by Terri-Lynn Penney
On Wednesday the 19 of March, I attended a Safety & Security for Volunteers – Workshop, hosted by Sage Net. in Pretoria. SAGE Net. is an NPO that organises the exchange between South Africa and Germany. They offer a platform for different cooperations to network and long-lasting partnerships. The different organisations that take part in the exchange were invited and arrived from right over South Africa to attend the workshop. The workshop was all about safety and security for our German volunteers while working for the organisations in South Africa.
Important topics were discussed, e.g. issues that effect us on a daily basis when we are out and about working in the different areas where we run our projects, such as high jacking, mugging, rape, dangers of public transport and a few other topics.
We were divided into teams to discuss the topics. Then we had to develop strategies what has to be done when one of the German volunteers gets into one of these situations and how we would handle it. Lots of ideas and thoughts were shared on the different topics, It was really helpful to have everyone share their own thoughts and experiences.
We also got to know more about each other and our work circumstances. It was a great time of bonding, meeting and greeting. We all went home with much more knowledge when it comes to improving safety and security of our German Volunteers!