Relationships

One of the things I was perhaps least prepared for in my volunteer role was the emotional challenge of building relationships. I have worked with a diverse mixture of people in terms of culture, class, belief systems and personalities over the years and in many contrasting settings with a variety of roles and responsibilities, all be it largely within education but I have never struggled so much as I am doing here.

Being a volunteer is a very odd thing as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before. In some ways it can make life easier because you don’t have a paid job and therefore there is less pressure to achieve targets and meet deadlines. In other ways it makes life more difficult because you have no power and no rights to information within your work place; you can suggest ideas and offer your services but you have no control over ultimate decision making. There is also always an awareness that you are representing an organisation that has a responsibility to other stakeholders who need to report on the impact of their investment.

What has this got to do with relationship building? In a word, trust, if you want to make an impact you have to work with people, people will only work with you if they trust you and to gain trust you have to build working relationships.

An added bonus in living away from home is that outside of work relationship building is also crucial. Away from your usual support networks, to stay sane you need your wantok. This can be equated to being on a reality TV show: Volunteer big brother house maybe? Being selective about whom you share your life with is not an option your hand is dealt and each player must negotiate a way to play, there are of course many hands and undefined rules which add spice to life.

I have had a week of emotional challenge, as one might have guessed reading this! It was my intention to illustrate what I am talking about with a week in the life of me and my working relationships; however I’ve decided it would be inappropriate as it concerns the lives of others.

Suffice to say that this week in my relentless attempt to build a working relationship with the team manager at work I have been ignored, offered buai, asked to present at a funders (AusAid) meeting, left standing in the street with a colleagues’ possessions in my arms, publicly apologised to, praised for working on so many projects and had demands to see my contract as I’m not performing my duties. How’s your week been? Ups and downs and round and round, I think I can make it to Friday happy hour and Monday the carousel begins again.

In my not so private life there has also been a hefty tide of turbulent wantok relationships ebbing and flowing around me following the arrival of a new intake of volunteers living below which I will not discuss for obvious reasons.

Em tasol

End of rant & love to the world