#COVID-19 : Advice from and for international volunteers

Dear everyone,

Here’s a short guide to help you cope with the current situation.

Health & safety

Follow and respect the policies of the country you are in.

If you are a volunteer in the UK, checking the NHS website is a good way the stay up to date with the latest advice and policies on COVID-19.

Here is a reminder of important steps you must take in order to delay the spread of the virus :

Don’t forget to also take care of your Mental Health. You will find tips and advices here and here.

Follow the news

Try to follow the news from the national and international Health agencies. Things are evolving very quickly everywhere and it’s important for you to stay informed.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a good source. Most governments have a website with the latest updates. Click here for the UK one.

Be very careful about what you read. In these stressful times, it is easy to believe anything you can see on social media. Listen to the scientists and to the official statements. Don’t panic.

Travel advice

If you wish to return to your home country get in touch with your sending, coordinating and host organisations. Make sure you have read the latest travel advice of your hosting and home countries.

You can also reach your country’s embassy if you have a particular concern or question.

Stay in touch

Make sure you stay in contact with your family and friends but also with your sending organisation and your host organisation if you are working from home or self-isolating.

Living through this kind of crisis while being far from your home country can be rough and your organisation (mentor, supervisor, coordinator…) should be supporting you.

Don’t hesitate to connect and stay in touch with other volunteers in the same situation. Contact UNA Exchange if you want help to reach out with other volunteers.

Stay busy

If you can’t do your volunteering work and just end up with a lot of free time, it is still important to stay busy! We thought about a few things you could do to keep active:

Work on your language skills or learn a new language! You will find many free websites and apps for this. If you are part of the European Solidarity Corps you can use the Online Linguistic Support (OLS) but apps such as Duolingo or Drops. But you can find many more!

Learn new things! There are ways to access high-quality online courses for free. You can find some on reed.co.uk but you may also find other websites and platforms. Be curious!

Stay safe and take care of yourselves and others. Love, the UNA Exchange team.