Now I’d like to tell you what some of our volunteers have said about what they do, to give you an idea of the range of ways in which they can help people.
Habib supports an elderly lady who’s beginning to show signs of dementia. Once a week they, along with other elderly people, go to the local community centre, where a group of people come in and sing. The songs take the listeners back to their youth, and for a little while they can forget the difficulties that they face now.
Our volunteer Consuela is an amazing woman. She has difficulty walking herself, but she doesn’t let that stop her. She helps a couple of people with similar difficulties, who had almost stopped walking altogether. By using herself as an example, Consuela encourages them to walk more and more.
Minh visits a young man who lives alone and can’t leave his home on his own, so he hardly ever saw anyone. But together they go out to the cinema, or to see friends the young man hadn’t been able to visit for a long time.
Tanya visits an elderly woman once a week. When the woman found out that Tanya is a professional dressmaker, she got interested. Tanya showed her some soft toys she’d made, and the woman decided to try it herself. And now she really enjoys it, and spends hours making toys. They’re not perhaps up to Tanya’s standard yet, but she gains a lot of pleasure from doing it.
Alexei is a volunteer with a family that faces a number of difficulties. By calmly talking over possible solutions with family members, he’s helping them to realise that they aren’t helpless, and that they can do something themselves to improve their situation. This has been great for their self-esteem.
And the last volunteer I’ll mention, though there are plenty more, is Juba. She volunteers with a teenage girl with learning difficulties, who wasn’t very good at talking to other people. Juba’s worked very patiently with her, and now the girl is far better at expressing herself, and at understanding other people.
OK, I hope that’s given you an idea of what volunteering is all about. Now I’d like …
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