by Kathy.
Comparto [my story] con usted
I am from Ecuador, and when I arrived, I was feeling lonely inside, missing people.
That was the impulse for me to volunteer. My mother-in-law was doing some volunteering for a while with Holly in one of the hotels. I was motivated to volunteer when I heard that I could help with embroidery. I wanted to meet people and have a chat.
I think that was my best impulsive idea,
to see my mother-in-law going and talk about the people she met, the stories, made me know more. I’ve volunteered in the community hub with Holly and doing some embroidery with Dawn.
Are there moments that really stayed with you?
The stories. The sad moments, the laugh, the support, sharing what you know and learn with each other.
The smile in A, from Syria.
One day I took her on the ferry with my daughters, and she was happy. That moment is with me.
Have you built connection through volunteering?
Yes. A from Syria and M from Zambia.
I just share with them my smile, my laugh, and hugs, lots of hugs!
I wish I can speak Arabic and stop using google translate, so I can talk more with A. We just smile and try to keep our conversation simple, which is very difficult when I am a chatting person.
M, lovely M. She was sad, and I tried every week to take her out of the hotel, until one day she said yes! Since then, she has been doing lots of things and chatting, even if we haven’t seen each other.
No one has any idea how difficult it is being a migrant, even if we follow the rules and have a visa. The stories behind that are really sad.
These connections have taught me to have more empathy with everyone.
I have never volunteered in my life, until now, but I am a person who likes to help and fight for the true and friendship. Volunteer, if you want to help with your heart, love and soul.
What three words describes your volunteering experience?
Love. Passion. Brave.
Without these, we wouldn’t be volunteers.
Love and passion you definitely need to be around people, sharing lots of things, being open to listen without judging.
And brave, because at some point, we cry for all you hear, but at the end of the day, we feel grateful, and the next day, we have to be brave and keep doing it well.
I love sharing my time with the group of women doing embroidery, crochet, and each other have different talents, amazing ideas came out. I love volunteering on Wednesday’s and I’m going to miss helping Holly on Tuesdays, now that I have a job, which I am enjoying so much.
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Stitching Together provides creative and welcoming spaces, where women seeking sanctuary can meaningfully connect with one another and the surrounding community. We celebrate what we have in common and foster a sense of belonging.
The Welcome Hub is a Good Faith Partnership initiative, originally designed to welcome those arriving from Ukraine, but have been expanded to welcome others from different countries.