Volunteer Learning Experience - Coursework Example

Report on My Volunteer Learning Experience. Volunteering is increasingly becoming common in today’s world and this is not only greatly benefiting the volunteers, but also the host organisations as well as communities they volunteer to serve. I am currently volunteering with the Refugee and Migrant Centre (RMC)-an organisation which has dedicated itself to provide services to persons seeking asylum, refugees and the most vulnerable migrants who live in the Black Country. RMC as an organisation was set up in the year 1999 by two volunteers who themselves were former refugees. Today it is a fully registered charitable organisation as well as a company limited by guarantee. RMC’s mission is “to tackle urgent issues and disadvantage among asylum seekers, refugees & migrants and promote long term solutions to the problems they face.” The organisation also has a policy of helping everyone in the Black Country regardless of their mother country, ethnic, legal or religious affiliations. It also does not discriminate anyone on the basis of disability, age, gender or even sexual orientation. RMC is the only organisation of its kind and size in the entire region. It offers service and has its doors open to the most disadvantaged in the society. Beneficiaries of the organisation come from more than 120 countries. The organisations was founded some 15 years back and since then has been very positively impacting on thousands of persons seeking service. It has therefore grown over time into a very professionally capable organisation; has a sound management and therefore attracts and manages a wide range of different projects. Funding is mostly by charity trusts, lotteries, the EU, central and local governments and volunteers. RMC has over the time become an important part of various partnerships and is now enjoying a favourable reputation not only nationally but also regionally. One very important service offered RMC to its beneficiaries is migration is migration consultancy services for refugees with immigration issues. It also offers advice on citizenship as well as citizen preparation, guidance and counselling, housing & other social benefits and employment services. Considering the nature of work the RMC is engage in, volunteering is an integral part of the organisation. It therefore offers opportunities for individuals wishing to gain work experience, just do something rewarding with their skills or contribute to the organisation’s noble course. At RMC volunteering is also recognised as an opportunity for the organisation to impart new skills to the volunteers as well as offer them an opportunity to help the society’s needy. Through volunteers the organisations is able to build social capital and further benefit more people. It will be remembered that social networking is a very valuable asset to both the volunteers the organisation and the entire society as interaction enables the building of communities, persons committing to one another and thus knitting the social fabric (Smith, 2000-2009). Motivation for Volunteering with the RMC. I volunteered to work with the Refugee and Migrant Centre particularly because I wanted to contribute to the society by assisting the vulnerable. The organisation is solely dedicated to server some of the most disadvantaged individuals in the community and therefore I found volunteering with RMC as a very unique opportunity to give back to the society. I was also motivated significantly by the desire to boost my employability by gaining valuable work experience while serving the community and the same time doing something rewarding with my time & knowledge. I also wanted to learn new skills, experience the real world work environment and build valuable social networks. The opportunity I believe allows me not only to enhance my professionalism but also grow socially and more importantly increase industry & self awareness. My choice of volunteering with RMC was also informed the organisation’s clientele as well as its nature of work. Refugees have very unique needs despite their position as persons who are extremely disadvantaged in our society. They have nationality & immigration problems, language barriers and are excluded not only from accessing social benefits but also employment and housing. This can be really stressing and therefore these individuals are at an increased risk of suffering from mental problems such as depletion, anxiety among others. They are also more likely to resort to alcoholism, doing drugs and engage in criminal activities which further exacerbate their vulnerability. I therefore thought by volunteering to work with the organisation I will be better placed to learn the nature of issues refugees have go through further to assisting them. It is also an opportunity for me to navigate the immigration sector and understand just what factors influence certain decisions and situations. Indeed I must state that the knowledge gained from volunteering with RMC is just enormous and will tremendously influence my private and professional life going forward. Reflection on My Volunteering Role. As a volunteer at the RMC, my I worked as a Caseworker with the role of handling all case related issues health, employment and others depending on the specific needs of the particular clients. As a volunteer I also was charged with the responsibility of checking from the computer database the languages spoken by the individual clients before proceeding with the process of serving. If a caller is able to understand English then it is okay and if they speak a different language and we seek the services of competent interpreters. Most clients came with issues relating to housing as being refugee, homelessness is a common problem. Others required assistance with accessing social benefits, completing utility bills and citizenship forms and making phone calls to the right departments. During my initial days on the job, I had to shadow veteran volunteers so as to learn and understand the hob. I also had to attend a training course every day to learn important work issues such as data protection, professionalism as well as trainings on housing, immigration, healthy lifestyles and health awareness. I also learnt how to use office equipment such as photocopier and fax machines as well as important skills of report writing. There is also of teamwork in the organisation and this makes the work particularly interesting. For instances as a beginner not having work in an office environment before, the kindness and help of colleagues saw me develop necessary skills and attributes very fast. It is thus a very exciting, interesting and stimulating learning experience to work as a volunteer with the RMC. I think I have effectively bridged the gap between theoretical class work and practical real world work. I am now a very changed individual in terms of working skills and believe the experience will really serve to my advantage in future endeavours both personally and professionally. Evaluation of Vocational Learning One of the benefits volunteering to students is the opportunity of bridging the gap between theoretical work and transiting into the more practical real work environment. It is the opportunity for acquiring new skills apart from applying