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The refugee mentor
Eighty-year-old Doreen Fowler from Bolton volunteered as a mentor
"I used to be a nurse, specialising in tropical medicine, and I was a midwife before I retired. "I started mentoring Florence, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in March 2005.
“This was through TimeBank’s Time Together refugee mentoring programme, I wanted to help Africans integrate into our society.
“It is still very early days but we have established a good rapport; Florence is eager to learn and already tries hard to think in English.
“Florence hopes to become a nurse and so I have been able to help her with this. We share together our experiences of Africa.”
“I am volunteering because I have never had to endure the privations and horrors which refugees and asylum seekers have had to face.
“Their optimism and their hope to be able to fit into our society which is often far different from their own fills me with admiration and humility. I have found volunteering to be fulfilling and even exhilarating.” Our thanks to The'V' Word, which aims to challenge perceptions of ageing and promote volunteering to people over 55. Written by Sally Williams
This article was created: 11 August 2006.
This article was last edited: 13 November 2006.
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