Induction Training
Getting a scholarship with JWOC is an exciting time for a student. It is also a nervous time too though – many are just starting out at university having moved to from their hometown to live in Siem Reap. There are lots of new faces everywhere and there is uncertainty of what is expected for the volunteer aspect of the scholarship. Therefore new students are brought into the programme with an extended period of introductions, team-building and training. Over the course of around five weeks, new students attend weekly sessions to integrate them into JWOC’s work, meeting their fellow scholarship students, new and old, thinking about the different projects we do, what problems they might face and how to overcome them, and learning about what is expected from them as a JWOC scholarship student.
Introduction
Our first session is designed to help the students feel at ease in their new surroundings by introducing them to the other new scholarship students. We explain their scholarship contract and guidelines to them before talking about emails. Every student sends regular updates to their sponsor throughout the course of their scholarship and many are nervous about this at first – some are also using email for the first time in their lives. This session offers support and ideas about the kinds of things they might want to update their sponsor about. All new students also have a one-on-one meeting booked for the following week to offer them support when writing to their sponsor for the first time.
Team-Building
The second session gives students the opportunity to collaborate with their counterparts in a fun and structured environment, doing team-building activities. The training emphasizes the importance of working together to achieve common goals and communicating clearly, not only in their JWOC volunteer work, but generally at university, in their jobs and in their personal lives.
Thinking about the projects
The third session in the induction process is designed to get the students to think about all the projects we do at JWOC. The session begins with short presentations from the Project Managers at JWOC to say a little about what the aims of the projects are and what JWOC is doing. Having listened to these presentations, the students go on to think together about the problems they might encounter while doing the different projects (Free Classes, Microfinance and Clean Water) and then suggesting ways in which they could overcome these problems. Students leave the training with a better idea of what is involved in volunteering at JWOC and feeling empowered to solve problems they will encounter by working together and drawing on the support mechanisms in place.
Project assignment and meeting the continuing JWOC students
The final part of the induction process at JWOC brings all scholarship students together for an afternoon. Staff organize a number of mingling activities and games to introduce everybody, break the ice and create a team dynamic that gives the new academic year a good and positive start. New students are able to find and meet existing JWOC students who are studying the same subject as them at university and which students volunteer on the same project as them. The day is rounded off with a party for all scholarship students with food, dancing and karaoke!
In the weeks following and with the induction process finished, the new students now begin a series of specialized training sessions from the project managers of the project they are assigned to.
Go back to our main Cambodia Scholarship Page or click on a picture below to learn about other things we do...
 Meet some of our students |  Scholarship Induction Training |  Teacher Development Workshops |
 Career Development Workshops |  Other Workshops |  Universities |
