Good Practice Examples/Global Practices/Camp Style Activitites

GoTeach Camp-style Activity Case Study

Deutsche Post DHL and SOS Children’s Villages GoTeach Partnership - 2016

General overview

Objective

This case study was designed with the aim of collecting best-case practices to run camp-style activities within the framework of the GoTeach program. The findings can be used as guidelines for organizing and realizing camp-style activities for young people from SOS Children’s Villages. Please be aware that these are only examples and suggestions, and that every country should devise and run their own project in a way that best suits their local situation. On the basis of the different approaches taken by the three different GoTeach countries below, volunteers interested in running an activity should also feel encouraged to exchange experiences and work collaboratively.

Methodology

The topic of this case study was discussed and decided upon during the 2016 Global GoTeach meeting that took place in Vienna, Austria. Here, the global team discussed the benefits of the camp-style activity format, as currently organized by countries in Asia Pacific, and considered whether it might be of interest to all regions. In light of this, we chose to interview the countries in question and take a deeper look into: Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The concept, agenda and style of delivery are different from country to country, but what the events do have in common is the fact that they are organized for a group of young people (usually around 30-40) over several consecutive days (2-3 days) during which participants go through a series of activities with a specific objective connected to GoTeach.

In order to collect information, we held interviews with each country individually, including input from both DHL and SOS CV representatives. We created one questionnaire based on our own input and that of the regional coordinators, and used it as the basis to run interviews of about 60 minutes with each country. The results are discussed in this report, focusing on each country individually and how they manage their own version of the camp-style activity.

Benefits

From what we could observe during the interviews, there are many benefits in organizing camp-style activities. Firstly, the greatest benefit is that the size of the event allows GoTeach to approach a new target group - young people from remote areas often do not have access to the same opportunities as young people from the villages around the big cities. Moreover, another benefit in organizing such an activity is that it can address a larger audience (30-40 young people per event) for a concentrated period of time. This significant time investment (around 2-3 full days) allows the young people involved to become more comfortable being around the volunteers, so that they can open up about their dreams, and work on their career options. The camp agendas are based on a series of activities that take the young participants on a logical, step-by-step journey with a clear objective. This structure highlights the needs of the young people first-hand and can be adapted as required. The young people are invited to give feedback at the end of each event and their input is incorporated into the planning of the following year's events.

Recommendations

On the basis of our interviews with the selected countries and further ideas for the development of future activities, the following is a list of some suggestions and recommendations for anyone considering organizing a camp-style activity*.

• Get senior management involved early on in order to clarify official time regulations (do people get time off; must activities take place outside working hours/ on the weekend?)
• Ensure good communication between SOS CV and DHL and involve the young people so that their needs can be met
• Consider checking the expectations and needs of the young people during the agenda creating process
• Check early on if there are enough employees willing to volunteer in an activity entailing a significant time commitment for preparation
• Transportation must be organized in good time (people and materials)
• Define clear selection criteria so that the activity really offers young people added value
• Consider offering the camp-style activity for young people who have been previously involved in other GoTeach activities
• Offer interested young people follow-on activities, as well as job shadowing or internships at DHL
• Involve SOS CV in follow-on activities to see if jobs can be arranged for young people afterwards
• Calculate how many volunteers you will need on site, considering the number of young people and the costs of transportation (Indonesia uses a ratio of around 4 young people to 1 volunteer)

*Please take the following points as suggestions. One of our guiding principles is local ownership, therefore the camp-style activity can be adapted according to your own needs.

Brief Country Overview

	Indonesia	Thailand	Vietnam
Length of activity	3 days	3 days (until 2016) 2 days (as of 2016)	3 days
Recurrence & location	Once a year SOS Children’s Villages, in one village	Four times a year SOS Children’s Villages, in 4 different villages	Three times a year SOS Children’s Villages, in 3 regions
Preparation time needed	3 months	3 to 6 months	3 months
Resources	8 DHL volunteers (on site) + more volunteers supporting SOS CV staff from the village 60% of annual funding for GoTeach Indonesia Session materials	20 DHL volunteers/village SOS CV staff from the village External partners Travel agency for transportation Finances from the regional GoTeach budget Session materials	30 DHL volunteers SOS CV staff from the villages Finances from the regional GoTeach budget Session materials
# of young people involved	>30 young people/year	40 young poeple/event = 160 young people this year	30 – 40 young people/event = 90 – 120 young people this year
# of volunteers involved	8 DHL volunteers on site + others supporting beforehand	80 DHL volunteers involved in all 4 camps	30 volunteers (but only a few attending the event)

