Diversity and nuances when working online.

Diversity can when traveling take on varied nuances when working online and this can also occur when working online. I do travel in North Africa at times and finding a signal isn’t always easy depending on which area of the country you are located. When in a city then generally getting a signal is easier as businesses need those infrastructures to work is similar way to when travelling in Europe. In the mountains, if you ask about getting a signal either there isn’t one or a younger person will say which village road shop has a bit of signal if you ask the shop guy or follow a route to a blacked-out shop that had 4 Windows 98 computers and charges to use. It makes working from overseas trickier so sessions when away are not so simple.
As online clinicians we can sometimes forget that the whole world is not connected and families function well without any signal. When I was in the Orkneys (islands by the Scottish mainland) getting lost without GPS got me in a panic so had to do what people do without mobiles and ask someone. The pandemic showed us that those not online really struggled and not having online counselling as the women’s centre was closed really took its toll. As someone with health concerns who didn’t go out, I had access to GP appointments, the pharmacy, food deliveries as well as other services. I also was a call person to an elderly person who had no tv or mobile phone so I became the information person for her. When overseas a certain person in the village maybe the spokesperson for everyone as they have a phone or a tv.
Contact while overseas or to someone overseas can have complexities over the internet. As I have contact with family in North Africa, I was curious about ethical concerns if I worked there. During the Arab Spring some years back, the internet was just stopped by possibly governments so word didn’t get out and apparently to quieten the movement. The situation was a news event for us hear but it can make confidentiality hard to know if unknown powers can shut connection down.
Working with those overseas in a warzone also has its own concerns not always taught in our clinical courses. We may be online with someone who grabs their phone and runs as a siren sounds or theirs an explosion. I admit this is something I heard from another clinician however Ive spoken with those who had gone through these conditions days before. I was on a call with another who was running out of a nearby building to the Twin Towers as it went down. To say emotions are not affected is a lie and staying stable in that moment is quite difficult.