students that their home countries aren’t perfect. Thus, once-patriotic American students simply reshuffle the hierarchy, moving from “We’re number one!” to “America sucks!” — and then, sometimes, to “Yup, it’s cold in Edmonton!” Without denying some very ugly American history, training that eliminates hierarchical thinking and clarifies how all cultures are multifaceted and complex can help prevent this short-sighted response.

The whole point of travel and international experience is to expose yourself to the realities of the greater world, not to shield yourself from them—and an American saying he is Canadian does just that: shields him from the reality of what it means to be an American, in the context of the larger world as well as in relation to that particular country he is in and to that particular person he is talking to.

The whole article is available here, though available only to Chronicle subscribers.

Internship + mentor = mentornship:

Internship for the bright or advanced individual under guidance of a more senior practitioner. No making copies or coffee.

In Working World the book, Sherry and I say that researching your internships should be taken seriously. You’re trading a precious commodity—your time—for little or no financial renumeration, so you want to make sure you choose to work in an environment where your supervisors truly care about your growth and professional development, and Starbucks runs are kept to a minimum. I’m a fan of “mentornship” to describe this idea.

“The top ten in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.”

“We are currently preparing students for jobs that do not exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t know are problems yet.”

“During the course of this presentation, 395 babies were born in India.”

And so much more…

Hillary Clinton said a lot of good things on her maiden trip abroad as Secretary of State that point to an increase in involvement and funding for international education, exchange, and development from the Obama administration.  For example:

On her first stop in Japan, Hillary told 200 U.S. Embassy employees that the notion of peace and harmony was “a good concept for America’s role in the world. We need to be looking to create more balance, more harmony.”

Then, during her last stop in Indonesia, she held a roundtable with Indonesian journalists in Jakarta and highlighted the importance of person-to-person contact and international exchange programs.  She also threw a lot of love at Indonesia and its people (a great people and place for sure, which I know from my November trip there).  Money quote:

I hope we’ll have a lot more exchanges of all kinds, people-to-people exchanges. I think governments have to talk, and that’s important, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m here in Indonesia. But there is nothing that is more effective than having people break down barriers between themselves.

The level of interest here in Indonesia for students studying in the United States has put student exchanges at the top of my list when I go back to Washington: How do we increase more exchanges? Because there’s a great interest in having Indonesians study in the United States, and I think there will be opportunities for American students to do more in Indonesia. And I just had a wonderful meeting with your President, and he was talking about how we can have more higher education exchanges, university-to-university. We should look at all of that. How do we have more healthcare exchanges where our doctors and nurses and hospitals work with yours? The more we can have that person-to-person contact, the more likely it is we can develop better understanding.

I also am very impressed at the way Indonesia has led interfaith dialogues, and also its emphasis on democracy, like the Bali Democracy Forum, bringing countries together that are at different stages of democratic development. So we do see a tremendous opportunity for us to increase our government-to-government cooperation and the comprehensive partnership that I discussed with both the President and the Foreign Minister, but also more on a people-to-people basis.

Joanne Tay, an intern at NCIV a few years back, told me about this concept awhile ago, but I’ve neglected to post on it until now. Couchsurfing is, as Joanne explains it, “a Web 2.0 magnum opus:” “The concept is simple: search for a host in a country you’re travelling to, live with them for a few days and learn the local culture, do what the locals do. I have been on Couchsurfing for only two weeks and have already met a wonderful array of people from Europe, Asia and Australia. Strangers became friends.”

More about couchsurfing and how to become a couchsurfer here. This seems like an adventurous way to travel on the cheap, and to find good people to drink local beer with along the way. It also might have a higher purpose, as Joanne explains on her blog:

I believe Couchsurfing represents an opportunity for shared and personal growth, not a promise for a perfect world. The little steps we as citizens and as everyday people take to befriend others both in our countries and those incoming has created possibilities of friendship. I do not wish to essentialise culture and i know that many users see themselves as nomads and citizens-of-the-world, but i also believe that we bring with us backgrounds shaped by our environments. Not every couch shared will be pleasant, not every relationship built will last, but the commitment to explore, experience and discover keeps our honest sense of wonder alive, and hopefully establishes a space where peace prevails.

[PS—thanks, Joanne, for the Working World shout-out.]