01 March 1998

Bonn, Germany: "Being a UNV means being part of a team", said UNV Heather Branton during the launch of the "Capacity Building of SASVO" project at Pretoria University. Team-building is exactly what UNV and the Southern African Student Student Volunteers (SASVO) have embarked on: initially for one year, eight National UN Volunteers (NUNVs) will be part of the SASVO crew as Project Officers. Founded in 1993, SASVO has been engaged in student-driven development throughout the Southern African region. The NUNV Project Officers’ task will be to identify suitable projects, recruit student volunteers, organise training sessions and manage projects. Addressing the audience, Heather Branton reflected on the particular opportunities and challenges that the Project Officers will face as National UNVs. Here are excerpts of her speech:

"As international UNVs we have the advantage of being seen as having objectivity, as being non-partisan. We bring a freshness to development through our differentness in how we do things. People are interested in where we come from; why we are here, and what we think about South Africa. This often gives us an open door, a measure of freedom, a greater latitude in consideration of our ideas and suggestions.

But we also have disadvantages in being outsiders. We do not understand all of the issues, we do not have an adequate grasp of the sociohistorical context and the implications it has on the social and political environment today. We cannot fully identify with the people we work with and therefore be fully part of the community. We face language barriers at times and misunderstandings of meaning, even in English.

Therefore I am quite excited today about the posting of National UNVs. National UNVs have the advantage of being insiders. As National UNVs you can work with other South Africans as true equals. You understand the various ways of communicating. This will enable you to better lead in your projects and to facilitate the greater involvement of others.

But as National UNVs you must also be wise in your knowledge and experience. You must be careful to balance your identification as South Africans with your objectivity. You must keep your vision in front of you, focusing on your purpose for being here, and use your knowledge and experience to assist you in accomplishing your objectives. You must also continue to be sensitive to the issues of diversity and attempt to deal with the different people around you. And it is essential that you communicate - with each other, with SASVO, with the UNV office in Pretoria, and with the rest of us UNVs who are also working here, so that we can learn from each other and work together in our various assignments with the mutual goal of assisting in the development and capacity-building of South Africa. And remember that this should be a win-win situation for you as well as it is an opportunity for you to grow personally, to develop your skills, to explore new ways of doing things".