The CARL framework was used to structure this reflection!
I have been volunteering with Australian Red Cross - Telecross Support Service since 18 March 2021, and my mission is to provides a daily reassurance telephone call to the frail, aged, people with a disability or medically at risk to check on their health and well-being. If the call is not answered, we initiate an emergency procedure and arrange for assistance. There are 80 elders that I call to check their well-being on every Monday morning.
Generally, I start my work by picking a list of clients and call to check their health being for 3 to 6 minutes each. At my first day, I felt shy to speak because of my accent as an international student, and I talked like a robot; this made my conversation a little bit weird. I think I could have done it better at the beginning if I gave a vote of confidence in myself. As time pass by, I overcame my fear and became socially confident to speak. However, I felt that the time that I contributed to my clients was a little bit short because some clients were living alone, and they really needed someone to talk to and expressed their feeling.
I usually have myself practise speaking about the health topic, and I am feeling more comfortable talking to my clients on phone about their health stories now. As mentioned above, I could have made my clients feel better if I had more time for them. I totally understand that being able to talk to someone when you are old and lonely can make your day a happy day. Coming to this realization, I normally spend more time with the clients that want to share their story of the day with me.
From my working experience with Red Cross family, I learnt that Australians are kind and outgoing, and I do not need to be afraid to talk with them in the future. Though I feel confident to speak with my clients now, I realise that there are rooms for me to improve in speaking and listening skills because there are times that my clients use slangs or words which I do not know what it means at all. I will therefore continue to improve my speaking skill.