learnt knowledge practically and experiencing the real working life. As a volunteering student with the RMC I not only had the chance to contribute to the organisation’s work but also develop valuable skills competences and attributes that enhance my employability. Firstly, it was an opportunity to apply the knowledge learnt in school to the practical service of society. I learnt the importance of experiential learning and reflection in the daily life. In experiential learning, the student has to take charge of the process and learn by experiencing, reflecting and then acting appropriately. I therefore had the opportunity of learning from immediate experiences which invoke critical thought and reflection to make decisions and provide immediate solutions to situations. Volunteering also provided me an opportunity to reflect on personal development through observation of workplace processes. I now understand and appreciate the importance of skills such as communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork and working with diverse people. I was working with different people with different responsibilities and therefore communication skills played a very crucial role in my day to day work. It is important to be an effective communicator in the work place and also understand the organisational communication protocols so as to be successful in your duties. I also now know the value of teamwork in enhancing workplace relationships and achieving organisational objectives. As a learner for instance, I significantly relied on experience colleagues to be able to learn and understand many office operations. Interpersonal skills also play a very important role in the workplace and from volunteering experience I learnt that a valuable strength I have is excellent interpersonal skills. I was able to adapt within a short time, and get along with different people without any problem. The work place also attracts people from different cultures, languages and backgrounds hence emotional intelligence as a very important attribute. I know understand that employability looks for more than academic knowledge; it comprises achievements, skill sets, knowledge base and personal qualities gained through experience. This must be evident in the CV or report of any job seeker. One must also be able to reflect the same during interviews and the volunteering experience is a great opportunity for developing these valuable attributes. As a volunteer, I was able to develop the very important work attribute of teamwork. I was an active listener and gave my ears to others so as to learn as much as possible. I was also open to offering own suggestions, supporting and encouraging others in everything. At the same time, I proactively offered myself for assistance on issues I had difficulties e.g. when faced with difficult customers. In one particularly memorable event a woman a lady came for my service and she could not speak good English. This presented a communication problem but since I wanted to serve the lady and understand her issues, I requested a colleague who understood the lady’s mother tongue to speak to her in the language and interpret her problems to me for my assistance. After understanding that the lady needed to be assisted with accessing her benefits, I took up the case and processed her paper work which I then personally forwarded to the supervisor for processing. The next time I made a call to the lady just to hear from her it was all smiles. The lady was so happy to hear that the paperwork was done and soon her benefits would be processed. It was encouraging to me also having put a smile on the lady’s face. I understood the situation, played part in solving the issue, took appropriate actions and the result was a very satisfied client. During my work with RMC as a volunteer I also learnt a lot of skills. I was for instance able to appreciate the importance of equality and diversity awareness having worked with different clients and seen just what exclusion does to the social welfare of an individual. I am now also able to work in different situations and thin on my feet when faced with unique situation requiring immediate solutions. Such situations require taking actions that are informed by reflection on the immediate experience in order to offer solutions. Volunteering has also taught me that success is not only about what you learn and know but also the personal initiatives one takes. Being reliable, motivated and taking personal initiative plays an important role in enhancing job success. I also was able to learn important organisational skills as well as the importance of being time conscious and time management skills. I now also appreciate the important role of effective communication through writing, oral and body languages and have acquired skills of leadership. Through being involved with the community and working with different persons I have also developed networks that I believe will really be helpful to me in future. Evaluation of Academic Learning. The opportunity to work as a volunteer with the RMC was greatly stimulating to me as a learner. It allowed me to practically learn the knowledge learn at school to real life situations and offer solutions to different situations. The experience was a very relevant one as it relates to what I have learnt in the different course modules and allows to me further expand on the knowledge by reflecting immediate experiences. The organisation’s work of serving refugees offering immigration consultancy services is very important to policy. The information gained from the different situations of refugees and their unique needs could for instance help the government on making well informed policies on how to manage refugees. It can also help people make informed arguments on the debates that exist about the refugee situation not only in our country but even beyond our national borders. It is very useful to international policy on refugee handling by organisations by the UN, EU and others. It was an opportunity for experiential learning as I was able to learn by observing, reflecting and acting appropriately. I was able to understand the world by personal initiative and gain important skills of research and report writing. I know appreciate the important role RMC is playing by serving the most disadvantaged people in our society who have a myriad of problems. The refugees suffer from homelessness, exclusion from employment and social benefits as well as issues to do with legal status and immigration. They are thus highly vulnerable and could end up suffering from mental problems or engaging in crime if not assisted with such services as what RMC is offering. They therefore feel very good to have an opportunity of being guided, counselled and assisted access basic services. I enjoyed the placement as I had the opportunity of serving and help those in need. I would therefore continue to serve with the organisation and help serve our society for as long as my services will be needed. Bibliography 1. Refugee and Migrant Centre. (2014). Volunteering. Available at: http://www.rmcentre.org.uk/volunteering 2. Smith, M. K. (2000-20009). Social Capital. The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Available at: http://infed.org/mobi/social-capital/ Read More