1. What is your background (profession/ workplace/ training)?
I have a background in Vascular Surgery and I am currently completing The Master of Surgery at The University of Oxford in England.
2. What inspired you to become a Water Well volunteer?
The Water Well Project is a unique and intelligent charity organisation that not only provides health education and literacy to people of asylum seeker and migrant refugee backgrounds but goes beyond that to provide a platform where these socially vulnerable groups can interact with each other and members of the Australian health profession, who are often of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds themselves. The education, dialogue and experience that is exchanged on these platforms is an important invitation for refugee groups to not only become familiar and educated about the Australian healthcare system but for a bridge to close the gap between vulnerable members of our society, helping them to participate and grow within their community. I have not found another charity organisation that provides this important pathway for people of asylum seeker and migrant refugee backgrounds in Australia and thus the Water Well Project was a clear choice to get involved.
3. Please share one of your favourite Water Well sessions or moments.
Every Water Well session I have delivered has been an absolutely incredible experience. It is extremely rewarding and an honour to provide health education to these incredible but vulnerable groups. I always feel I have gained more than what I have given. I am saddened to walk away at the end of a session not knowing if I will ever see these incredible people again whom I have just grown to love and understand like my own family.
4. What tips do you have for new volunteers?
You will not appreciate how rewarding and enriching the Water Well Project experience can be until you have delivered a session yourself, so get involved! You will learn more about yourself and about incredible people from amazing cultures and backgrounds. You have the opportunity to share your knowledge and wisdom in healthcare with people on whom it will have a lasting effect and the possibility of forming rich and sometimes lasting friendships with the people whom you deliver the sessions. You have so much to gain and to arrive at this juncture by giving back to the community is an opportunity in this life you should always grab with both hands.
