Responses
to January 2006 Hot Topic
Here's
to a truly inclusive New Year!
Response
posted on 10th January 2006, by Karen Jenkinson, Coordinator
of Volunteers, City of Unley, Adelaide, Australia
The
Christmas celebration topic has been a concern of
mine for some years now. I think too many people link
December events and Christmas together without thinking
of what it is they are really celebrating.
As
a volunteer coordinator I like to use the end of each
year to celebrate, recognise, value and support volunteers.
In the last two years this has been done over a sit
down evening meal with drinks provided to 230 people.
Volunteers are the guests of the Mayor, CEO and senior
management who also attend and show their support
by mixing with the volunteers and giving brief speeches.
All expenses are covered by Council and much of the
planning and work is done by staff who work with volunteers
throughout the year.
I
prefer not to link this occasion to Christmas just
because it happens to fall in December. Christmas
and volunteering have nothing in common and I believe
by throwing in Chrismas as a theme we take away the
real reason that we come together to celebrate all
the wonderful things the volunteers have done throughout
the year. Having said that, I do get pressure from
staff to put up Christmas decorations, have traditional
Christmas food and provide bon bons and Christmas
serviettes. I find myself in a position of having
to compromise and find some middle ground.
I
don't believe my views have anything to do with being
politically correct or addressing any religious concerns.
It's like comparing apples with oranges. It is simply
just about being clear about what it is that we are
celebrating. For me, it's volunteering NOT Christmas.
Response
posted on 9th January 2006, by Vimala Colless, Community
Worker, Volunteering Ilawarra, Australia
Hello,
Glad
to see CALD communities and their inclusion in volunteering
in the discussion topic this month. Volunteering Illawarra
has had a CALD access project in place for the last
18 months. Its focus has been information and training
in community languages, as well as brokering volunteer
placements for people from different cultural backgrounds.
We have translated a "What is Volunteering"
information sheet in 6 languages, and also have translated
handouts for training in Grief and Loss, Basic First
Aid, Kitchen Health and Hygiene and OHS for Volunteers.
I would love to hear from anyone who wants copies,
or anyone who wants to talk about working with CALD
communities.
Response
posted on 4th January 2006, by Judith Miralles, Director,
Judith Miralles & Associates, Melbourne, Australia
Hi
Andy,
You
had a similar topic a while back and at the time I
also responded. Many of the questions you pose have
been posed and answered in Victoria for the past 4
years through a program Step into voluntary work that
the Australian Multicultural Foundation and my company
have developed and conducted through funding in the
first year from the Commonwealth’s Department
of Education Science and Training and subsequently
from the Victorian Government’s Community Support
Fund.
The
Step program works to build the confidence and capacity
of people from culturally diverse backgrounds who
wish to become volunteers. And because the volunteers
we train need organizations who want them and can
support them, we also work with volunteer managers
from mainstream organizations both NGOs and government
to build their capacity to recruit, train and support
volunteers from culturally diverse backgrounds. The
Red Cross, Department of Sustainability and the Environment,
Cancer Council of Victoria, Volunteering Victoria,
Surf Life Saving, and many other organizations have
taken part in the state wide training program.
As
I mentioned last time, this is a first in Australia.
I don’t know of other programs elsewhere so
it may also be a world first! We recently presented
a paper at the 10th IAVE Asia-Pacific Regional Volunteer
Conference in Hong Kong. It was noteworthy that there
was much interest from people in the audience from
Hong Kong and other Asian countries with growing numbers
of immigrant workers. It certainly highlighted that
in a globalised world, cultural diversity has the
potential to be both a source of disunity and fear
OR a means of forging strong community connectedness
and cohesion. The aim of Step is the latter.
There
seems to be interest in this area nationally within
the volunteer sector; our program provides a practical
way to increase the confidence and skills of volunteer
mangers. We will be presenting a workshop at the forthcoming
national volunteer conference in Melbourne in March.
But we would love to work with you to find other ways
of bringing the program to many more in the sector.
My
website – www.jm-a.com.au - has some information
on the Step into voluntary work program in the Facilitation
and Training section
Let's
hear what you think!
Its
not too late...
Let's
hear what you think!
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