My name's Erwen Ni and my volunteer role is a tutor, so basically I teach English to adult migrants, which is part of my program called the Adult Migrant English Program. There's many volunteer programs and this one appealed to me because if you can't get the language nailed down, it's very hard to live your life here.

I was actually born in Australia but I lived much of my childhood in China. When I came back, everything was new to me. I had forgotten the language. I had to relearn English. I went to a English second language school. At that point, I felt very alone. I wanted people to feel comfortable and be able to live a normal life, just like they had in their native country.

What is it like to volunteer as a young migrant?

My contact, she would reach out to me, asking me how my student’s going, whether I'm still comfortable, and whether they were having a good time, and they're always willing to help me out. And to make the teaching sessions easier, they try and match you up with people that come from the same ethnicity. The students I've taught, they either have zero proficiency or very low proficiency in English, but I'm able to like, you know, have conversations with them in Chinese and stuff to make them feel comfortable and safe, I guess.

In terms of flexibility, I do have a lot on my plate. I'm working a lot, but being able to negotiate a time is very easy in terms of my volunteer program. They always give you a couple of options, whether you want to do it in person or online, and as long we can negotiate a time, it's all about a constant communication with your students and making sure that he or she always knows when the next lesson is, and my goal is always to make sure that he or she has one lesson a week because that's the commitment that I sign up for.
What do you enjoy about volunteering?

It's one of the most rewarding things you can ever do in your life. I feel it's a great thing to do because you know that you're giving back to the community, and that's what being part of the community is all about. We should do our part to make people feel like they're being supported no matter what they're doing, and that's the joy I get out of it because I know that the time that I'm putting is not being wasted. And if I were in their shoes, I would want and hope that they'll give me what I give them. So that's my biggest motivation for doing this, and I get great joy from giving back to them.
For migrant volunteers, it's a bit more unique to them because they've probably experienced similar problems and difficulties. So it's always important where you came from and what difficulties and struggles you've come across, and to always use that as a motivation to do the same as others have done to you.

What advice do you have for others?

I highly recommend all young people to find some time to do some volunteer programs in anything. You can always spare one hour, two hours in your week. I recommend the BVRC. Feel free to go on their website and have a look because there's always volunteer opportunities there. Find something you like and hope you get a great time out of it.