Refugee tutor volunteers – The Mills family

Colleen Mills volunteers with her daughters

"The benefits of volunteering as a family include a sense of shared purpose and the communication."

What do you do? Describe your volunteering role.
I am a volunteer tutor for Volunteer Refugee Tutoring and Community Support and I tutor an Afghani refugee family. I work mostly with the mother to help her acquire English skills. I also help with 'outside' communications such as telephone bill queries and computer difficulties. Advice regarding schooling (I am a teacher) for the children and help with science homework when needed.

How much time do you commit?
It used to be about 2 hrs per week but now it is 2hrs per fortnight as the families skills improve.

What motivated you to volunteer?
My daughters began working with Volunteer Refugee Tutoring and Community Support (VORTCS) and initiated a camp for refugee children. My husband and I went to the camp to cater and had to do the VORTCS training for this. This exposed me to the vision of VORTCS and I was stimulated by the people helping others in their community. Jody, my second daughter started assisting Stacey with the family but they found they needed additional support specifically to help the mother.

What do you get out of volunteering?
A sense of personal satisfaction.

How did you come to volunteer as a family?
We had developed a relationship with the refugee family we were tutoring and it was very convenient and easy to coordinate.

Are there benefits volunteering as a family?
Communication, a sense of shared purpose and coordination of the tutoring process.

Any advice for families considering volunteering together?
Do It.

Jody Mills volunteers with her sisters and mother

"I think the refugee family enjoy my sister and I tutoring them together because family is important to them, and seeing how we work together helps them to trust us.

"It's a chance to spend time doing some quality stuff together."

What do you do? Describe your volunteering role.
I am a volunteer tutor for Volunteer Refugee Tutoring and Community Support (VORTCS) and I tutor a refugee family from Afghanistan. I help out all the kids — the younger two with their homework and reading — although they don't usually require as much support as the older two girls who often have assignments or exams to prepare for.

How much time do you commit?
Usually 2 hours a week.

What motivated you to volunteer?
My sister was originally involved and I went along to help her out. I loved the family and felt that the VORTCS program meets a real need in the Brisbane community. I've done other volunteer work overseas in the past, but it's great to help people in my own city.

What do you get out of volunteering?
I get to work with five really fun and interesting people every week who value the help I can offer. Getting to know the family over time has been the truly rewarding part of tutoring.

How did you come to volunteer as a family?
I initially became involved to support my sister, and was tutoring with her for a few months. Then our mum came along to help the mother in the family. This worked really well as the mother could get some more one-on-one time to work on her English and get more support with investigating relevant courses for work.

Are there benefits volunteering as a family?
I think so. From a practical point of view it's convenient as we can communicate easily about what's going on and share the transport. Practicalities aside, being involved with an organisation like VORTCS as a family gives us a common interest and sense of commitment. As well as this, there are benefits in simply having a family work with another family. My mum relates to the mother in the family far better than I could. I think the family enjoy my sister and I tutoring them together because family is important to them, and seeing how we work together helps them to trust us and has been useful in building rapport.

Any advice for families considering volunteering together?
Go for it! It's a chance to spend time doing some quality stuff together. Families and siblings often have different strengths and roles to play and by establishing these as you go you can make sure you're each working together in the best possible way.

Stacey Mills volunteers with her sisters and mother

"There are definite benefits to volunteering as a family, you can discuss issues at home and cover for each other when someone has something on and can't make the session."

What do you do? Describe your volunteering role.
I am a volunteer tutor for Volunteer Refugee Tutoring and Community Support (VORTCS) and I tutor a refugee family from Afghanistan. I also work alongside the VORTCS committee and work on projects like the refugee youth camp which was held last year and I have just started developing the tutor mentoring program which will hopefully start by the end of this year.

How much time do you commit?
The family tutoring normally requires about an hour and a half, once a week. The project work I do from home but I normally dedicate about half a day.

What motivated you to volunteer?
I felt motivated to volunteer because I wanted to help give back to the community. I feel very privileged to be able to assist people who are less fortunate then myself and to make a lasting impact in their lives. In my opinion, life shouldn't focus solely on what we can get for ourselves but on how we can help others and make a meaningful impact in our world.

What do you get out of volunteering?
Volunteering gives me a sense of satisfaction, a lot of laughs, and I learn so much! Over the past few years I have learnt about my family's culture, their religion, what life was like for them in the Middle East, what they struggle with in Australia and their hopes and dreams for the future.

How did you come to volunteer as a family?
I was the first person in my family to start volunteering with VORTCS. My sisters and my parents joined up a few years later. My parents did the training so they could come and help out at the refugee youth camp.

Are there benefits volunteering as a family?
There are definite benefits to volunteering as a family, you can discuss issues at home and cover for each other when someone has something on and can't make the session.

Any advice for families considering volunteering together?
Keep those communication lines open and make sure it's something you all really want to do before making the commitment. It's a great thing to do as a family and I highly recommend it.

Tamlyn Mills volunteers with her sister and mother

"Volunteering as a family means you can draw on the strengths and experiences of different family members."

What do you do? Describe your volunteering role.
I am the Secretary of the Volunteer Refugee Tutoring and Community Support (VORTCS) Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the VORTCS program and providing strategic direction.

As Secretary I am responsible for VORTCS' publications (such as our quarterly newsletter), communicating with our volunteers, organising committee meetings and governance.

How much time do you commit?
I spend, on average, 3-4 hours a week on VORTCS activities.

What motivated you to volunteer?
I have been very fortunate with the opportunities I've had growing up in Australia. I feel it is important to do something that "gives back", particularly within our local community.

VORTCS is an active, enthusiastic, grassroots organisation that provides a very valuable service to our refugee community in Brisbane and I wanted to be a part of that.

What do you get out of volunteering?
Volunteering gives me an opportunity to contribute to the community and at the same time to learn a lot, especially from the wonderful people that I volunteer with.

How did you come to volunteer as a family?
I became involved with VORTCS after my sister, Stacey, introduced me to the organisation. She and my other family members tutor a refugee family.

My work commitments make it difficult for me to tutor a family myself but as a member of the VORTCS Committee I am still able to contribute to the organisation.

Are there benefits volunteering as a family?
Volunteering as a family means that you can draw on the strengths and experiences of different family members. It also provides additional support.

Any advice for families considering volunteering together?
Choose a volunteering opportunity that caters for the interests and availability of all family members. This will allow each family member to use and develop their particular skills.