ANNUAL REPORT 2012 - WBFN

Surviving Culture Shock WorkshopThe Surviving Culture Shock Workshop is designed for those who have arrived for the firsttime in the DC area and for those returning to DC after some time away. Workshop participantslearn about and discuss the challenges that WBG spouses/partners face, includingthe losses and gains involved in moving from country to country and in changing cultures,as well as the psychological aspects of moving, the process of change and U.S. values andculture.During FY12, Surviving Culture Shock Workshops were co-facilitated by Nancy LeBaronand Yvonne Quahe. Three workshops were scheduled: two were held and one was cancelled.The two workshops took place on October 24, 2011 and February 13, 2012, with a total of30 participants.The feedback received in FY12 rated the workshops as being extremely valuable to participantsand their families' adjustment to the U.S. and the DC sub-culture and contributed totheir understanding of the WBG. Participants felt that the principal benefit to them was therealization that they are not alone and that others are facing similar challenges.After many years of invaluable service, Nancy announced that she would no longer be ableto facilitate the Surviving Culture Shock Workshops. She will be greatly missed and WBFNwishes her all the best in her future activities.Call Center and Buddy SystemThrough the WBFN Call Center, WBFN members who have been living in the DCmetro area for a while use their experience to offer a warm welcome by telephone to newWBFN members who have arrived in the past three months. In some special circumstances,through the Buddy System, one-on-one support is provided to newcomers by memberswho come from the same country, speak the same language or have similar backgrounds.FY12 saw a number of developments for the Buddy System and what is now known as the“Call Center”. At the beginning of the fiscal year, the Welcoming Team was keen to lookfor ways to improve and systematize the process of making initial welcoming phone callsto newcomers in the DC area. As a result, a new WBFN Call Center was created to ensurethat future newcomers would be contacted soon after their arrival in a more organized way.Launched in January 2012 and supported by the Membership Management System (MMS),which makes the process more accurate and manageable, the Call Center has generated encouragingresults so far. Forty-nine percent of newcomers arriving between January 2012 andthe end of the fiscal year were successfully welcomed by phone within three months, andanother 5% did not require a welcoming call, having already attended a Welcoming Coffee orSpouse/Partner Orientation session. It remains a problem that many newcomers are unreachabledue to the lack of a valid/up-to-date telephone number or email address.In parallel to the development of the Call Center, the Buddy System was also incorporatedinto the MMS, making it simpler to assign buddies to newcomers who may have particulardifficulties with their relocation, and to track this process.There is still much to be done but the continuous flow of fresh ideas and suggestions fromvolunteers maintains the Call Center and Buddy System as a critical area of WBFN’s Welcomingactivities.34 35