GoTeach Indonesia - Dream Camp

Hard facts

The camp carried out in Indonesia is called Dream Camp. It aims to make young people think about their future by showing them various different opportunities open to them in life. The whole event lasts for three days and two nights, out of which only one full day is at an actual camp. It usually takes place during Q3 of the year, as beforehand they have other activities that build up to it, such as a public speaking workshop. The event takes place in one of the SOS Children’s Villages in Indonesia as it is focused on remote areas of the country rather than on the big cities. The reason for this choice of location is that young people generally have fewer opportunities in these areas as DHL and other companies are not present. By coming into contact with young people, DHL hopes to transfer knowledge that might help them start their own businesses.

The camp welcomes more than 30 young people every year, along with the support of 8 volunteers during the actual camp. In the months running up to the event, more volunteers provide preparatory support, but due to the high costs of transportation, only 8 of them go to the actual camp. The age of the young people plays an important role in their selection for the activity, as does the opinion of teachers from the village, who are also consulted. Young people from the Family Strengthening Program are also involved.

Preparation and responsibilities

DHL and SOS Children’s Village are in regular exchange during the preparation process and have shared responsibilities. Preparation starts around three months before the camp takes place. The steps are as follow:

• Decide together on the activity proposal
• Send the activity proposal to the Regional Office for approval
• Build the agenda and select content
• Initiate coordination between the different business units in order to align activities and objectives
• Start internal coordination to ensure that volunteers can be released for the activity (usually done around 2 months in advance). This is extremely important as the camp takes place during work days, therefore the working hours need to be approved by the supervisors
• Start arranging logistics and accommodation with the help of SOS Children’s Villages staff
• Prepare the demographic data of the young people taking part, deciding on gender, age, and other criteria that will be used during selection (carried out by DHL and SOS CV)
• Select the young people who will participate in the camp (carried out by SOS Children’s Villages)
• Ensure all volunteers have had training on the Code of Conduct before working with the young people

When it comes to the division of responsibilities, DHL is mainly responsible for the coordination with the business units and for communication with top management, but also prepares all the materials for the camp. For SOS Children’s Villages the main responsibilities are accommodation, meals and general logistics at the location where the event takes place, plus the aforementioned selection of the young people.

Feedback is collected informally by asking the young people and the volunteers about their experiences and opinions. There is no written feedback used to evaluate the activity. Although no formal follow-up has been carried out in previous years, the team is looking into how they could implement it in future.

Required resources

Apart from the 8 volunteers attending the camp, other volunteers also provide support in the months before the event. Moreover, SOS CV staff also provide support on the ground. When it comes to financial resources, annual funding from the regional GoTeach budget is used for the activity. As this is one of the biggest activities of GoTeach Indonesia, 60% of the annual funding goes into it. There is no other organization or stakeholder involved for financial support as the partnership is still very young and the aim is to develop it further before involving others.

Other resources needed are:

• Communication tools (banner)
• Session materials (dream board materials, career inspiration materials, etc.) All materials are shipped beforehand as it is a remote area

Additionally, the GoTeach Indonesia team organizes a fundraising campaign at DHL to collect money and in-kind donations prior to the event.

Content and activities

The GoTeach Indonesia team starts building the agenda around 2-3 months before the event takes place. The process is considered as a whole, with DHL putting together a proposed agenda that is then sent to SOS Children’s Villages in order to check if the activities are useful for the young people.

The agenda revolves around giving young people the space to create a dream and find out what they might want in the future. The main focus in on soft skills but also included on the agenda are:

• slots where young people can gain inspiration from others, opening their eyes to what they could achieve in their lives. They are guided to better understand what it is that they want to achieve so that they can start to build a plan of how to get there.
• a segment focussing on communication and marketing. As the program focusses on remote areas, where employment opportunities for young people are limited, entrepreneurship is encouraged. This way young people can learn how to create and market their own business using the natural resources that can be found in the area.

