Rou's departure as an IJR reminds us of our true mission.
"If in CISV I got all these skills and knowledge, and my country is going through such a big change, to hopefully a brighter future, then it will benefit a lot from these. I have always made it a point in my life whether during university or when I was working to always make time to volunteer. Now more than every I want to dedicate time to volunteer. However, due to the current circumstances I believe my volunteer time and energy needs to be spent here, in my country, through my jobs, blogging, volunteer development projects, and political participation."
CISV's educational goal is to create open-minded and tolerant and active citizens in the world. Let's say somebody has gone throgh the whole career of CISV from village to being a leader. At some point, it may be time to take ones experiences somewhere else. Obviously everybody starts working in a real job someday (which can be related to CISV, or even, inside CISV), and everybody makes decisions in everyday life such as when voting for certain political parties or shopping in the supermarket (keyword: ethical food).
We've been much talking about how to retain our volunteers, and keep them inside our organization. Why do we have to look for new leaders anew every year? Can't we convince our people that putting even more energy in our organization will yield in more and better output for our targets (participants) and the individuals themselves? It's really a catch-22 to decide what's better for us:
Keep'em in or kick'em out?
This question has to be asked for both our participants (should they become leaders inside or outside the organization?) and people in leadership positions already (should they continue so, or move elsewhere, maybe to more hands-on organizations?)
IPP, for example, has always tried to be a programme that exemplifies the wider world of humanitarian projects and motivate people to get their hands dirty. I know a few cases where people have actually become inspired by an IPP project to continue working in that field.
Personally I've been in CISV leadership positions for the last 10+ years, so I guess I haven't been really been successfully kicked out. On the other side, I've been active on other projects (like my work place and a small aid organization for Nepal), so this is only partly true.
Back to Rou: I have been a harsh critic of peolpe leaving there volunteer position from one day to another without a subsitute in place, a behaviour that is partly related to an attitude I called "volunteer arrogance". But if you get things right, and Rou definitely has, with Tore in place to step in, there can hardly be a better moment to switch engagements elsewere: Egypt is a country in the midst of big change, people with Rou's talents and education are needed to make Egypt a democratic and free country - values we cherish in CISV. Depending a little bit on Rou's future work (no premature praise here at FTB!) she may become a prime example of what our organization is all about. If our output altogether is so hard to measure, at least we may have some spearheads!
Good luck, Rou, and thanks for your work in CISV.
You know, Nick, any of us has his own place on this world/in cisv.
Some need to do something for their country or for the world, to take sides, dirty their hands, soon or later. And that can't be done in cisv, as this association do not take sides and remains just a trigger, so to say. It's their destiny to go out.
Others find their place in a leading/educational position, so they are the right ones to keep in cisv. And if they work well they'll be more than happy to hear stories like Rou's.
Personally, I think there is a time limit for all of us to be volunteering in any association. Especially with cisv, when you do not attend programmes anymore, for any reason, you're "doomed" in most cases... so, even if you won't be recostructing a country from its basis, and you'll just marry and work your life till the end like any other person in the world, it's very hard that you'll have time to spend on trainings or boards meetings or rtf and similars.
So, chapeau to Rou! Keep up updated.
L