To celebrate the 2020 National Volunteer Week. We have curated the following content as a way to say thank you.
Volunteering to promote inclusion and cohesion
After retirement, AMES Australia volunteer Frank Moore has found a second career as ‘tour guide’ helping newly arrived migrants and refugees navigate their new lives in Australia.
He says he has always wanted to contribute to social justice and equity and jumped at the chance to volunteer to help new arrivals learn English and settle in Australia.
“I retired in 2013 when I was in my mid 60s and I decided I wanted to get involved in something that was around social justice,” Frank said.
“I heard about AMES and I put my hand up and I began supporting English teachers with language tuition. I was assisting in classrooms and also doing one to one English conversation once a week,” he said.
“After that I became a sort of ‘tour guide’ helping people new to Australia to navigate their new environment. I’m helping them orientate themselves to a new country
“I take people out on public transport to show them how to use it and to help them get to appointments at hospitals and other places,” Frank said.
Volunteering has given Frank a ‘second wind’.
“I had a good career in IT but my work was mostly in businesses where you couldn’t really see up close the benefits the work you were doing had for others,” he said.
“I had always wanted to do something to make difference in people’s lives and I was fit and didn’t want to spend my retirement at home not doing much,” Frank said.
“I find volunteering really rewarding and interesting. I meet all sorts of people that normally I wouldn’t encounter.
“Some of the people I support are from affluent backgrounds but others come from the pretty dire circumstances.
“And unless we, the Australian community, do something to reach out to these people they could become isolated and not become part of our broader society.
“Volunteering for AMES was a chance to do that and to make these people part of our community,” he said.
Over seven years of volunteering, Frank has supported around two dozen people.
“There was one man, a Karen refugee, at home with an ill wife and several kids who was pretty much housebound. I spent six months supporting him to learn English. At the end he presented me with a colourful Karen jacket. It wasn’t expected,” he said.
Frank says he is touched and humbled by the small gestures of appreciation he received from his grateful charges.
“A lot of these people are not well off but they all try to show their appreciation in small ways,” he said.
At nearly 70, Frank is wary of venturing out during the COVID-19 crisis. But as a former IT professional, he is looking at contributing to video lessons in English and other subjects for students from culturally diverse backgrounds being organised by AMES.
AMES volunteer coaching young people in life skills
AMES Australia youth mentor volunteer Wendy Fayad says her background as an immigrant and her training as a counsellor have helped her in her work supporting young people from diverse cultures
“I’ve been working as an AMES volunteer since 2017 helping you people who are new to this country and disengaged from education and employment find their way in life in Australia,” she said.
As part of the youth mentoring program at AMES, Wendy’s role is to help students with their problems.
“That might be anxiety or depression or maybe just deciding what they want to do in life,” Wendy said.
“I try to connect with them and encourage them to talk to me. I also help them with the English language; reading, writing and communicating,” she said.
“I try to help them work out what they want to do and, I guess, coach them in life,” she said.
Wendy has worked with three students during her time with AMES.
“One found a job in child care which made me happy – it was like bonus for me,” she said.
“A second one had no education in her own country. I have been trying to help her study or find a job. I’m trying to support her and to understand what her needs are and what’s important to her.”
Wendy said the student had approached her to say that she was struggling to study because she was living with a family that had several children.
“I helped her apply for some alternative accommodation and now she has her own room. She’s happy and able to study. She says she wants to be a nurse so I’m helping her on that pathway,” she said.
Wendy studied overseas and has Arabic reading, writing and communications skills which come in handy in supporting young people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
She also has a business degree from Victoria University and is currently studying to be a counsellor.
“I find volunteering very rewarding. It is great to see young people succeed, realise their own potential and pursue their dreams,” Wendy said.
AMES volunteer building connections, sharing passions
Building relationships with young people from culturally diverse backgrounds and sharing her knowledge and passion for Melbourne is what drives youth mentor Emin Parry to volunteer with AMES Australia.
Originally from Bendigo, Bree knows what it’s like to be newly arrived in a strange city.
“Coming from another country or even another town can be a bit daunting. I know how sometimes you can feel like a speck in a big chaotic place,” Bree said.
“It definitely took me a while to feel comfortable in Melbourne so it’s good to be able to help people from different cultural backgrounds settle in that sense.
“I always knew I wanted to live in Melbourne and I love passing on my passion for the city and how it’s a great place to be creative. I love explain to my students what the city has to offer in terms of culture and art; and sharing my experiences of taking in the small things, including connecting with people,” she said.
Bree says she learned about AMES through the Fitzroy Learning Network where she was completing a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
“I met Jonathan Mitchell who had started up the ‘Reconnect’ Program and volunteered to do some admin work for him,” Bree said.
“Then Jonathan convinced ne to become a mentor in the program. I really enjoy mentoring young people and find it an easy process to build a rapport with people. It’s something I think I’m good at.
“I think I enjoy being able to make people feel comfortable and it’s interesting so see how that unfolds into friendship,” she said.
Bree has mentored two young people at AMES.
“I found that I have a lot in common with my mentees and we have similar personalities,” she said.
“My first student was into cooking and food so we explored those themes together. She also, like me, enjoys opp-shopping so we would go on missions together. My student ended up volunteering to work in an opp shop to improve her conversational English.”
Bree also shared a sit-down lunch with a young mentee who had never been to a restaurant or café before.
“It was a really interesting and enjoyable experience. My student had never had a sit-down meal out before and she enjoyed the experience,” said Bree, an office manager with an accounting firm.
The COVID-19 crisis has meant that Bree has had to keep in touch with her mentees by text.
“It’s been tough but we’re still connected. It’s nice to be able to be a connection for my students, especially at a time like this. It’s rewarding helping people who are new to our city and society,” Bree said.
THANK YOU TO ALL VOLUNTEERS!
Although we are yet to recruit new volunteers at this point, however we welcome individuals to reach out and express interest by emailing volunteer@ames.net.au