6.3.1 Why virtual Activities?
Virtual activities in DHL's GoTeach program play an essential role in expanding its reach and influence on young people around the world. They allow us to connect with young individuals in remote and rural areas who might not have access to workshops and trainings in their area.
Another benefit of online activities is the flexibility it offers for volunteers and participants, making trainings accessible at any place and in busy schedules.
6.3.2 Example: Virtual Workshops in Ecuador
In Ecuador various virtual activities were carried out - reaching up to 500 people from SOS CV Ecuador, Colombia and Honduras.
Through different online workshops, carried out by DHL Volunteers more than 500 young people could be reached. The Focus of the Workshops was on topics like Digital Learning, Entrepreneurship, Cybersecurity and Personal Finance.
The COVID - 19 pandemic has affected our school systems and especially in these difficult times it is important not to leave anyone behind. Encouraging e-learning and helping young people to master technology is the only way to ensure that they can keep up with rapid developments. In order to enable them to seize opportunities and actively participate in shaping the future.
6.3.2.1 #keeponlearning Workshops
#keeponlearnin was a series of 3 Virtual Workshops carried out by 15 DHL Volunteers. Each of the Workshops consisted out of 17 sessions with the aim to promote online learning. The topics of the workshops were:
- CANVAS Business Model: This workshop was launched with the goal to foster entrepreneurial skills. The content was focused on how to design and present a business idea in an agile, coherent and striking way.
- Personal Finances: Offering interactive resources such as financial advice infographics and worksheets, the intention of the workshop was to encourage a culture of saving in young people. Teaching them ways to analyze their expenses in order to reduce them and start saving.
- DQ World: In the course of the third workshop the online learning platform DQ World was promoted. DQ World a platform with fun and educational lessons on Topics like; Digital Citizenship, Cyber-Bullying, Cyber-Security, Digital Empathy, Screen Time Management, Critical thinking and Privacy Management.
6.3.2.2 Programming Workshop
SCRATCH is a online platform that offers FREE programming lessons to kids. Essential programming skills can be learned in a playful way by creating stories, games and animations. Scratch helps young people to think creatively, act systematically and work together.
GoTeach organized a programming workshop/competition with the Title "Programming Video Games to Design the Future. " 58 young girls and boys supported by SOS CV Quito participated in the contest. The first price was a LAPTOP and the second price was a TABLET. The course was conducted over the e-learning platform "E-CLICK" of SOS CV Ecuador.
6.3.3 Example: Mentoring in Peru - YouthLinks
Since YouthLinks was launched in 2018, the program is successfully used to connect young people and volunteers virtually.
Before the mentorship started, the activity-coordinator conducted a workshop, in which the mentor and the mentee were briefed on the content of the project as well as on administrative subjects like the use of the platform and how to register on it.
In Peru, young people have been trained through One-on-One online mentoring by corporate volunteers. The tandems were working on five different sessions, covering the following content: a training for presentation skills, the elaboration of a SWOT-analysis, a CV training-session, preparation for job interviews, an introduction into "personal branding", the development of teamwork skills and a communication-training. Each session lasted an approximate of one hour.
Watch the video below and listen to what participants have to say about the program:
6.3.4 Example: Virtual Workshops in Indonesia via YouthLinks
On May 15th 2020, DHL Indonesia along with SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia organized their first webinar for young people on the topic of “Mental Health Awareness" on YouthLinks.
A total of 203 young people (age 14 to 24) from eight different SOS Villages and programs all over Indonesia (including Jakarta, Meulaboh, Banda Aceh, Lembang, Flores, Bali, Medan & Semarang) attended this first virtual activity, which was organised by five volunteers from the local DHL-team. The reach of this session was partly surprising, as Tri Anggraeni, one of the DHL volunteers, states: “We were expecting around 50 young people to participate. In the end, there were more than 200 of them joining (...)."
The activity was the first of a series of five online mentoring sessions DHL and SOS Children's Villages Indonesia are planning to host on YouthLinks. Alongside the first session on "Mental Health Awareness", also the second session with the topic "Leadership Sharing” and the third session on “Social Media Etiquette for Teenagers” already successfully took place. Two more sessions on “Problem Solving/ Effort-Benefit Matrix” and “Tips to Keep Productive during Self-Quarantine” will be hosted in the upcoming weeks. Overall, seven DHL volunteers coming from different DHL business units, organize and host the sessions.
In order to join, the young people either directly connect with their smartphones or join the sessions in groups of 12-20, gathering in the SOS Children’s Villages at different locations all over the country. In the first session, there were also around 20 young people from family strengthening programs participating, mainly dialing in via their smartphones.
6.3.4.1 Engagement
The excitement of the young participants about the opportunity to connect with their peers, but also with SOS-Staff and DHL volunteers was immense as Tri Anggraeni explains: “In our first session, we also had the national director of SOS Indonesia on the call. When he joined, many young people started to cheer, call his name, and celebrate his presence. Some of the young people stayed on the call after the end of the session in order to exchange views with the national director, but also with their peers in other regions of their country.”
The impact of this first virtual activity was inspiring, both for the young people, but also for volunteers: “I can see the beauty of working in a company which promotes its employee’s engagement as volunteers, and I am really thankful for having these opportunities”, says Tri Anggraeni.
In order to keep the young people engaged after the first- and before the second session was hosted, a quiz consisting of 20 different questions was posted on YouthLinks. The GoTeach-team in Indonesia nominated some winners, honoring them with a gift package consistent out of school supplies and internet data packages. Ni Nengah Kartika, young participant from the SOS Children's Village in Bali, concludes as follows: "DHL held a quiz right after the class mentoring ended. What was the purpose? None other than to ensure that the material delivered during the mentoring session was understood by the young people who attended the online class".
6.3.4.2 Learnings
After the first activities were hosted successfully, the GoTeach-team from Indonesia can already exclude some first learnings:
- The large number of participants in the first session caused some connectivity issues. Due to this experience, the participation for the next virtual sessions was limited to 100 young people in order to ensure good quality of the training. Furthermore, all participants have to register now previous to the sessions.
- Another challenge for the organizing team was that on YouthLinks, the host of the meeting cannot mute the participants. Because for some of the participants it was the first online-call, this required some learning in the beginning.
The success of this first virtual encounter was possible because SOS Children’s Villages offered the option for volunteers to engage virtually via the YouthLinks platform already before the outbreak of Covid-19. Tri Anggraeni concludes: “Now, we finally had the courage to really try it”.
6.3.5 Download Material: Good Practices of Virtual Engagement
| Other Languages |
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| Best_Practice_Peru_FR.pdf |
| BestPracticePeru_ES.pdf |
