In March this year, WBFN was represented at the 12th Annual FIGT Conference in 
Houston, Texas. Families in Global Transition (www.figt.org) is a unique network providing an annual forum for participants from around the world representing: Providers (relocation companies, professional coaches, corporate HR), Clients (individuals; family associations; military, diplomatic and religious missionary sectors) and Researchers (academic and non-academic).
WBFN’s purpose was to present jointly with the World Bank Global Mobility (HRSGM) the role of WBFN in the WBG and to learn from others how they help families with global moves and accompanying transitions. Below are some of the highlights and tips that may be of interest to WBFN members.
Relocation and Cross-cultural Awareness
Many professional coaches—psychological, cross-cultural and educational—participating in the conference stressed that: 1) Relocation preparation is a crucial determinant of success or failure of the expatriation process; thinking accurately and having information for making choices is a factor of the resilience-building process. 2) Acceptance by family members is important, and relocation should be a common project, in which all family members are part of the decision; having choice and control over the situation positively affects the adaptation. 3) Understanding the nature of the invisible culture is crucial for adaptation; it allows one to accept the difference as an enriching element instead of as a source of instability. 4) Pre-departure and re-entry support are important, but a successful relocation will crucially depend on localized support for the entire family.
Spouse/Partner Career Support
Most career-related coaches offer programs for spouses/partnersranging from more psychological approaches (personality assessment tests, stress management, culture
shock, social integration instruments) to very practical support (work permit requirements, local job market conditions, job interview preparation, CV writing, etc.). Many coaches offer consultation on how to network and how to efficiently use the Linkedln network. They all highlight the importance of having: 1) accurate, precise and updated information on legal aspects and the job market, before the departure; 2) an effective network; and 3) an alternative such as further education and volunteer work in the many countries where pursuing a professional career is not an option for the spouse/partner.
Social Networks
Among various presentations on the role of social networking in the integration to a new environment process was that by a Swiss coach, Anne-Claude Lambelet, who presented the results of a recent survey conducted to evaluate the impact of a Swiss web-based platform (Glocals.com) on its members’ integration process into a new environment. Her main conclusions are that the network: 1) plays a positive role by making it easier to meet people through engaging in activities together—a “social life saver”, 2) allows an exchange between local and international communities, and 3) has been recognized by several Swiss based companies as contributing to employee satisfaction. Factors mentioned by members as making the network more useful are: home search support, administration and formalities, daycare registration, support to the working spouse, recognition of same sex partners, local practices, language and culture, banking, telephone and IT connections, information about the country.
The Recipe for Success: Partnership between the Organization and the Family Association for Relocation Success
Presented by WBFN President Anne Folliet and Yvonne Quahe (HRSGM)
To view the presentation, click here. Judging from comments and questions during the session (as well as after), it appears that:
The WBG is perceived as a role model for family support. The uniqueness of the synergetic relationship between the Bank and the Family Network attracted the attention of all.
Most of the family associations represented at the conference would like WBFN to take the lead in building a "Network of Networks": to organize a forum—either virtual or physical—where all the family associations could share their experience and benefit from each other.
WBFN is the only family association with participation in an institutional internal domestic abuse prevention program. It is not clear whether the Bank is the only organization with such a program.
To learn more about the role on WBFN in the WBG, read:
Children’s Perception of Relocation
Psychologist Simone Costa Eriksson (Brazil), a “Third Culture Kid” herself who works as a coach for adults and children in Brazil, highlighted how a child’s adaptation differs from that of adults. Relocation affects both processes of attachment and of identity formation. Ms. Eriksson’s main point was that what determines whether an international move will have a positive or a negative impact on children in the long term is how well their families are prepared to support them during the transition and adaptation period. Among the points she made were:
Small children still in the egocentric phase do not have the ability to see other points of view and cannot absorb abstract concepts like moving to another house, to another culture, not even the timeline of the process. The recommendation then is to implement concrete representations of the move before the relocation, such as showing pictures of the new environment, talking about the food, listening to the new language, and creating with them a calendar of the weeks/days before the move.
It is important to work on children’s fears, such as the fear of losing friends, close relatives, pets, etc. Ms. Eriksson recommends talking with children about the following seven points and making space for the children to express themselves and ask questions: 1) my things and my toys, 2) people I know, 3) my school, 4) language and communication, 5) my house and my home, 6) what will happen next, and 7) my unique individual perception.
Teenagers’ Experience of Relocation
Denyz Gyger of the Universite de Neuchatel (Switzerland) has conducted a survey “Teenagers’ Journey in Geographical Itinerancy: Narratives and Resources”, which is the foundation for her PhD thesis (hopefully to be published next year). This research is an analysis of the ruptures present in the relocation process, employing three levels of analysis (micro, meso and macro) and three questions: 1) what are the ruptures, 2) what are the consequences of the ruptures, and 3) what resources do we have to cope with them? By resources, she means social, cultural and cognitive resources that teenagers use to cope with the ruptures they experience during multiple relocations. For instance, having always an object, a picture or a piece of furniture that they carry with them, and having regular holiday stays in the passport country as a fixed element.
Resources
Distance Learning
Several companies offer online accredited US-curriculum-based education programs from Kindergarten to •12th grade, as well as college preparation, and issue US official transcripts and records. Some systems are built for home schooling but usually also provide one-on-one sessions with teachers and academic advisors. Classes include AP, Honors, and SAT/ACT preparation. They also have modalities that include regular (weekly or monthly) get-together sessions with the teacher through the web or videoconference.
These programs could be interesting for WBG families living in locations with poor schooling options. And, if several families were to participate, collective sessions might even be held at the Bank Country Office and become a way to connect children/teens together.
Literature for Preparing Children for International Relocation
In her presentation, Education counselor Laura Sicola stressed the value of using books for preparing children for international relocation. She divided the books into two different categories. Cross-cultural books contain all the elements of relocation, and tell a story in which children can identify themselves, put names on their feelings and return their own experience to normal. Cultural books, on the other hand, tell a story that happens in a different country or with foreign characters, in which children can identify themselves precisely because of the difference they feel between their own life and that which they read about in the book. (For book suggestions: ).
Report by Catherine Mathieu; Edited by Louise Shimizu