Since starting in July, I have met a few people and it helps me having conversations with people other than the cat. My husband works during the day and I have no female friends here, you can't really make friends if you're not amongst the people, so the volunteering helps immensely. The ladies I 'work' with are so lovely. Wally is originally from Germany, she came to Australia back in 1954 by boat and at 87 she's currently the oldest volunteer there. Then we have Bette ,originally from Newcastle, England, a Geordie true and true (as per Bette), she also came to Australia via ship and she said it was such an adventure coming here by ship. I am a bit fuzzy on how long she's been here. She's in her late 70's and still drives, and has a cute Geordie accent. We have Kay, who is from Western Queensland, she grew up on a farm, met a Sicilian man and he never introduced her as Kay as it sounded too much like che? "what?" in Italian. He called her Katarina. None of her children speak Italian which I think is a shame. Sue is originally from New Zealand, and also in her 60's, she's a card, she wears a hearing aid and when she speaks she yells, kind of reminds me of a Kiwi version of my former boss. They have the same sense of humour and mannerisms, I find it very funny. Then there's Rosalia, she's originally from El Salvador and I'm the only one that pronounces her name properly with the rolling r's. She's in her late 50's and recently married her high school sweetheart on a trip to California, he's from El Salvador, moved to the US and now married an Aussie citizen. She has such a fun personality, but I haven't seen her in weeks. There's Jenny, she's a special needs person and God bless her, she's in practically every Monday, stamping her envelopes. She has a carer bring her in and come get her to go home. Last but not least we have Bec short for Rebecca, she's the person in charge, she's not a volunteer but a paid employee that get's all the jobs for us to do. She's great to talk to.
Volunteering can involve many different tasks, they range from massaging patients hands to stuffing envelopes. Since I didn't want to get blood work done, I opted for the non-patient volunteering, which in my case is considered Administration. Since I am the youngest in my group of Monday ladies, I sometimes get the sucky tasks, like a few weeks ago I had to go to another building and unpack computer screens, take out the wires and rip up the cardboard and then place the screen back in the box and tape it back up. The other day I had to go to the Media department and draw lines in a ledger book, I wouldn't have minded much if I had proper lighting or a proper seat. My chair was a low wicker patio chair and the table was a wooden kitchen table that was too high to be able to sit there and draw lines. I wound up doing the job in my lap sitting under the stupid fluro bulb, I left after 2 hours because my eyes couldn't take it anymore and it was almost time to have lunch with the ladies, seriously, you couldn't put me at a desk with a proper chair? Last time I was in this department I was slicing the laminate off of photos for the cafeteria menu, that was also boring and back breaking. My favorite thing is to stay in our big room and socialise with the ladies, it's great to hear stories and for people to ask how was your weekend and such. We've put together little boxes for the new moms, that included nappies (diapers) a onesie, a Mater Baby on Board thingy for the car, a little mesh bag that included, baby wash, baby lotion, baby cream and one other tube that eludes me, along with coupons on the purchase of formula and diapers. The new moms at the Mater get looked after really well. Sometimes we put charts together, or take them apart. Sometime's I've had to take the trolley and get the mail from different departments, take them back to Bec, she sorts through them and then we stuff them accordingly. In some cases if the lady at the Volunteer reception isn't in, I'm asked to fill in, which I totally don't mind as this is the area that I wouldn't mind working.
As a volunteer we have four hour shifts. If you drive you can get your parking validated. We get a uniform of sorts, it's a long vest that states you're a volunteer, or if you want, for $35 you can purchase a polo shirt that once you leave you have to return and they buy it back from you for $10. The vest they launder, the polo is yours to launder. I received an id tag which is also a key, I wear it on a lanyard. I actually love wearing that. We get free lunch, choice of cut sandwiches (basically sliced bread with a few different fillings, such as ham, cheese & tomato, a salad sandwich with lettuce, carrots and tomatoes, I once had a roast beef sandwich, and an egg salad sandwich). If you want your sandwich toasted, they will charge you 20 cents to toast it. You could also have the soup of the day, but you cannot have both, but you can take a piece of fruit for free also, usually a banana, orange or apple. If you want a beverage, other than tea or coffee you have to pay for it, they have these little Coke cans of 200ml for $2, I usually wait till I'm on my way to the bus and get a 600ml of diet Vanilla Coke, not Vanilla Coke Zero (thank god) for $3.70.
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