Hot
Topic Archive
August
2004
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In
from the CALD!
by
Peter Heyworth
& Andy Fryar
We
have often heard it said that outside of Israel ,
Australia has the most multicultural population on
earth. That is, Australia has more people from different
countries and cultures living in our fair shores than
just about anywhere else on this planet!
In
fact, with the Olympic Games only days away, international
readers to this hot topic may be interested to learn
that Melbourne in fact boasts the second highest Greek
population of any city in the world - after Athens
!
This
important group within of our community are often
collectively referred to as being from Culturally
and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds - or CALD for
short, and while certainly not unique to Australia,
the topic of how best to involve people from CALD
backgrounds is a common theme amongst volunteerism
newsgroups and conference attendees the world over.
In
a report released in 2001 , researchers from the University
of South Australia cite figures which tell us that
19% of Australia's population are of European background
while a further 4.5% come from an Asian heritage.
These two groups alone represent more than 170 countries
and over 100 languages! Add to this our indigenous
citizens and you can begin to gain an appreciation
of just how diverse the Australian population really
is.
These
figures alone should be motivation enough to challenge
us to examine our volunteer workforce and ask some
hard questions about just how representative our programs
are of the people we seek to serve and the communities
in which we exist.
So
just how representative of our culturally diverse
population is your program?
Now
before proceeding, let's acknowledge that many CALD
groups do in fact already volunteer within their own
communities in many ways - and as a result don't necessarily
come along knocking on the doors of more mainstream
volunteer programs. Equally, however, let us make
it clear that this article seeks to specifically address
the issues surrounding the involvement of people from
CALD backgrounds who do want to participate in the
types of formalized programs that most readers of
this hot topic would operate.
So
how do we go about creating program environments that
are more inviting to people from CALD backgrounds?
Firstly,
what do you expect of people from CALD backgrounds?
Ever
heard someone say that people from non-English speaking
backgrounds should be 'more Australian'? This narrow
sentiment is most often expressed when a person can't
speak English as well as the local population. But
what does being 'more Australian' really mean? Does
it mean come and look like us and sound like us? Does
it mean 'do away with your customs and traditions'
and instead adopt the Aussie 'thongs and BBQ' mentality?
Just
as importantly, what does it mean for your volunteer
program? Do you want more volunteers who can do more
of the same old things, or can you use a variety of
different cultural experiences to enhance the programs
you are already running?
As
already stated, it is not unusual that individuals
from CALD backgrounds often choose to remain restricted
to their own communities, even though this may mean
they miss out on services provided by many organisations,
including the opportunity to volunteer. Expecting
individuals to break away from a community which provides
support, acceptance and meaning, can be unrealistic
and we need to be mindful of what we can offer to
ensure that these people still have a high level of
support should they wish to participate in our environment.
To
emphasize this point, article co-author Peter Heyworth,
while living in Hong Kong , found there was a very
strong expatriate community residing there and that
it was possible to live and function within this community
without ever meeting or talking to a Chinese person!
Appreciating
the reasons about how CALD communities are formed
will help us to understand why it is that this group
is under-represented in our volunteer workforce.
Reasons
that CALD populations may be reluctant to participate
in mainstream volunteering may include:
*
language barriers
* a perception that your organisation is not 'user
friendly'
* previous bad experiences
* or the fact that your organisation has a lack of
CALD clients (or even other CALD volunteers).
Yet,
in saying this, it is very important to realise that
there are many people who are happy to break out of
their cultural structures and pursue volunteer opportunities
if they are presented to them in the right way. However,
unless we actively provide environments where people
are accepted, they will, quite understandably, retreat
to a safer place - their own community.
Secondly,
what are you prepared to do (or what have you done)
in order to develop a CALD program?
Too
frequently it is possible to find volunteer programs
and even managers of volunteer programs who quite
willingly say they are accepting of volunteers from
CALD backgrounds, however the reality is that their
practices state the opposite. Organisational culture,
the attitudes of other volunteers and paid staff and
the tasks a CALD volunteer is asked to undertake,
may in fact all transmit quite a different message.
To
successfully integrate CALD volunteers into your programs,
your organisation will need to firstly examine its
own views on this involvement. Questions that need
to be asked might include:
* What is the nature of your current workforce?
* Why do you want people from CALD backgrounds?
* Do you want to set up a specific program for a particular
CALD community and therefore require volunteers from
that community?
* What resources is the organisation prepared to put
into this development?
A
third issue to examine is how you plan to integrate
CALD volunteers with your current workforce?
*
Will it be important to conduct CALD sensitivity workshops
with existing volunteers to discuss the issues around
accepting someone with different cultural and religious
practices and values?
* What training can you as a volunteer program manager
undertake to better understand the issues surrounding
the involvement of CALD volunteers?
* Do you have policies and procedures in place that
adequately address issues such as racial discrimination?
Other
tips for involving more CALD volunteers might include:
*
Considering how your work environment may be offensive
to volunteers from other cultures (eg. a calendar
or display magazine which shows women dressed in swim
wear, could be viewed as insulting, extremely offensive
and denigrating to some. Do you have an area where
Muslim volunteers can pray in private if required?)
* Will you need to modify your approach to advertising,
with an aim to being more culturally sensitive?
* Do you have access to a translation service if you
need one?The Translator and Interpreter Service (TIS)
in Australia is a useful contact for people for interpreters
- both over the phone and in person.
* Can training and promotional materials about your
program be presented in different languages?
* Target your approaches to specific CALD populations,
rather than simply trying to increase the number of
CALD volunteers per se. After all, there is not much
point recruiting 5 new Asian volunteers for the three
new Estonian clients your program just took on!
* Identify local CALD groups with whom you may be
able to develop an ongoing partnership. You will find
that they will frequently appreciate being asked to
be involved in your organisation and you will benefit
by exposing existing volunteers to cultural insights
and richness. Cultural awareness and insights can
often be gained by running events showcasing food
or customs as people are often interested in telling
others about their country of origin.
Utilising
the services of CALD volunteers can be very rewarding
and profitable for your existing volunteer workforce
and will also make your program more relevant to the
ethnic profile of the local community.
So
now it's your turn to comment.
- Please share your own successes and experiences
about involving CALD volunteers?
- Please comment on the barriers you may have faced
in involving CALD volunteers in your program
- What do you think the future might hold for the
involvement of CALD volunteers?
- Do you think the greater strength lies in developing
CALD specific volunteer programs or being able to
successfully integrate CALD volunteers into existing
mainstream programs?
Let's
hear what you think!
'
Experiences and perceptions of volunteering in indigenous
and non-English speaking background communities',
Kerr, Savelsberg, Sparrow and Tedmason, University
of SA, 2001
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