Meet the ICS team
Geplaatst op 22 juli 2019 om 09:11 uur
Mwanza, Tanzania as an ICS Team Leader – Amys Experience
International Citizens Service (ICS), is funded by the UK governments Department for International Development (DfiD) and has the tag line “Challenge Yourself to Change the World”. ICS offers placements that are an amazing opportunity for UK or EU citizens aged 18-35 (who have lived in the UK for the past year) to gain new skills while making a difference through the power of volunteering. If you are 18-25 you can apply to be a volunteer, if you are 23-35 you can apply become a team leader. ICS are currently active in 8 countries across the world and aim to create positive change through volunteers working on projects.
It all starts with an online application form which asks you about your motivations, strengths, your past volunteering experience and if, as I did, you apply for the Team Leader role, how you have displayed the characteristics of a team leader. ICS has a few different partner charities and you can state a preference if you have one. I was partnered to work with VSO in Tanzania, specifically Mwanza.
The team of ICS volunteers in Mwanza consists of 19 people, 10 from all over Tanzania and 9 from the UK. The team has two team leaders, one from Tanzania, Lilly, and myself from the UK. While in Mwanza all the ICS volunteers stay in pairs with host families. The role of an ICS Team Leader involves so much more than just “line management”. On the project I am responsible for the volunteers’ well-being 24/7, dealing with homesickness, culture shock, first aid, communication issues and their health and safety, on top of managing the project, ensuring that the work gets done, reports are completed and submitted, the objectives are met and the volunteers are happy and motivated throughout. This ties into one of my personal reasons for participating in the programme, I hope to gain team leadership experience to improve my career. It’s an exciting challenge and I’ve no doubt I’ll learn a tremendous amount.
ICS placements are usually 3 months long and when one team leave another team arrive to continue the work. However, this was the first time ICS has worked in Mwanza and we did not arrive to a full package of work all neatly set up. Lilly and I have had to research and have spent the first week or so in Mwanza doing a lot of networking.
There were two projects ICS had been identified to work with. These are:
1. Tanzania Local Enterprises Development (T-LED). The goal of T-LED is to support local, small and medium-size enterprises (SME) to overcome existing barriers, with particular attention paid to the additional challenges faced by female-headed SMEs. ICS are working with SMEs to help them with record management and financial management. ICS are also ensuring the database of SMEs is kept up-to date.
2. Youth Empowerment. This focuses on providing marginalised youth (disabled, orphaned, young mothers) with skills to support their livelihoods. There are theoretical programmes and apprenticeships in masonry, fixing motorbikes, mental work and tailoring. ICS are supporting the youth by providing sessions on CV writing, application letters, how to brand and market themselves, customer care, job interviews, self-confidence, gender equality etc.
Under the guide of VSO, Lilly and I have also visited schools, youth centers and non-government organisations (NGOs) to explain the ICS programme, what our volunteers can offer and arrange a greater programme of work.
In addition to the projects outline are work now covers:
3. Youth Engagement. We will be working with a Youth Center and 3 schools, one of which has children with disabilities to deliver training on Sustainable Development Goals, Sexual Reproductive Health, life skills and career development for example goal setting, digital footprint, elevator pitch etc.
I found the ease and informality of our engagement with the Youth Centre quite surprising. On a Thursday when travelling on the local bus, the Dala Dala, we noticed a sign for a Youth Centre, so, we got off at the closest bus stop and made an ad-hoc visit to the Youth Centre. We bumped into someone who luckily happened to be the principle, he took us to his office and he was really pleased there was no cost for the service we were offering. We agreed the timetable there and then and on the understanding there would be a letter of agreement between VSO and the Youth Centre, (which we obtained) we started training the youth the following Tuesday.
The youth and SME’s we have worked with so far have all been extremely grateful for any help and training we can deliver to them. They are all keen to improve their English skills and for the older classes they have even asked for the training to be delivered in English. I am impressed by how engaged, enthusiastic and driven the people we are engaging with have been.
During the ICS teams time in Mwazna we will also be developing our knowledge of being an active citizen through facilitating topics on various global issues as well as engaging with the community. We will be running a number of Community Action Days (CAD) on a Saturday which are open to all ages and genders to attend. The purpose of these is to raise awareness to the community of different issues. The first CAD we have planned is titled “Equality for All” with the theme of “Women’s Rights and Empowerment”. The Lake Zone area of Mwazna has one of the highest rates of domestic and sexual violence in Tanzania, so it is important that boys and girls are educated on these issues from a young age to enable change. The CAD contributes to the aims of the project as a whole since championing women’s rights is at the heart of VSO’s work. The ethos of the T-LED and Lake Zone Youth Empowerment projects is putting women to the forefront, championing their right to work; work safely, independently and on equal terms with men. This event will also directly raise awareness of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) numbers 5 and 10; Gender Equality and Reduced Inequality. Future events will involve information on the environment with litter picks and clean ups organised.
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