The agenda is the same for everyone. At the end of the activities, the young people have compiled their own dream board that they can keep and use as motivation and inspiration for their future plans.

Advice

It is very important to know something about the young people involved, including their backgrounds and the general demographic. This makes it possible to adapt the content to their needs. Furthermore, close collaboration is stronlgy advised - between SOS and DHL, and across all the different business units at DHL. Another recommendation from the Indonesia team is to involve the volunteers from the outset. This way there is clear communication on what is happening and what different parties are expected to do.

The team of Indonesia actively recommends doing a camp activity as they have very positive feedback from both youth and volunteers – for youth it is a rather intense experience, where they have the proper time needed to explore their dreams and come with a plan to achieve them, and for the volunteers it is interesting to see how the youth live in remote areas as it is very different from their own lives.

The team managed in the past year to collect qualitative videos and photos that are edited by external partners and financed from the GoTeach budget – a very good case practice to showcase the activities of the partnership and a visual method to demonstrate the impact such a programme has on the youth (if you are interested in getting this video, please contact us).

GoTeach Thailand - Ton Kla Camp

Hard facts

The camp carried out in Thailand is named “Ton Kla” which means Young Plant in English. It is a career oriented camp designed to boost up employability for SOS youth. In previous years Ton Kla Camp was a three-day activity that took place in Bangkok, where all the youth from different villages came together. From 2016 on the model changed and it will be carried out on one weekend in the different SOS Children’s Villages. . So there are four smaller Ton Kla Camps this year. Next year there will be a follow-up camp where the villages come together in Bangkok again and focus on more advanced topics. 20 volunteers are helping per village, where 40 young people can participate. The participants have to be at least 15 years old. The idea is to target senior students who are soon to be graduated or going through transition of studying to working.

Preparation and responsibilities

DHL and SOS Children’s Villages are in regular exchange during the preparation process and have shared responsibilities. The preparation starts around three to six months before the camp takes place (past years three, now six). On DHL side there are four people (one per BU) responsible for the organization of the event. From SOS CV around five people, both from Family Based Care and Family Strengthening Program, are involved. Both teams of DHL and SOS CV work on the activity internally but meet once a month to discuss it all together. The steps to prepare the camp are as follows:

• set the dates of the camp;
• discussion between the organization team with the management and the village directors to check the dates;
• communication within DHL by the DHL team, to inform all employees and recruit volunteers;
• create the budget and covering the travel logistics to the camps;
• create the agenda of the camp, done by DHL with the help of SOS CV, who represents the interest and needs of the youth, taking care that the content of the activity is useful for them;
• brief the volunteers by the DHL team and organize Code of Conduct training;
• create the materials for the camp by DHL;
• recruit the youth that fits to the program, done by SOS CV;
• coordinate accommodation and restaurants at the location, done by SOS CV.

After the event took place both teams meet for a follow up. Based on the experience the agenda and content of the next camp gets adjusted.

Resources needed

Apart from the organizational team and the volunteers there are also some external partners involved. A travel agency takes care of the flights and the hotel booking. Also people from the area, where the camp takes place, help with recommendations e.g. how to reach the places best. DHL develops material for the activities, which is printed at the office and brought to the camp in their luggage to save costs. All the other expenses are covered by the GoTeach budget from the regional office.

Content and activities

With the new model the content has been separated in two levels. At the first camp in the villages basic skills will be transmitted while the following camp will focus on more advanced topics. In the first round the activities focus on soft skills like social manner, personal motivation, successful habits but also input like expectation of employer, some English vocabulary, how to do an interview and maybe CV writing. For some topics external experts are invited to support the team, e.g. an entrepreneur, a psychologist, a politician. The style used for the activities differs. There are speeches, workshops, ice breaking activities, games etc. Every participant is having the same schedule, but the activities are carried out in smaller groups. Sometimes there are tasks that the youth does in competition between the groups.

