Clara Coetzee: All-rounder Volunteer

Clara is currently volunteering at Scalabrini as an All Rounder, read about her experience and the different aspects she has been able to get involved in at the centre!

I’m from Pretoria, South Africa, and I’m studying Statistics and Applied Math at UCT. I came to Scalabrini because I was looking for something worthwhile to do in my spare time. As an all-rounder, I’ve spent some time with the Employment Access Program and also the English School. At the moment, every day I teach English classes or Microsoft Excel.

“Since starting at Scalabrini, I’ve learned and improved my communication skills, as well as how to be assertive and finding the balance between being assertive and helping people.”

I’ve learned a lot about the hurdles that skilled professionals face when coming to South Africa and the importance of being able to communicate in English, especially within a professional environment. Personally, I’ve learned not only to work with a large number of different people, which is something to get used to, but also to connect with a people from a variety of backgrounds, with different language levels and then how to navigate that.

One day, a woman at EAP came to the help desk and she had a law degree.

I found out that the Bertha Foundation were looking for candidates for a translation conference with legal backgrounds or backgrounds in activism. I suggested she apply and she was successful! I’ve really enjoyed living in Cape Town it’s a lot livelier than Pretoria and a lot more interesting.