Friday, August 08, 2014

#Volunteering with #Romford #YMCA results in a global career






Volunteering with Romford YMCA
results in a global career for Lewis
Lewis Semper
Lewis Semper built up his skills and expertise in IT by volunteering at Romford YMCA. This consequently opened out for him a whole world of opportunities.
I did not have much experience in the field that interested me the most - which was IT. I started as a vol-unteer in the IT department, the first of many opportunities that I am fortunate to have been offered. I was particularly grateful for this opportunity as I had been struggling to find work in an area I had a genu-ine interest in. This for me was an opportunity to get my foot in the door. My prior knowledge of YMCA was limited. I knew them as predominantly being hostels, so I thought it was useful to do some research before I began working there. After reading several web pages and articles I was a little embarrassed that I hadn't known more about them, especially after seeing the work they had done for local communities, but they certainly gave me the chance to make up for it.
After a short time volunteering with the IT department I was later employed, having applied for an open position. This was when my involvement grew even deeper in the organisation and I attended meetings in various locations as a representative for Romford YMCA. The most significant for me was attending the 17th YMCA World Council meeting in Hong Kong. That was the first time I got to witness firsthand the global reach YMCA had. I had no idea of how huge this organisation was until I had met young people from all over the world, so passionate and empowered. There I was, among many focused and driven young people all working together to achieve one positive goal. I must admit it wore off on me because shortly after I applied for my first job abroad.
I know for many ambitious young people out there this is not a big deal, but for me, at that time, it was huge. Growing up I would never had imagined travelling alone, let alone working and living abroad. I hadn't travelled much in the past but I was more than eager to start. I was accepted for a position as a Young Professional with the Asia Pacific Alliance of YMCA (APAY) based in Hong Kong.
While working in Hong Kong I worked closely with the former Executive Secretary Jose Varghese, success-fully launching a YMCA branded alternative tourism project named YMCA Global Alternative Tourism Network (GATN). The project was a way of helping the development of YMCAs in their local communities and producing an income by internationally advertising their projects through GATN. I was responsible for maintaining the website and communicating with partner YMCAs to help organise and market their projects. This would often mean me visiting other countries and experiencing the projects.
As a result of my first visit to Hong Kong for the World Council Meeting, I met local people who became invaluable allies - showing me places to eat, see, and introducing me to new people. This made settling in much smoother.
As a person with strong interests in IT, the transition was also made easier by the array of electronic equipment and free Wi-Fi hotspots scattered all around the city. There was never a moment when I couldn't turn on my Wi-Fi and find a stray connection, even in the subway, and have a quick skype with someone back home.
After 6 months I left to begin a new life and adventure in Sweden. On arrival in the country and armed with the knowledge I had gained during my travels, I knew that the first place I had to check into was the YMCA. After doing some youth work with my local YMCA in Malmo, I became aware of an internship pro-gram that the YWCA-YMCA Sweden (KFUK-KFUM) organised for young people living in Sweden. The in-ternship was for six months, living and working abroad within a partnering YMCA.
The countries involved in the program were South Africa, Palestine and Zambia. Since I had never visited Africa and I was interested in exploring that particular continent, so I took the opportunity to visit Zambia.
Zambia has an interesting mix of things and some surprisingly unexpected. You can never quite prepare yourself, even with research, for the huge culture shock you're likely to experience. I tried so many dif-ferent and new foods, travelled all around the country seeing lots of fascinating sights such as Victoria Falls and, most importantly, I made many life-long friends.
Living in London I was fortunate to know many different people from all over the world. I lived in a very cosmopolitan neighbourhood, but like most I never took the time to question and learn more about their cultural differences and traditions. All of which I felt could have prepared me for this experience. Not-withstanding that I worked through it and returned enlightened and self-assured.
The one thing I have learnt about getting involved in new projects and meeting different people in different surroundings is that you are given the opportunity to reinvent yourself and become someone different. Back at home I am known as quite a quiet person who is nervous when placed somewhere away from my natural environment - but no-one I met and stayed with over those few months would have thought that!
Essentially, you are given a fresh start to become the person you aspire to be. It's a refreshing experience and something that I would encourage others to try. I hope that my journey will encourage others to pur-sue their dreams or even just try something new outside their comfort zone - all for the purpose of self-enhancement.