Estinelle

After completing a Certificate in Employment at Tafe, Estinelle sought out a way to put her skills to use. She began at the ASRC in March 2009 and took on the role of Employment Casework, seeking to find asylum seekers with the right to work paid employment. The program, she explains, is made up of different units working together, including education, training and work experience. Her role is to act as a job agency, assisting members to seek employment.

“I volunteer one day per week, every Tuesday. It’s pretty flexible, as long as you let the coordinator know what you’re doing,” says Estinelle.

“When I am with clients, there are some steps to follow. The first appointment is to get to know the client, what they are looking for, and their skills and qualifications.” While her certificate gives her the qualifications to fill the role, she says that she also requires a range of skills in order to be an effective member of the ASRC team; patience and honesty with members among them.

“You have to be realistic, and tell the member ‘this is how it works’. Being able to say things openly, honestly, with respect, and being flexible, patient and listening are important.”

Estinelle’s role, along with every volunteer role, is crucial to the running of the ASRC and what makes it possible for the centre to continue. She believes that finding the balance between volunteering and private life is important to your enjoyment at the centre.

“It’s very important to have an open mind about your role at the ASRC. If you know exactly what your role is, you can balance yourself. The expectations of the role were hard at first, but after a few weeks I found my balance between my studies [and] my private life.”

Volunteering at the centre requires commitment and responsibility, but the rewards are equally great, and there is always support from members and other volunteers.

The passion and enthusiasm at the ASRC is motivating, says Estinelle. “[ASRC founder] Kon really inspires me, because he has all this passion in him”, and so too do the members.

Estinelle also claims that the satisfaction of knowing you are helping people makes the volunteering even more enjoyable. “You get someone who is new in the country, and doesn’t know how things work, and you get to be useful and help them and you can say ‘I helped this person get a permanent job, I contributed to that.”

On top of this are the skills that Estinelle picked up as a result of her time at the centre. She says that she learns as many new skills as the asylum seekers she helps.

“I’m here to assist them, and I like to be part of their success, but it also gives me new skills as well, and strengthens the other skills I have as well. I grow. It’s really eye opening and a fantastic opportunity to volunteer here. I was speaking to a member the other day who told me that she thinks she is falling in love with the place, I told her ‘me too!’. She replied ‘I think you already have, I can see it in your eyes!’”