Volunteering to support New Zealand tamariki and their whānau

When I first left home in 2016, I headed down to Otago University to do health sciences first year. I was a thousand kilometres away from my family, it was freezing cold, and I was under immense pressure trying to get into medicine. Caught up in the bubble of University life, interacting only with other people my age who were also studying, I felt like something was missing from my life. Then one day I attended the Otago Volunteering Expo and was instantly drawn to the posters of cute toddlers at the Plunket stall. I signed up to volunteer at a community car seat clinic event and never looked back!

Whānau Āwhina (Plunket)

Plunket is an extremely important charity that provides a vital support service for young whānau in Aotearoa and promotes the health and wellbeing of tamariki under-5 and their whānau. Plunket are committed to improving health outcomes, especially for our most vulnerable tamariki and are dedicated to making “the difference of a lifetime in the first 1000 days”.  

My role as a Whānau Āwhina volunteer

I had several different roles at Plunket over the four years I volunteered there. My first role was to support the Injury Prevention Clinic. This was incredibly important work promoting health and safety of Tamariki in the community. I fitted free helmets and vests for pre-schoolers to encourage them to get active safely, built a fake zebra crossing and dressed up as Blue Bear to visit kindergartens and teach kids how to “stop, look, and listen” to cross the road safely, supported the car seat technicians to ensure whanau had safe car seats that were installed correctly and that parents and caregivers felt confident strapping their Tamariki in, and promoted education for parents and caregivers around how to keep Tamariki safe in driveways, at home, and in the car.

I then joined the Plunket ‘Angels’, a group of volunteers to do home visits to vulnerable new parents who need a little extra support. These visits involved sitting and having a cup of tea with the parent to hear about how they are going and talking through any difficulties they are having. I would then do an hour of housework such as vacuuming, washing, or dishes to help them stay on top of things and feel supported. A lot of the whānau had no family around and minimal support so to be able to provide that support for these families made a real difference.

I also had the opportunity with Angels to work with refugee families who spoke minimal English and were often very isolated and this gave me incredible insight into the life of a refugee family, their journey, and the adversities they face. I learned how to form a connection with people even though we could not speak the same language.

As well as these two regular roles I also got involved in many car seat clinics, fundraising events, and community safety promotion events that were held throughout the year where I got to dress in lots of blue (sometimes even as Blue Bear), interact with lots of kids and their families, and promote the incredibly important work that Plunket do!

When I look back on my time at Otago University and my four years in Dunedin, the time I spent at Plunket really stands out to me. The friendships I made with the staff and other volunteers and the sense of community that being a part of such an incredible organisation gave me is something that I will always cherish. Being a part of this community helped me really settle into Dunedin life and cope with the stresses and pressure that uni thrust upon me.

Ronald McDonald House Charities ® (RMHC ®) New Zealand, Auckland

This year I moved up to the opposite end of the country to Auckland for medical school and have been very lucky to join the team of volunteers at Ronald McDonald House ®. RMHC New Zealand enables family-centered care by keeping families together when their child is in a New Zealand hospital away from home. RMHC NZ takes care of the practical things in life: accommodation, meals, and home comforts – all free of charge – so families can stay together close to the hospital and be there when their children need them, any time of the day or night.

My role as an RMHC NZ volunteer

At RMHC NZ I am a duty support volunteer at Ronald McDonald House in Grafton Mews. In this role I am essentially an extra set of hands, eyes, and ears for the staff who man the desks day in and day out and I just do whatever needs doing. This can involve greeting the families and their visitors as they arrive, sanitising toys, tidying up cupboards, bringing the families some extra bedding or cleaning up after a family dinner night. Most importantly, I answer the phone and cover the desk so that my supervisor can have a proper dinner break. While I am at RMHC NZ, I get to interact with the families who are going through the worst things anyone could ever imagine going through and I have the opportunity to make a difference for them by listening to their story, offering a bright and welcoming smile and making sure they have everything they need while they are in Auckland and their child is in the hospital.

Both Plunket and RMHC NZ are incredibly vital organisations in Aotearoa, and they are always looking for more volunteers. I would encourage any student looking to give back to their community and make a difference to sign up to volunteer.

Volunteering has helped me

Volunteering has helped me even more than I have helped others over the last four years. As a university student it can be very easy to get caught up with studying, to feel like there is nothing more important in life than the next exam, and to forget the bigger picture goal that you are working towards. For me, being able to support New Zealand tamariki and their whānau through volunteering puts things into perspective and reminds me why I am here at medical school in the first place (to pursue my goal of becoming an ObGyn so that I can help improve health outcomes for women and children in Aotearoa).

Seeing the strength of New Zealand whānau facing adversities I could never imagine, I am reminded how important it is to be kind and compassionate. You never know what people are going through. I hope that one day when I am a doctor I will remember what it is like for these whānau and the non-medical adversities that they are facing and will be able to provide holistic medical care that is patient centred.

Volunteering and being a part of such important organisations helps me connect with the people in my community, and gives me a sense of belonging. It has helped me settle into life in new cities away from my own whānau and given me the tools I need to cope with the stresses and pressure that uni thrusts upon me. Having something fun that I love outside of uni each week gives me something to look forward to and helps me lead a more balanced life. Finally, volunteering has helped me meet people who share my passions. I will volunteer as much as I can for as long as I can, and I hope you will too.