Humanitarian Travel

There was a team in Romania getting ready for their first day of work. As their translators arrived, everyone on the American team was excited—except for one. The team leader noticed that one lady was standing back from the rest of the group. She also didn’t seem to have the same excitement as everyone else. The leader went over to check on her and quickly discovered that she was scared. This was her first trip and she had never done this type of work before. All she wanted was to go back to her hotel room!

The leader spent time encouraging her, and then he matched her up with a veteran team member who was more than happy to mentor her. By the end of the day, she was just fine and went on to have an incredible week. By observing his team and being sensitive to their needs, this team leader was able to ensure a successful project and a great experience for everyone.

We began in our last post talking about the importance of working on your short term humanitarian team not just in it if you are the team leader. We continue that discussion today as we focus on taking the pulse of individual team members.

During the course of the trip, you will want to observe every person on your team. As you do, ask yourself some questions about them. How can I help maximize their potential? Would the person’s skills and gifts be better utilized by working a different aspect of the project or by working with a different group? Do they need extra encouragement? Are they struggling?

In addition to looking for team members that may be distressed or confused, the leader should also watch for personality conflicts. Changing up work teams or room assignments when conflicts first arise may be the best way to maximize the limited time that you have. You want the team to be focused on the work at hand not on personality issues.

One other thing to watch out for when evaluating team members is fatigue. You may need to make some schedule adjustments and build in some “down time” so that your team gets adequate rest. What you give up in time you will probably make up in productivity.

The key for the short term project team leader is to be proactive. Ask questions of your team and national workers. Make sure they are doing well and that they have the resources they need. As you do this and constantly check the team’s pulse, you will help ensure that your trip is a success.

We would love to help you as you plan your next international project. We have humanitarian flight discounts and have been working with NGOs and various aid agencies for years. Contact one of our humanitarian travel consultants today at 1-866-429-1325 or on the web at www.humanitariantravel.net.

A consultant friend is often quoted as telling organization leaders that their primary role is to work on their organizations not in their organizations. As leaders, they have to make sure the entire organization is functioning properly. It is up to them to set direction and evaluate progress. This means that they have to give up some of the “direct” involvment that the organization is known for so that they have time to lead effectively.

The same can be said of those who lead international short term projects teams. Whatever the tasks or functions that your team has traveled to do, those should be the primary focus of the team members, not the leader. While the leader certainly will be engaged in working the project, his or her primary role is to make sure that the over-all assignment is a success. The team leader does this by checking the pulse and progress of the team while making necessary mid-course corrections.

The team leader should keep as flexible a schedule as possible during the outreach. If the team is scattered across different venues, the leader should try to spend the bulk of his or her time floating between the sites. This allows the leader to see the big picture and spot opportunities or problems in their early stages.

If the different sites have sub-leaders, then the leader should visit with each of them at the site. Take them aside and get their honest opinion of how things are going. What ideas do they have to make things better? What opportunities have they discovered that should be explored? What problems are they finding difficult to handle?

In addition, the humanitarian project team leader also has to evaluate logistics. Is the food safe and adequate? Are team members getting enough water? Do you have the right number of quality translators? Are there issues with the lodging that need to be addressed such as problems with the toilets, showers or excessive noise at night? Are there any unsanitary conditions that need to be avoided? Are there any dangerous or potentially dangerous situations? Is the transportation reliable?

We’ll continue this discussion in our next blog as we look at observing and evaluating individual team members. In the meantime, we would love to hear your thoughts, ideas or suggestions on this subject. At Humanitarian Travel, we look forward to hearing from you. We also look forward to helping you with discounted airline tickets for NGO or other humanitarian travel. To request a no-obligation quote visit us at www.humanitariantravel.net.

If you’re a Humanitarian Travel client, then you know about our great discounted airfares for missionaries and humanitarian travelers, as well as our commitment to outstanding service. You may not, however, know about our ongoing efforts to keep you informed on issues that relate to travel and humanitarian projects.

Each weekday through our Facebook page and Twitter feed (twitter.com/humanitarianair) we provide late breaking news, stories, tips and suggestions beneficial for those who travel, especially those engaged in international mission trips. Here are three stories that we recently referenced in our social media sites.

The first is what may become an airline industry trend. Malaysia Airlines recently placed a ban on infants from flying in the first-class cabin (see http://bit.ly/lNnvQK for details). There has been significant talk within the industry and frequent flyers about expanding this to more airlines and to business as well as first class. Some have even suggested “children-free flights” (obviously by people who don’t have young children!). While we don’t see that happening, there could be moves to limit where children sit in airplanes. We’ll keep an eye on this and let you know if this expands beyond Malaysia Airlines and first class.

Another article caught our attention, this one by MSNBC http://on.msnbc.com/j5hnDD) about how to sleep on airplanes, even if you are in coach. There are some people who can sleep anywhere, even airplanes. If you are one of those lucky few, then you can skip this paragraph. But for the rest of us—the majority that find airline noise and commotion as definite sleep inhibitors—then you will appreciate the article’s nine tips.

They are:

1. Choose your seat wisely (most important factor of whether or not you sleep)

2. Cut down on carry-ons

3. Avoid caffeine

4. Grab pillows and blankets (if there are any)

5. Bring a neck pillow

6. Free your feet (with caution!)

7. Try a sleep aid

8. Use headphones with discretion

9. Recline your seat—but be courteous

Check out the full article for more details on each of these tips.

Finally, there was a bizarre story from USA Today that we couldn’t help but notice (see http://usat.ly/nkSkmp). This one was of a guy who decided to smuggle 15 lizards from Australia to Los Angeles by fastening them to his body. Apparently he didn’t make it through customs…and now is facing 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine!

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter and we will keep you informed on what’s happening in the world of humanitarian travel. Thankfully, most of our stories have nothing to do with lizards!

We’ve always recommended the travel section of the U.S. Department of State website (http://travel.state.gov) as must-view in preparation for any mission or humanitarian short term trip. Now the information from that site is as close as your iPhone thanks to the Smart Traveler iPhone app which the State Department recently released. The current version works with iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad and requires iOS 4.0 or later to run.

With one tap on the screen, you can get all of the latest travel warnings and alerts as well as details on all the countries in the world that the State Department follows (which is pretty much all of them). The country specific section is divided into three parts: Know Before You Go, Country Background, and US Embassies/Consulates. Know Before You Go includes alerts/warnings specific to that country, maps, entry/exit requirements, safety and security tips and much more. Country background provides the State Department’s briefings on a country including history, government, economy, etc. The embassies/consulates section provides addresses, hours of operations, emails, websites and maps for the American embassy and consulate(s) in the selected country.

The app also gives you access to the Smart Traveler Enrollment program where you can register your trips and travel contact information with the State Department in case of an emergency. The app will keep track of your itineraries and includes a place to keep notes.

You can view the State Department’s Twitter and Facebook feeds on your phone, which is great for late-breaking news and issues.

While the look, feel and functionality of the app is great, there is one big drawback—most of the information is not native to the software on the phone. That means that you have to have an Internet connection (either Wi-Fi or through a cellular data network) for it to work.  Not a problem if you’re sitting at home, but if you are in the middle of the Serengeti and need the information, you may have trouble (although the Serengeti actually has good cell phone coverage—it just will cost you a lot to access it!).

The app is free and even with that one big drawback, it is a must-have for any iPhone user who travels internationally or who just wants to learn about different countries. It is definitely easier to navigate than the State Department’s full version website. The app is available for download through Apple’s iTunes store.