Shedding light on Victims of Abuse

We have been getting great feedback all week from volunteers involved in last Saturdays Victims of Abuse Volunteer Day.  Today we learned of an article written by Assistant to a Scottish MEP that attended the STC event and wanted to shed more light on the issues we raised surrounding human trafficking.  You can read it here on ThinkScotland.org. Here are some of the organizations we mentioned at our VOA day. http://slaveryfootprint.org/ http://www.stopthetraffik.org/ http://careforeurope.org/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/free2work-org/id406044086?mt=8   Check out what other volunteers were saying as well at our debrief. “Serving today was really helpful for me to know what is outside of my world.” “We met refugees from Rwanda and Cameroon and talked to them while we did their nails. I was really surprised to hear that several of the ladies had left children behind in their home countries. One lady had 5 children that she left behind.” “The one observation we all made was that in a small building, the residents didn’t know each other’s names. Even thought they share a common space to eat and relax, they were not all friends. We realized part of our role was to introduce them to each other and give them something to do together. We realized their needs were not only physical and financial, but social; they were surrounded by other people, but were very lonely.” “After two months of hosting a small café for local residents, some of them felt comfortable enough to approach us and ask if we would be willing to teach them English.” “Sometimes when you come out to volunteer you are so focused on wanting to help others, but what stood out to me was the interaction. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were having fun together. Making those relationships with volunteers meant as much to me as helping the ladies.” “Today I used how to use compassion and respect in how to approach strangers. We even started to have a natural friendship towards the end of the day.” “As a first time volunteer, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but honestly I couldn’t have been happier at the experience and getting to know the stories behind the people that I would usually just see on the street.” “The thing that I really loved seeing today was the transition for the volunteers from when we got there and everyone was a little unsure as we handed out food. But then suddenly, everyone just jumped in and started speaking to everyone and helping out and it was really beautiful. Everyone just went for it and was willing to talk to our friends on the street and no one was shy by the end of the day.” “You get to really see people on the street shine when you get to talk to them.” “It was good to see volunteers giving something else to others to enjoy, not just food and drink but time and conversation.”