Maximum impact on short volunteer trips

Hey guys,
so i went to the IYVS info session on how to have the maximum impact during your short term volunteering experience. I found the session really helpful and came away with some great ideas about how to make our volunteer trip really worthwhile and educational not only for the people we will be interacting with in Belize, but for our group of volunteers and Rotaract in general.
So let me briefly talk about the session down. The people running the session said it helps to break your trip into three sections: 1. before you go, 2. while you're there and 3. after you get back. They suggested activities and brainstorming events in all three sections, so i'll go over that a little here and then we can go into more details at our next meeting. so here we go.

Section 1: Before embarking on your volunteer trip.
-talk with your group about how involved with the local people you plan to be. Are your contacts local? are you staying in a hotel or with local families? Are there plans to integrate you into the community and if so, how? Do people in the group have suggestions as to how to really connect with people while we are there?
-have everyone write down what they personally wish to accomplish there within the theme of your volunteer trip. So for us, what does each one of us want to do? For example I could say "I really want to empower at least one woman in Belize with the knowledge of how to protect herself from HIV by using a condom during intercourse", etc. Feel free to also include personal goals such as, i want to bond with my trip mates and come up with way to convey what we've experienced to the rest of Rotaract who didn't get to come
-assess your personal skills. have everyone sit down and write out what skills they personally have that will helps us with our goal of educating people about this disease. For example if someone has worked in a health care clinic before, list this. Or if someone has volunteered specifically with women or children, or etc etc. Then compile these lists to help figure out who would be best doing what once we reach Belize
-READ UP ON BELIZE. Educate yourself on the place where we are going. Thanks to some awesome research and presentations we're already half way there, but there is no such thing as being overly prepared. Let's keep researching ways to approach the topic of AIDS and HIV, such as how is culturally sensitive, how do we approach it within certain religious groups, male v.s females, etc
-get journals, they don't have to be leather bound or anything, but the people leading the session suggested that having a journal that you could write in before, during and after the trip would help us organize our thoughts and make it possible for us to keep an accurate record of everything we will be doing and seeing

Section 2: On the Ground
-remember, we are ambassadors to not only our school but to our country as well. Act like it!! be respectful, polite and involved. Also keep in mind that while we are going to help, we are not "rescuing" anyone. We are helping with aid, but we have no right to be arragant or think ourselves above the people we are helping. Not that i think any of us would but i thought it was a good reminder. Other than that, just involve yourself with the people
-on that note, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the things you will be seeing and experiencing. don't freak out! more than likely everyone is experiencing something like what you're feeling. talk to your trip members about it, or if you find that too much, write it down in your journal. The session leaders suggested we sit down for at least a half hour every night to talk about the days events and how we're feeling. i think it's a great idea! let me know what everyone thinks
-be flexible. realize that conceptions of time, organization, communication and personal space may vary in the country you are going to. If you can accept that, even if it makes you uncomfortable in the begining, everyone will be able to function much better. You can of course though talk about how it bugs you or any culture shock you experience when we all sit down to talk. Please do not complain though in front of any of the people we will be working with, they've been working really hard to make things great for us and we'd hate to see them feel bad. So talk to the group or write it in your journal.
-unless of course you feel something is dangerous or you feel at all threatened, then obviously seek out whoever is responsible in that situation and alert them.
-also take your health into your own hands. If you start feeling sick do not ignore it! let someone know so that your health can be monitored. everything is a little more important when we are abroad so we don't want to ignore anything that might grow into something that could potentially be bad. Also, bring basic medicine that you think you might need. Things that we can get here easily such as advil or pepto bismol may not be available in belize.
-don't be afraid to branch out and really put yourself out there while on your trip. talk to people! don't be afraid to make a fool out of yourself, most people are excited to see you in their country and are usually more than willing to share stories about their lives and experiences. Recognize that you can really make a lasting difference to someone by being their friend, not just a random volunteer. Learn peoples names (i know this one is hard guys, i suck at it, but it really makes people feel great knowing that the people they are coming to looking for advice not only recognize them but remember them as individuals). Ask them about their familys, their lives, etc. And share your stories too!
-empower local leaders. target individuals within the community. Help them realize their potential to help their people once the volunteers have left. Provide them with examples of how to be a leader, such as ways to dialogue with theirs peers, etc. Make sure that the majority of your volunteer activites can be maintained once the volunteers depart
-have a mentor system on the trip. match everyone up with a buddy within the group and set up some brief one on one time for you and your buddy to talk about how you're feeling, what you feel the trip is accomplishing or not, and generally just provide support for each other.

Section 3: After you get back
-let yourself be affected. It can be really easy to fall back into your regular rutines of school and friends, so make sure you take some time once you get home to recognize that you might be feeling different about things like your life, your health, etc. Don't push these feelings aside.
-engage yourself back home. For us, that will include educating the rest of Rotaract on what we did, what we think went well, what didn't, what future action we should take, etc. We can also look into joining up with other organization at NU or in Evanston to combact AIDS and spread awareness
-make others aware of your experience through writing to newspapers, letters to the editor, blogs, sending photos to photography competitions. try to engage the surrounding community in your experience. We will have an advantage of being people who have real life experience which always makes for a more interesting story and pitch for assistence.
-continue the mentor buddy system that was established on the trip. remember some of your emotions about the trip may not hit you for awhile so having your buddy even after the trip will make it easier to sort through some of these feelings, especially if it's with someone who experienced it with you.
-challenge people to think beyond their pre-set conceptions of the country that you volunteered in. For example for us, a lot of people think Belize is like St. Barts, a rich vacation resort. So when people ask you about it, don't be afraid to tell them about the nitty gritty truth.
-talk to leaders within your university, like professors who have connections to any of the issues we are discussing: HIV/AIDS, awareness, Belize, how to empower people, etc. A university provides unlimited and motivated resourse: students!! reach out to them!

so anyway, that's just some of the main points that i wrote down. Needless to say i think they brought up some very interesting stuff that we should definitely keep in mind for our trip. So read it over, write down anything you want to discuss and we can talk about it at our next meeting and incorporate it into our trip planning. so yeah, thanks for reading guys! ROCK OUT BELIZE TRIP!!!