Indigenous Community Volunteers

“Each volunteer project reinforces my belief that this is the right lifestyle balance for me.”

Life is all about balance. It’s about having time to do the things that are important to you, the things that you love to do. Over the last two years ICV volunteer Jeanette Regan has been bringing more balance into her life.

For Jeanette, it all began with her participation in one of ICV’s Cultural Awareness Workshops. Jeanette undertook the training while enjoying three months long service leave. She was placed into a project to mentor an organisation in database usage. On completion of the project Jeanette returned to her previous role as a contractor, but something had changed. The break enabled her to reflect and focus on the type of work she wanted to do and how she’d like to spend her time doing it.

So…she decided to spend six months of the year in paid work with the other six months available for unpaid work. Jeanette is proud of her decision which has given her time to mentor, travel, and recharge.

Jeanette has completed four very different projects with Indigenous organisations such as MIMOSA CDEP and Wirringa Baiya. Her projects included business planning, submission writing, database skills and arts and crafts.

According to Jeanette a really important skill for all projects is listening. Being able to listen, watch and ask questions has helped her to understand what skills were of best use for each project.

Jeanette’s own early childhood experiences have served her well as a volunteer. By the time Jeanette finished primary school she had been to eight different schools. This had left gaps in her education. Her adult life has been a journey of learning to fill these gaps. Now she is in a position to assist others to develop their potential.

Successful mentoring allows people to gain confidence as their skills grow. This is a two-way process and much is gained by both the mentor and trainee. For Jeanette being an ICV volunteer has enabled her to learn and grow through the experience of meeting others from different backgrounds—something she really enjoys.

Jeanette’s lifestyle choice does hold some challenges. Her schedule is driven to some extent by contract availability and requires flexibility from herself and those close to her, but according to Jeanette, it’s well worth the effort.

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