Like any other non-profit organizations, International Center (IC) displayed enough courtesy and friendless. Volunteers are from all parts of the world which shows diversity of cultures, and so are the activities and events. But like other non-profit organizations, the weakness of IC is compelling and reluctant to remove. During the first several services, as a new volunteer, I don’t have enough clues to understand the goal of the organization, the agenda, and the process of the operations. And it is confusing and difficult to figure all those out by myself. Since it is a non-profit organization, HR and its functions are being underestimated which is not supposed to happen.
Proper training for new service workers is essential. There will always be a problem to keep retention in high rate in non-profit organizations. People need to have clear goals and direction to start the work instead of wasting organizations’ resource with low productivity.
Tony, if I properly understood your message, then I completely agree. The International Center (IC) could be doing a lot more to get volunteers. The first time I heard about the international center was from a friend of mine who volunteered there for his English 108 class last semester. He told me it was easy to get hours. All you had to do was go over there and ask to help with global café and you would get some. Sure enough I showed up on a Friday, after having called to ask if I was even welcome to volunteer, and I met all of the usual volunteers and then got to work setting up. I found it strange that there was no application process and it almost seemed unreal that I would get rewarded with service hours just by showing up, especially after hearing so many complaints about how hard it is to find service in class. It seems that so many people hear about the IC and come to volunteer, at least when I go, that it is not necessary for them to interview people or have a fixed number or set of volunteers. They simply get volunteers when they need them.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I just realized that our service work is very similar. I also work with people from other countries (specifically Latino countries) and help them to learn English and adjust to the American culture. I have found that international citizens are some of the most appreciative of volunteers' help because they are so eager to learn more about the United States and they actually want to learn how to fit into our society. I had also considered volunteering for the International Center, but I ended up finding work at an adult learning center instead. That is great that you have a lot of flexibility. I mean, I know that could probably be confusing not having a strict schedule or an outline of specific duties, but in the long run it will give you more opportunities. It will allow you to help in the ways that you desire. I agree with you that non-profit organizations are oftentimes unorganized and can be frustrating to work with because it seems that nobody is really in charge, but like I said, this just give you more opportunity to do what you desire. Well, I hope your work continues to go well!
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