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SHARE WITH OTHER MOBILISERS

By Phil Bartle, PhD

Training Handout

Other mobilisers can be a major asset when you are in the field

When you are out in the field (an out of date term, for you may be working in an urban slum) you will be facing a few failures, perhaps making a few mistakes, and you can easily get depressed.

An important antidote to he feeling of being isolated, is to discover that “you are not alone.” When you find colleagues also working in the field, you can share experiences, including mistakes.

In some cases a colleague will share solutions to some of the problems. In others, at least you feel you can suffer in company. It reduces the pain.

If you are working for a department or an organization that sends mobilisers to different districts, a meeting every two months would be valuable. If your manager or coordinator has not initiated such a regular meeting, then lobby to get one started, even if you have to organize it without the blessing of the organization.

And do not limit your contacts to those in the same organization; seek out mobilisers in other organizations. If you have a regular meeting, every two months optimum, you may wish to bring in an outside speaker with a specialty you want to hear about, but do not forget that it is the ongoing contact with other mobilisers in the field that is your main purpose.

See “Workshops” for organizing such meetings.

Support your fellow mobilisers, and get support in return. Clarify your objectives, strategies, skills and perspectives by unstructured, free flowing group discussions.

Another way to keep in contact is through the internet. You may want to post a notice on the Aid Workers network forum, to say you want to organize a group.

You can then use a listserv such as Yahoo Groups (we have several language volunteer discussion groups for this collective). Both these are free and easy.

Do not wait for someone else to organize a group. Start your own.

Key Words

Field:

This is the place where you work. For a mobiliser, it is the community you are helping and guiding. It can be urban or rural. It is not the same use of the word as a farmer's plot of land where she or he grows clover or potatoes. Nor is it a place where soccer players play the team game of football.

© Copyright 1967, 1987, 2007 Phil Bartle
Web Design by Lourdes Sada

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Last update: 2012.03.23