18.0 Prepare the Volunteer's Room
Prepare the volunteer’s room for their arrival by doing the following:
Make the bed. On the bed include:
• clean sheets
• a thick blanket
• a light blanket
• a pillowcase
• a pillow.
Make sure that there are extra blankets and pillows available in the hallway between the rooms in case they are needed during the night.
On the bottom of the bed, add:
• a second, folded thick blanket
• a clean towel
• a welcome gift (usually a coin purse)
• a fresh water bottle
Place a laundry basket in the room.
Make a cute sign with the volunteer's name on the door and put it on the door of their room.
If the volunteer is an international volunteer (ie, not from the United States) the following items should be added to their bed:
• One t-shirt (t-shirt size is found in the volunteer's contact information) for short-term volunteers. Two t-shirts for semester abroad volunteers.
• one OSSO sweatshirt (for all volunteers)
• a purple OSSO bracelet
• a Spanish Pocket Guide
• an OSSO postcard for your site
• an OSSO chapstick
• an OSSO country-shaped sticker
• a purple OSSO pen
• an OSSO volunteer pin
Record Welcome Items After Arrival
When volunteers receive their shirts, sweatshirts, welcome boxes, or other tracked items upon arrival, the coordinator or director distributing the items must record them in the OSSO Inventory Action Form.
Select your location and Distributed, then enter the total quantity given out beside each applicable item. If several volunteers receive items at the same time, you may combine everything into one submission. Complete the form immediately after distribution.
When preparing the large family apartment, HDA staff apartment, or small family area, make sure to check the kitchen, living room, and bathroom for cleanliness, including vacuuming, dusting, clean dishes, etc.
18.1 Booking Arrival Transport
Using the Cuenca DOVE list in Grid, double-check the flight arrival times for incoming volunteers. Book transport that is big enough to accommodate both the arriving volunteers and whomever is picking them up. Book the transport at least two days in advance.
18.2 Picking Up New Volunteers
New volunteers are welcomed at the airport by the DOVEs. In exceptional circumstances, if the DOVEs are not available, the 1) Operations Coordinator, 2) Relief DOVEs, or 3) Assistant DOVE may collect the volunteer.
When welcoming new volunteers, the DOVEs wear their OSSO t-shirts so as to be easily recognized by the incoming volunteer. They also bring a fresh water bottle (disposable bottle, filtered water) and a small snack (for example, a snack bar) for the volunteer.
18.3 Arriving at OSSO Housing
When new volunteers arrive they are shown to the common area, and given the WiFi passwords. They are asked to contact their loved ones and let them know of their safe arrival. They are then shown to their room and permitted to rest until the end of the current service shift.
After the service shift is ended, volunteers receive orientation and training from the DOVEs. Please see the Volunteer Onboarding section for details.