Any volunteers here?

[AnigaiyoAdiga]

I volunteer. I know Somalis are not too keen on it so I want to see if there are any more on here. I volunteer for a homelessness organisation in London that gets rough sleepers off the streets. Been doing it for over a year and I LOVE it walahi. I do night shifts - 8pm to 2am. It's just me and a paid worker and we drive around looking for people who have been referred to us during the day. Some of them want to engage, other's don't. It's not qasab. We come across people from all walks of life. Found a few Somalis as well. It's so bloody interesting and every shift is different/unique. I've gained so many skills like how to deal with people who display challenging behaviour. We come across drunk people etc. A lot of mental health issues and substance abuse as well. ITV filmed us like last week. It was on ITV lunchtime news. I missed it. Not sure if they cut me out or not as obviously i'm not as important as the paid workers. I'm doing it tomorrow. I have done so many shifts with one particular paid worker that I said he should meet my fam as we are practically friends now.

Anyway yeah, why don't Somalis like to volunteer? There needs to be like something on Universal TV encouraging them to because not only do they help other people but they help themselves.

Ask me anything!

Forgot to add, never give money to homeless people/beggars etc. First, most people you see on the street are beggars. Second, even if they are homeless, you could be feeding their drug/alcohol habit or something else that's bad.

[Thuganomics]

^
Good for you sis,I've never volunteered for anything ever but I applaud those who do.

Winston Churchill

[Hyperactive]

I would love to volunteer, it's really rewarding to help others with no material gain. you grow fast and appreciate what you have.

you in the good track, aniga.

[AnigaiyoAdiga]

I would love to volunteer, it's really rewarding to help others with no material gain. you grow fast and appreciate what you have.

you in the good track, aniga.

There is nothing stopping you my dear Hyper.

[GAMES]

Few years back i got into trouble with the law and was sentenced to 30hrs of community service at a center for retarded people.

[Hyperactive]

you are right, I even planning to have day shelter, where homeless can come for breakfast and dinner, take a shower and do laundry. it was my plan to do it back home. didn't work out. they made fun of me. "ma magalada o idil bad breakfast iyo Aso seen karta, bla bla"

[InaSamaale]

@AnigaIyoAdiga, MashAllah you're pretty brave. Fuleey Baan ahay, anyone drunk/ looks drugged scare me on public transport. Sounds like a intrinsically rewarding experience though.


I use to volunteer for this program that teaches Islamic studies to state schooled kids. One hour a week. I thought it was a wonderful initiative with a great curriculum so I joined. It was great. It made me review my basics and I was benefiting from it a lot too. I had 3/4th graders, some of them ask really challenging questions.

I learnt about managing kids behaviour by the workshops the organisation ran. Also, just how different each student was, some of them had such terrible akhlaaq and others had this sense of nobility in ther character. It was an eye opening experience.

When I told them I was leaving, they were so sad & it was difficult for me.

I can't do it anymore because of my schedule but I would love to go back.

[AnigaiyoAdiga]

Few years back i got into trouble with the law and was sentenced to 30hrs of community service at a center for retarded people.

That's not volunteering.

[Dabgaale]

I did my fair share of volunteering in Hargeisa!
Thought me patience & gave me a different outlook on life at the end! Not gonna lie thou, it used to mess up my Mirqan sessions, and when you're back home you always have some sort of occasion to chew to!

[AnigaiyoAdiga]

@AnigaIyoAdiga, MashAllah you're pretty brave. Fuleey Baan ahay, anyone drunk/ looks drugged scare me on public transport. Sounds like a intrinsically rewarding experience though.


I use to volunteer for this program that teaches Islamic studies to state schooled kids. One hour a week. I thought it was a wonderful initiative with a great curriculum so I joined. It was great. I had 3/4th graders, some of them ask really challenging questions.


I can't do it anymore because of my schedule but I would love to go back.

I'm not brave. I'm a fulay walahi but it's not as dangerous as people think. We assess the risk beforehand. We don't put ourselves in dangerous situations. As a volunteer, i'm the lookout person. It's not worse than being a paramedic for example. There has only been one incident in 5 years. There have been a few scary moments for me. One time we were in North London doing an assessment with a client. The woman was either on drugs and/or had mental health issues. She was so paranoid and kept asking 'why do you need to know?' and kept making us start the assessment again. She even tried to grab the assessment papers. Walahi I was reading quran under my breath while my colleague was doing the assessment. This woman was supposed to be a rough sleeper but she went back in a house to get some documents. When she was in the house, I told my social worker colleague , who was totally calm cos she deals with this shit on a daily basis, to get the fck out of here and we left.

Another time, we were looking for someone next to a canal. It was proper dark. We heard someone in the bushes and we legged it. I can't even run so I was like 'wait' to my colleague.

Another time, there was a sex offender on the list and it said 'not to be approached by a female.' I was excited. Something new. My male colleague and I still went to look for him but he wasn't there.

We got this guy who was really angry with the police and kept projecting his anger on us. I thought the guy was going to attack us. We kept saying 'we are not the police.'

[Tuushi]

I really dislike when people tell me not to give change to someone begging. They will score that high if they really. Might steal or hurt someone innocent trying to get a fix. With that said, other help might be better than financial help.

I haven't volunteered for a little while now but i always did. And it is the only that usually made me feel useful really. It gives you a purpose.

I think i am gonna go back to it. Seniors with Alzheimer and dementia. Also with resettlement agency.

[SuldaanMaplesyrup]

I've done mentoring for high school Somali youth. Definitely something I recommend everyone to do, just being a Somali who's gone through the same things they have growing up and making it has such an impact on their outlook on life. Just simply telling them they have the potential to do xyz can steer them in the right path

[thehappyone]

Anigaiyoadiga, let me get this straight. If I was homeless, hungry, broke, dirty and smelly, you would pick me up, have a conversation, eat a meal with me, give me all your attention. But if I got a home, clothes, a job and money, you would not give me any of these things. Life is unfair.

[AnigaiyoAdiga]

I really dislike when people tell me not to give change to someone begging. They will score that high if they really. Might steal or hurt someone innocent trying to get a fix. With that said, other help might be better than financial help.

I haven't volunteered for a little while now but i always did. And it is the only that usually made me feel useful really. It gives you a purpose.

I think i am gonna go back to it. Seniors with Alzheimer and dementia. Also with resettlement agency.

How do you know they are not going to use that money to buy a weapon? I gave a guy a tenner and bought him a brick phone . That was a month ago and i'm still beating myself up about it because I should have known better considering the work that I do. It's your money but i'm struggling to understand your thought process.

[AnigaiyoAdiga]

Anigaiyoadiga, let me get this straight. If I was homeless, hungry, broke, dirty and smelly, you would pick me up, have a conversation, eat a meal with me, give me all your attention. But if I got a home, clothes, a job and money, you would not give me any of these things. Life is unfair.

Have you had a head injury recently?