2. What inspired you to become a Water Well volunteer?
Having grown up in South Western Sydney and spending a few years in regional Australia, I have become more aware of the importance of health promotion and how simple ideas can make a big difference to communities. Being a Water Well Project volunteer gives me the opportunity to help address the cultural barriers to health care.
3. Please share one of your favourite Water Well sessions or moments.
I gave a session on Bone and Joint Health for a group of women from the Mandean Cultural Club at the a Women’s Health Centre. At the end of the session, they invited me to take a group photo with them and one of the members gave me a hug and told me she really enjoyed the session. I felt happy knowing that I was able to connect to her even though I did not know the language.
4. What tips do you have for new volunteers?
Simplicity is key! In my very first session as a volunteer, 3 other medical students and myself talked about healthy eating to a group of Congolese and Nepalese migrants. Though they learnt many things about how to be more healthy, we gave them too much information and used terminology that a lot of them did not understand. In my following two sessions, I paid a lot of attention to keeping the session simple and this was reflected in their positive feedback.
