Women´s Shelter

Domestic violence is something that women and children sadly have to experience all over the world. As a volunteer here, you have a chance to support the local staff at these NGO run women’s shelters towards their aim of supporting and protecting women that have experienced domestic violence. Some of the women at the shelter are often accompanied by their children, and will require a high level of care, compassion and mentoring to regain their self-esteem and confidence. The women generally remain at the center until they are sufficiently healed, both mentally and physically, to move forward on their own. Understandably, male volunteers may not be desired, though this depends on the shelter and can vary from application to application, so please don’t be put off from applying boys.

As most shelters don’t receive government support, they need to auto-finance themselves, often achieving this through teaching the women a skill and having them participate in businesses run by the center. Examples include bakeries, confection of clothing, making furniture etc.

Working at a women’s shelter may include a number of different tasks. As a volunteer, you might:

• Help with the production of their crafts in the shelter business. 

• Help the women’s children with their homework, and provide other fun and educational activities for them such as drawing, playing games or maybe you know how to play an instrument? 

• Cleaning, organizing and maintenance of the shelter. It is important to keep the women’s environment clean and organized in order to improve their wellbeing. Skills in painting or carpentry would be a plus in order to improve things at the center. 

• Providing care and compassion to the women, a shoulder to cry on, positive uplifting advice, and even just a smile can make a huge difference in their lives and speed up their recovery.