We are a cohort of 12. With an excess ratio of staff to volunteers, I’m sure it’s very true we get a lot more access to resources and support as the first volunteers in country. In some ways it’s necessary since we can’t lean on the knowledge of previous volunteers because we are the most senior at post.

We have had to figure everything out ourselves, and decide what we are willing to put up with. My cohort has been honest and open, creating a terrific culture of self-advocacy. There are systemic things that have not been revised in the past 3 years and are no longer relevant or accurate to the reality we are finding ourselves in today.

Our country staff has talked a big game about openness and trust, but when it comes to us actually utilizing the systems in place, there is pushback and resistance. There’s a mentality among staff of “well, it’s always been done this way, so why would we change anything?”.