It’s been a month and a half since I started working at VE Global, almost half way through my internship already! How time has flown. My main task has been updating VE’s guidelines on how volunteers respond to critical incidents in the childrens homes. Sometimes things don’t go to plan when working with children and it’s very important that the volunteers have an idea of what to do when things go ‘belly up’.
In order to write the guidelines I have had to consult a number of professionals in social work and psychology in Santiago for advice and support. This has been a fascinating learning curve and has really tested my skills in Spanish and on how to work collaboratively with others both within VE and outside of it. Writing the guidelines has also has enabled me to draw on my university studies in trauma and psychology. Researching best practices has been incredibly useful for my own understanding of how to safely work with at risk children in Chile and I’m very happy to think it will be useful to the volunteers working in the homes.
Outside of writing the critical incident guidelines, I have really enjoyed getting to know the other people in VE Global. The volunteers are hardworking, creative and kind. Having lived in Chile for two years I have really enjoyed sharing my favourite hiking spots, things to do and ‘migrant experiences’ with them over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, working in the office with management and my fellow interns has been highly stimulating as we trouble shoot issues and plan events, brain storm and problem solve. Almost every day we have lunch on the picnic mats in the park which makes for a lovely break in the day.