U.S. Volunteers only, please
Parents from refugee and immigrant families in the US want the best for their children and they work hard to provide their children with every opportunity to succeed. However, refugee and immigrant parents carry the extra stress of parenting in a new culture, while also navigating complex systems in a new country and language they might not feel confident in.
Please note that we do not work with volunteers who live outside of the U.S., as knowledge of local culture and resources are an important part of the role.
To best support parents, Catholic Charities has a series of parenting videos in refugee languages about topics that are important to parents from refugee and immigrant communities. These short, practical YouTube videos offer accessible parenting education in 10 languages. Our YouTube channel has over 2,600 subscribers who actively watch the content we release on parenting, updates to immigration law, and education.
How you can help
You can help by making culturally and linguistically appropriate videos by volunteering your critical Hakha Chin language skills! We need volunteers to translate text (on PowerPoints or short scripts) and/or record voice over videos like this.
Skills/ Experience
Fluency in Hakha Chin and English
- No certifications are required, but experience interpreting or translating in the community
- Can work independently; however, also willing to ask questions as needed
- Must be 18 years old to volunteer
Check out our videos on Parent Teacher Conferences and Your Health Care Options to see what videos are like. The videos are approximately 3-7 minutes in English with 7 or fewer PowerPoint slides. Video text is usually short phrases related to daily life in the US accompanied by images. We create the PowerPoint content with simple scripts for ease of translation.
We can train you in our simple process to record short videos in your own home or you can come to our office to record. If needed, our Community Educator will even join you via zoom to record together for the first video(s) to help you get started. CC will edit the recordings (bloopers happen!) and post online.
Technology & Space
- Ability to use Google Slides and Zoom (create free accounts)
- Have access to a computer and reliable internet if recording at home
- Have a quiet space to record without background noise or willing to record at our office
Time Commitment
- 2-8 hours per month, ideally 1-3 videos
- We work with your schedule- Volunteers wanting to record in our office must be available Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm, but those recording or translating at home can do so at any time
Training
Volunteers will receive training before they begin on how to access materials. If recording, volunteers will learn how to record voice over PowerPoint videos using zoom, how to upload recordings to our shared Google Drive, and general best practices for recording.
The Impact
While refugee and immigrant parents are passionate about their children’s education, many believe they cannot effectively help their children with homework or in other areas because they grew up in a different educational system and/or struggle with English themselves. These videos allow parents to learn the skills they need to parent in the US on their own schedule without the added burden of transportation to a class or childcare. While some videos have Milwaukee specific content, most are general enough to support refugee and immigrant parents across the US.
All of our programs are free to our clients, and we couldn’t provide the level of service we do without the help of our wonderful volunteers. We believe the connections between our volunteers and program participants make our communities stronger and more vibrant.
Questions?
Contact: volunteer@ccmke.org
