A few words with Caroline

 After five years as our Volunteer Coordinator, Caroline Herring is retiring. She’ll soon be travelling across the UK and Europe in her new motor home. We caught up with her to hear about her experiences with our charity.
 
Caroline says:
“I was attracted to the job at Herts Welcomes because I wanted to work more altruistically. I’d never worked with refugees before. I was teaching English as a foreign language.
 
It was a steep learning curve. I thought I understood the learners’ situation, but because they’re refugees it’s very different. Most of the people I’d taught before had a good formal education, they were used to school and learning a language. But some of the refugees were illiterate in their own language, and they’d been thrown into the situation. Many were traumatised and not in the right frame of mind.
 
It’s interesting because so many of the texts for teaching English show people living quite materialistic lives. These were irrelevant topics for refugees. They needed much more functional language to survive.
 
But my role wasn’t all about teaching. There was lots of counselling, talking, listening. I became more sympathetic to the situation of refugees, especially for the older people who’ve been pulled out of their cultural environment. It’s really difficult for them.
 
Some of the refugees have become my friends. It means a lot to be able to help people at the beginning of their journey. To see them become empowered. I remember once I took somebody to have a tooth out and she insisted that I come in when I brought her home. Her husband had cooked. We sat on the floor with the children eating bread, eggs and tomatoes. It was a really rewarding experience.
 
The volunteers have been lovely. We put out a request and somebody will respond. Yes, I can do that. I’ve got one of those! It’s been amazing the resourcefulness of everyone, the eagerness to help, the compassion. A big part of my role involved training volunteers and supporting them as they began working within our charity.
 
I’ve been moved by the generosity and altruism of our committee member and volunteers, everyone is so willing and flexible. I’ll continue to volunteer at the local hotel with HWR. Helping out whenever needed, however I can.”

Caroline in her new campervan