Attached to this report you can find the detailed agenda of the Ton Kla Camp as well as the booklet to get a better idea.

Advices

It is very important that DHL and SOS CV commit to this activity. Only if both sides are contributing to the preparation it can be a successful activity. The exchange between the teams is a critical success factor. Frequent meetings with both DHL and SOS CV (at least once a month) and inside each team (more frequently) are necessary. Another critical point is the involvement of the youth. The participants have to be asked for feedback so that the agenda can be adjusted to their needs.

The team of Thailand actively recommends doing a camp activity as a huge audience can be reached. The camp is also a great opportunity to get information about the youth. Based on their needs you can then offer them other following activities (e.g. job shadowing, internships).

GoTeach Vietnam – Career Counseling Days

Hard facts

The camp style activity in Vietnam is called “Career Counseling Days”. As it is separated by regions, the activity takes place three times a year. Each village can send from five to ten youth to the activity and in total around 30 to 40 young people can participate per each region (which gives a total of 90 – 120 youth reached in total). The target group is boys and girls at the age of 17 and above, they should have a higher education level like high school or university and be graduating soon. They come together at one SOS CV village per region and participate in the “Career Counseling Days” for three days. While there are 30 volunteers engaged in the preparation process, only a few are attending the camp.

Preparation and responsibilities

As it is a three-day activity the preparation takes longer than other GoTeach activities. About three weeks of work are spent on “Career Counseling Days”. Some of the preparation is done earlier as it has to be prepared for the annual GoTeach plan. Therefore, the steps to prepare the Career Counselling Days are as follows:

• prepare the general concept, together with the annual plan, at the beginning of the year;
• create the agenda, done by DHL (the material is aligned with the one from Dream Camp in Indonesia and Ton Kla Camp in Thailand, as the teams shared the documents between each other to get inspiration)
• share content of the camp with SOS CV staff to ensure that the need of youth is addressed;
• involve the volunteers, brief them and organize the training on the Code of Conduct;
• select the youth, done by SOS CV;
• arrange the travel of the youth to the camp, which can be by plane, train or bus, done by SOS CV
• arrange the transportation needed during the activity, organized by DHL;
• participants give feedback with a questionnaire after the event
• evaluate the activity and adjust for next year, based on the feedback.

Resources needed

As mentioned earlier around three weeks of preparation are needed to organize the “Career Counseling Days”. Around 30 volunteers are involved. The tasks are clearly defined and separated by employees: some of the employees work on the content, others on the logistics and others on the communication; also some of them are only involved as special guests (for example top management), and they are coming to the event only for a limited time. Concerning needed materials the team organizes flipcharts and slides, brings laptops and material for the activities. All expenses are covered by the GoTeach budget, even the travel costs of the participants. All youth is accommodated in the village. It is important to note also that the whole activity takes place during working hours for volunteers; therefore it is crucial to have the top management approval beforehand.

Content and activities

All participants follow the same agenda during the activity. Some exercises and visits are done in smaller groups to make it more efficient and effective. Besides the DHL volunteers and top managers as special guests, also external tutors are involved to help the youth with some topics. The activity starts with ice breaking games to create a good and open atmosphere as the youth is quite shy in the beginning. The content block starts with an introduction into the annual GoTeach plan. At the following career talk the youth gets the opportunity to create their own ideas of what they would like to do. Also they practice CV writing and how to behave in a job interview. In role play activities the youth gets confronted with situations they are going to face in their career path. On the second day the group visits a DHL facility to explore different job opportunities in the logistics sector. The third day is used to review the activities of the first day, as the youth now has new ideas after the impressions of the visit as DHL. Stories are shard and the whole activity gets wrapped up with a feedback and closing session.

Advices

In the preparation process the communication is a critical success factor. On the one hand there are different levels and different BUs involved, which aren’t always easy to reach. On the other hand SOS CV needs to be well informed, so that they can follow the agenda.

For the beginning of the camp some time and space should be planned for ice breaking activities. The SOS youth can be quite shy and it is important to make them feel comfortable to be able to open up and fully participate in the activities.

Case-study on camp style activities

Chapter lead	Martin Schmid