I Get Paid To: Make a Difference

Imagine being paid to live your dream - helping inspire, encourage and motivate the youth of the very community you grew up in! Thanks to the Vodafone World of Difference programme, Swanie Nelson is doing just that! She's working hard to help improve the lives of the young people of Otara. Check out her inspirational profile here...

Name: Swanie Nelson
Age: 28
Employer: Canopy Trust

Position: Director

 

I wear a lot of hats at the moment! I run the operational side of the Canopy Trust as well as working on all our programmes. One day I’ll be sitting in meetings with other local service providers trying to find ways to help improve our services for the young people of Otara then the next I’ll be out with the young people I work with helping them to deliver programmes within our community. I love my job, it doesn’t get any better than this.

 

I have a background in international aid, development and community work. Working with people in this capacity has always been my passion. I was volunteering for a while with the trust I now run because the trust was working with young people in the community I grew up in - Cloverpark. The founders had wanted me to come on board for a long time but they did not have sufficient funding to hire me full time. I heard about the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation World of Difference programme through a friend and thought if there was any way I could work for them, it could be through this. So I applied and here I am today!

 

I have a very strong Christian background and that plays a major part in my desire to work with young people ,especially within my own community. I see so many young people suffering the consequences of not having that close relationship with their family that is so vital. I believe that most of our young people are unable to see beyond the current circumstances (which are often bad) and I want to give them opportunities to see their full potential and have a reason to wake up to every morning. 

 

I don’t have a typical week! But usually I’d be at a lot of meetings, in and out of the office trying to get admin work done, out at programmes, picking up and dropping off young people and sometimes attending to emergencies. My working week is by no means boring and is always action packed. When you’re working with young people you always need to be prepared for the unexpected!

 

I most enjoy seeing changed lives. I enjoy seeing young people having the courage and confidence to do things they wouldn’t usually do and enjoy it. I also love seeing young people build healthy quality relationships with one another.

 

Hanging out with the young people. There’s always laughter and humour!

 

What’s really important is being able to relate to the young people. There’s no room for being shy and you need to be willing to put yourself out there. You can have all the qualifications in youth work but if you can’t relate to the young people in a way that they understand it’s useless. 

 

All the young people that I have had the privilege of working alongside are very special to me but two young girls in particular will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s too long to explain, but they are testimonies that you can come from the worst of the worst, and still achieve.

 

My advice would be to get as much voluntary experience as possible. Learning how to build quality relationships in practice is a big major because a lot of the time the solution is not a CURE but to CARE.

 

I would like to continue what I’m doing here. My bigger vision is to see a massive youth centre built in Manukau for all its young people. I’m not talking any youth centre, I’m talking grande, and right down to the design and architecture of the place! I truly believe that our young people deserve to come to a youth centre that is the best of the best - it sets a tone and attitude about how you feel about people long before you give them the speech. I’ll always make it my aim to make sure that all the young people I work with know everyday of their lives they have value.