There are plenty of times when people want to volunteer, but are unsure of how to go about finding the right volunteer position that matches their needs with regards to time and location. There are plenty of positions people would love to volunteer for, but cannot because of time constraints or simply because they are too far. Places such as Volunteer MBC are great at helping people connect people’s desire to volunteer with places that are looking for volunteers. This is what happened with Tania Sharma when she wanted to volunteer as a tutor.
Tania volunteered to be a Tutor at Aspire Tutoring which is part of the Safe City Mississauga Program, a non-profit organization that helps kids with their studies. But she did not come to this volunteer position on her own, it was with the help of Madhuri Payidiparty at Volunteer MBC that guided her and provided her with all the necessary tools to find the volunteer opportunity Tania was looking for.
Tania became a Permanent resident of Canada in April of 2014 after having left her home country of India. She decided that volunteering would be a great way to meet new people, learn about her new country, environment and culture. With the help of Volunteer MBC, Tania became familiar with the volunteer process in Canada, even though she was, at first, skeptical about volunteering. Madhuri helped to find the right opportunity for Tania and provided her with all of the guidance and confidence that she needed.
Her role at Aspire Tutoring was to teach and mentor the students, as well as being responsible for the students by developing lesson plans and worksheets, and sometimes providing group tutoring sessions. In addition to this, she also attended training sessions whenever she could to better develop her skills to teach. Through all this she became familiar with the Canadian high school curriculum.
Tutoring in Canada has not been her first time teaching. Back in India she worked as a full time high school teacher, and she has learned that teaching in Canada was quite different than what she thought it would be. She was nervous about teaching because English is not her first language, but having this role gave her a platform where she was able to practice and develop her English skills that helped her in other areas of her life here in Canada.
The greatest benefit she felt from volunteering is being able to get involved in something she was passionate about while giving back to society at the same time. Tania’s passion is for kids and teaching, however, she is also ecstatic about being able to educate herself about the Canadian teaching system while helping kids with their studies. From this she has made some valuable contacts and friends along the way as well. She will always cherish this experience and feels that her small role will make a great impact in the lives of other people. She now encourages other people to always embrace volunteering opportunities and giving back to the community because she feels that of all the people you will meet along the way and possible friendships you can make will last a life time.