Our mission is to provide love and care to children deprived of parental care and to change the lives of the volunteers who love and care for them.
17.0 Supporting Incoming Volunteers
Once volunteers are approved for service, they are moved from the Volunteer Candidate category to Incoming Volunteer. A minimum of one month before the volunteer arrives for service, the DOVEs are to have a introductory video call with the volunteer.
17.0.1 Pre-Arrival video call
During the introductory video call with the volunteer the DOVEs cover the following subjects:
• Medical care: what happens if there is a need for medical attention during the volunteer's stay, ie doctor or hospital visits. Please refer to the Medical section of the handbook for details.
• Arrival Logistics: the volunteer's flight details, who will be picking up the volunteer, asking the volunteer to wear their OSSO shirt on the last flight, the DOVEs will be wearing their OSSO shirts, and the journey back to OSSO housing.
• Housing: The structure of the housing: ie, room assignment, common areas, cleaning schedules, laundry facilities, WiFi availability, etc. Door access codes will not be given until the volunteer's arrival at the housing.
• Food and groceries: ie, groceries are provided for making your own food, there is a grocery list, and lunches are provided on days with a morning and afternoon shift.
• Fun expenses: what is the average cost for souvenirs, where to go shopping, average cost of eating out, taxi costs when hiring a taxi for themselves.
• Code of conduct and safety rules: Volunteers must be in groups of two or more when they leave volunteer housing. They must let the DOVEs know where they are going and when their planned return is.
17.0.2 WhatsApp Group Communication
All incoming volunteers are added to their semester's WhatsApp group. DOVEs communicate with incoming volunteers through WhatsApp, answering questions, getting to know the new volunteers, and helping them become acquainted with each other before their arrival.
17.1 New Volunteer Orientation
New volunteers receive orientation after they have rested. During orientation DOVEs cover the follow:
• Review OSSO's vision, mission, and values. Discuss with the volunteer what the vision and mission mean to them. Ask which of the values is their favorite and have them explain why.
• Familiarizing the volunteer with OSSO housing; private rooms and common areas
• Laundry facilities, ie how the washing machines and dryers work, where the laundry soap is, how much to put in, cleaning out filters in the dryer, etc
• Kitchen facilities, ie refrigerators, fruit and vegetable washing protocols, dishwashing protocols, grocery list
• Activities area, ie where to find the themes for each week, backpacks for shift, proper shift preparation, activity organization and cleanup
• Cleaning protocols, ie cleaning assignments, each volunteer cleans up after themself, room checks every week
• Housing access, ie signing out keys, gate code for access to HDA
• HDA protocols, ie visit only on your assigned shift, do not visit at night and not on your assigned shift
• Code of Conduct: Go over a printed copy of the Code of Conduct and Media Policy with the volunteer. Review the rules they have agreed to and have them sign both documents. Keep the signed documents on file until the end of the volunteer's service.
17.2 First Shift Training
Accompany volunteers on their first shift (first shifts are held at Hogar de Angeles). Model interactions with the children and coach the volunteer on how to serve with them. Stay with the volunteer throughout the shift until they are comfortable carrying on without the accompanying DOVE.