“I always try to build bridges”

Corrine van Huet (47) is a coordinator at the VoorleesExpress.“When it comes to paid work, I am currently ‘in between jobs’, as they say. I regularly receive mailings with cultural job vacancies and in the spring of 2014, my eye caught a vacancy from the VoorleesExpress. A project in Amsterdam, under the organization Diversion, aimed at stimulating children’s language development through weekly reading sessions at home with the family. I was immediately enthusiastic about this project, signed up, and after a few preparatory meetings, started as a coordinator in September 2014.”Think along“There are currently almost 700 volunteers active as readers in Amsterdam. They visit a family’s home for twenty weeks and read together with the children. The focus is on enjoyment of reading and books. This way, you stimulate language development and the children’s concentration. Parents are also involved in the reading so that they can continue it after those twenty weeks.

Readers can turn to me or another coordinator to share experiences, ask questions, and seek advice. This can involve practical tips but also how to deal with cultural differences, or how to engage more timid or reserved parents. Every family is different, and there are rarely ready-made answers. In conversations with a reader, I ask questions, brainstorm, and sometimes look up background information. It may also happen that I accompany a reader to their family.”Cultural diversity“I have worked in the past as a language coach for adult non-native speakers, and I have also been active as a tour guide in the Middle East for several seasons. In the latter situation, I was the one with a different cultural background, in a way ‘the outsider’, for whom many things were not self-evident. These are experiences that contribute to my ability to empathize, and that align well with my role within the VoorleesExpress because a large part of the participating families have a non-Western background.

I find cultural diversity an interesting enrichment for a city, and diversity has always been a real part of Amsterdam. It is essential that people are in contact with each other; I believe that the VoorleesExpress makes a very good contribution to that.”

Volunteering is something that is part of my life

I have been doing volunteer work since my student days and it is truly something that is part of my life. This has allowed me to gain a wide range of work experience. Additionally, I find it important to be able to make a meaningful contribution to something that I find interesting or enjoyable. For all the volunteer activities I have done, or still do, I am intrinsically motivated and therefore there is always reciprocity.

At the moment, it also fulfills my social needs. I can be fine on my own, but being at home every day behind the computer, searching for paid work, that becomes quite one-sided at some point. And in my opinion, that is not the way to go.”Building bridges“As a coordinator, I also try to build bridges. During peer supervision meetings, I exchange experiences with other coordinators. It is a good way to get ideas. Meetings with readers are monthly, and sometimes I also take extra initiative in this. Bringing a small group together to exchange experiences and brainstorm. Very educational. It keeps everyone sharp.”

Bringing a small group together to exchange experiences and give each other tips. Very educational.

Recently, I had a meeting with an experienced volunteer. She was looking for playful didactic teaching methods to independently expand her vocabulary. I was able to give her some tips on this from my background as a language coach. We also found out that we had more common ground in terms of backgrounds and interests. It turned into an inspiring exchange that we will undoubtedly continue soon.”In line“My volunteer work definitely contributes to my search for a paid job. It obviously benefits my CV, but the most important thing is that it comes from within myself. With volunteer work, I can purely choose something that suits me well, something I find very interesting, or something that aligns with what I have done before. That offers many possibilities, and that freedom is very pleasant.

In the long term, paid work will come back, I believe. Once that happens, I would appreciate being able to continue my voluntary activities alongside it.”Interested in volunteering in Welfare with children? Check out these job vacancies.