Michael Schneider

I started working at Iko Poran directly in the main office in Santa Teresa. My main goal was an improvement in communication and marketing, so I revised Iko Poran’s website and gave suggestions for a more comprehensive, direct and attractive layout and usability of it. Additionally I made some further translations into German. Together with suggestions of other volunteers the website was “given a new look” and an improved usability. I also created/ improved an Iko Poran Brochure in English and German which I sent out to German and English universities to communicate Iko Poran and reach more volunteers. A very interesting part of the work in the main office was to accompany new volunteers on their first day to their communities. Thus I gained a very interesting overview of the different communities and the NGOs Iko Poran works together with and eventually the work and support they give to the people.

Since I also wanted to get a deeper insight in the daily life of those communities and the work the NGOs do there I worked the second part of my volunteer time 2 days in the office and 2 days at Parque Horacio. There I was playing with kids, drawing with them, giving English and painting and designing the outside of the place.

A future volunteer in the office could keep on contacting universities, but also other contact points like embassies, travel magazines or language schools to reach more potential volunteers and multiplier that communicate Iko Poran as the leading organization in Brazil for the placement of international volunteers in Rio. Different ways of communication could be tested. I think it is quite important to install means of communication control to see how effective the marketing and communication was in the end.

Since I only went twice per week to Parque Horacio I didn´t get a really deep impression. However, I think a structured learning plan or a fixed schedule with appointments for different courses could be designed, so the kids know when they can take what class. Since the kids in Parque Horacio are quite young it is quite helpful to think about games and ways of keeping the kids entertained and get their attention. To sum up, be open for new impressions and ideas and you will see what could be done to improve things.

Michael Schneider

Email: michaelschneider33@hotmail.com

10 weeks, from mid November 2010 to early February 2011

Jasmin G, Germany

I worked in the Iko Poran office on the NGO’s Business as well as the Communication strategy. Among others, I translated the relaunched English version of the homepage into German and set up an evaluation system for the volunteers. I also made sure volunteers write blog entries in order to keep the projects’ blogs up-to-date – this shall help future volunteers make decisions on their project work.

If you work at the office, I recommend that you visit as many projects as possible in order to understand their needs as well as the way they work.

Please make sure, all volunteers write blog entries and fill out the evaluation questionnaire. At least every three months the questionnaires should be analyzed and improvements for Iko Poran’s work deduced. That way, the volunteers’ experiences as well as the sustainability of their impact can be improved.

A German volunteer might check the German version of the homepage to make sure the online presence doesn’t have any spelling mistakes and is up-to-date.

Jasmin G, Germany
Future volunteers can request my email address through the office