There is often an element of risk involved in community service. People who are underprivileged are likely to be forced to live in habitats that may not be the most desirable. Their living environment may pose health risks to our students and staff when we visit to offer our service. On the other hand, our actions may also pose risks to people we serve. Our service and products can cause harm rather than deliver benefits. Our students may even misbehave and cause harm to vulnerable people. These may be risks that we have to take, in order to deliver the desired service. If we insist on taking no risks at all, we may end up not doing anything. On the other hand, we have an obligation to ensure the safety of our students and staff, and the people we serve. Herein lies the tension, and the need to balance the risk against the benefit. Ideally, there may be ways to manage the risks at an acceptable level. Hence is is important to be aware of the potential risks involved in any community service project, and the degree of the risk, to do all we can to reduce and manage the risk, and avoid taking excessive risks.
Health risks are perhaps the most obvious. Is exposure to known infectious diseases a potential danger? Well known ones such as ebola? HIV/AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, etc.? Are there vaccinations and other preventive measures that can be taken against these? How do we protect ourselves against these risks? What types of food or drink to avoid? Knowing the dangers and taking the proper precautions can reduce the risks to a manageable level. Taking the rights shots in time, knowing the locations, type and quality of care available nearby clinics, training the students in the proper discipline, securing medical insurance, etc., are regular measures taken. The University Health Service has become a very valuable and reliable partner for us. At one point in 2010, when our team was on a six-hour ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, two students became sick with diarrhoea, while still 3 hours away from Phnom Penh. Fortunately, we had friends in Phnom Penh who were able to direct us to a reputable clinic as soon as we arrived in Phnom Penh. The students received appropriate treatment and recovered quickly. It was a scary experience but also a valuable lesson.
Is the site politically stable? Is security of the person threatened by crime and lawlessness? These factors are out of our control and any such threats perhaps best avoided. Some countries are relatively stable most of the time, except during sensitive periods such as around elections. Perhaps we can still go but schedule projects to avoid these sensitive periods. Understanding the local political situation, sensitive topics, trouble spots, etc., can go someway to avoid getting into trouble. One year, we had planned a project in Vietnam. Just months before the trip took place, some trouble arose between China and Vietnam, and anti-Chinese sentiments arose in Vietnam. It would appear to be risky to take out students to Vietnam at the time. Fortunately, we had built up strong connections with Cambodia at the time. Hence we were able to divert the team to a site in Cambodia, carrying out a similar project. Much of what the students were prepared for turned out to be applicable for the revised project. Being aware of such risks and having contingency plans have proven to be extremely valuable.
We, of course, wish to do good. But good intentions are not always sufficient to guarantee a satisfactory result. This is one of the areas where service-learning differs from many regular academic projects. Most projects assigned by the professors for academic subjects are not intended to be actually used by real people. Hence there are no real consequences beyond the impact on the students’ grades. In service-learning, we deliver a product or service that is expected to be used by real people in need - who are, by definition, vulnerable. If we build a shelter for the homeless, the shelter must be safe to live in. If we deliver food for the hungry, the food must be safe to eat. If we provide advice or counselling to the troubled, the advice or consoling must be sound. The teachers and the students must be aware of such risks, do all they can to mitigate the risks, in good faith.
Students can and will sometimes misbehave. They are, of course, responsible for the consequences. In the service-learning setting, however, their misbehaviour can have serious consequences for the whole team, and the community that they serve. Students who gets involved with alcohol, or drugs, for example, can cause serious damage to themselves or other people around them in a foreign, unfamiliar country. Hence it is important to be aware of the general environment and the security situation around the service site, and exercise proper discipline. Many teams forbid the use of alcohol or drugs for the duration of an offshore trip. It is also important to potential risks interacting with groups that are particularly vulnerable: such as the elderly, the mentally challenged, young children, etc.
Most of the projects involve investment by both the students and the community they serve. It is, in reality a contract whereby both parties are committed to deliver their end of the bargain. There was once a situation in an African country involving a team from a prestigious American university. The American university was committed to install a solar-powered electrical pump and piping system that would pump water from a lake to a site a kilometre away on higher ground, for use by a village. The Americans had designed and built the pump, dismantled it, and shipped it to the site. They planned to purchase the piped locally. They had requested the local village to dig a trench for the piping system. The trench was duly dogged - we had witnessed it. But the pump was shipped too late, and it failed to arrive during the time the team was in the country. We were doing a different project nearby. When we finished our own project and left, the trench was there, the American team had left, leaving behind an ugly scar in the road. But no piping system, no pump and no water. It is the responsibility of the team to be fully aware of the risks of failure, the consequences of such failure, and do all we can to ensure that we do not undertake undue risks that neither us, or our partners, can afford.
We cannot possible foresee all risks, and accidents do happen. But the burden is on us to do our best to anticipate possible risks. For this purpose, the OSL has developed a Risk Management Checklist, to assist project teams in anticipating and planning for contingencies. There are contingency plans in place. And we always notify the local Chinese Embassy prior to undertaking a project in a foreign country.
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