In July of 2011, I had the opportunity to go to the town of Nuneaton (England) for almost a month working as a volunteer in the organization YWAM (Young with the mission). I was with people and families from twenty nations, of different ages, cultures and customs, a fantastic experience. As every manager has his quirks, I took some notes of learning.
1. Everything in its place
The official language was English, but there was always "Spanglish" and "portunhol", and the mixture of accents from all over the world. For many times, it was not easy to coordinate, so it was always very important to have well-defined activities and fuctions to each person. It is amazing how it made the difference: tables, schedules and activities described for smooth running.
2. Synergy
Another thing that struck me was that I had got on well with people from other nations. Even with my Northeast-English, I could communicate. And one of the most interesting thing was to communicate without speaking: even though everyone was from different cultures, we had an empathy and synergy in the work that outweighed any good "English communication". People are people everywhere! The human factor exceeds any methodology.
3. Ideology
Doing volunteer work helps us to revise our concepts and ideals that we are applying in our lives. We always think we're going there to help, and we are the ones who are helped. It helps us to reflect on what we are doing to improve the world we live, and to have complete confidence that each one can do their part as citizens of this world, administrators, as people.
I recommend!
Now, one thing I learned, that does not have much to do with management, was making giant bubbles! I also recommend!
Finally, it improved my English!
