Volunteering connects Dominika to her community

Dominika, DL student

I'm from Poland and I live in a small country town in South Australia where I volunteer from time to time at the local golf club.  In Poland volunteering is not valued because it earns you no money.  But now I can see that what you do for free can be worth much more than money.  It is great to be able to help others, use your skills and learn new skills while supporting a local business in a small town.

I help with decorating the club for special events and with registrations for tournaments. Sometimes I also help in the kitchen where I exchange cooking experiences with other staff members.  Most importantly however, I get the chance to talk to people, improve my English and understand the way country people talk which is very quick and full of slang.

The biggest challenge for me is when I do registrations and I have to find people's names on the list.  Because they are club members and locals, they assume I should know their surnames.  I can usually remember the first name and the face but not the surname.  This however helps me understand their Aussie English.  For example there was this member that everyone called "Blue" but I had trouble finding his name on the list under Blue.  When I asked him for his surname it was nothing like the colour blue.  I found out later that in Australia people call you "Blue" when you have red hair!

Volunteering has made me understand the Australian culture and feel part of my community.  I enjoy helping people and I don't feel so homesick in Australia any more.

Talking about country, slang and blue Dominika is sharing this popular Aussie song by country singer John Williamson called "True Blue".

Following The National Volunteer Week we've had a number of responses from DL students with positive stories.  Thanks Dominika for sharing your experience with volunteering and this song.

• What is the meaning of "true blue" in the song?
• Are there any slang expressions that you learned from talking to other Australians?
• Is volunteering valued in your country of origin?  Why / why not?
• If you had the chance to volunteer, what work would you like to do?