Being a Volunteer at SYB

Shanghai Young Bakers would definitely not be able to provide students with a fully-sponsored quality training in French bakery without the help of volunteers and interns.

The SYB team consists of three interns and four volunteers working part time at our office. Juliette our Partnership Manager describes her work at SYB:
     “My work at SYB is an opportunity to spend my free time for a cause that matter. I can use my skills for a concrete cause and help people. I was fortunate enough to be able to study and it is my duty to help young people receive training in turn.”

Juliette uses her skills for a program that matters for her and as a way to give back to society. This giving back is also what Andrea, our Social Enterprise Manager, thinks about her involvement at SYB:
     ‘“The more you give, the more you receive.”
     As an intern, I have been blessed with the opportunity to take on greater responsibilities and give more to SYB. However, I feel like I have received so much more in return. During the past 4 months, I was able to gain more exposure and experience in managing a social enterprise, sharpen my thinking and discover my own strengths and weaknesses. It has been meaningful because every day presents new challenges, and opportunities to learn and grow.’

       

Working for a charity program is always challenging, as there are many important goals to achieve with very limited resources. As a result, creativity is often needed to find a way to reach our goals. Inspiration can also be a good driving force to reach goals. Cindy, our Team building service manager explains:
     “I have been working as a volunteer at SYB for 3 months now, focusing on promoting SYB's bakery classes to corporations and institutions as a teambuilding. I chose to work for SYB because the program and the team inspire me. It is a charity program that can REALLY change the lives of young men and young women coming from poor families. I remember how my heart beat when the students addressed me as "Laoshi". To them, anyone who helps them is probably a "teacher", a respectful term that is deeply rooted in the Chinese Confucian culture. Their trust has now set a new for me to strive for in 2017.” 

Students are a good source of inspiration for our volunteers, they can measure how they change during their training at SYB, and these changes will definitely impact their future life. Allie, our Communication Coordinator, is also really moved by the changes that SYB can bring to these teenagers:
“[instead of children like many other NGOs,] SYB pays attention to the youth, and it really changes the lives of those coming from disadvantaged families. Till now, I not only learned a lot from the team and my colleagues, but also from the students as well. More specifically, because of the friendly working environment at SYB, I could devote myself to my work. Furthermore, due to my colleagues’ kind instruction and guidance, I have grown a lot as an individual. I visited students at Baking Centre once, I can feel they enjoyed the programme that SYB offers, and take it seriously; based on the chat we had, I cannot differentiate them from people with more affluent backgrounds. They are the first group of students to call me ‘teacher’, I am overjoyed to hear it! I hope in the future I can help the disadvantaged even more. Thanks SYB for giving me this chance to have such unforgettable memories!” 

       

Working within a multicultural setting brings a lot to everyone: it helps to explore more possibilities and to consider new approaches that benefit the program. Clementine, who works on the evaluation of our trainings, describes her experience:
     “I have just joined the team but as a newcomer, it has already been a very rich experience within a welcoming, joyful and multicultural team. People experiences and it creates a very creative and happy blend. From a personal standpoint, it brings me some meaningful purpose, taking me out of the "expat bubble" while connecting me with certain social aspects of China and allowing me, even at a small scale, to try to give something back to my host country.”

In addition to our office team interns and volunteers there are also the volunteers who can only contribute outside of their working hours. Every weekend, a network of volunteers helps promote our program at the markets, events, and public classes. Lydia helps SYB a lot on her weekends by selling student products on the markets and by promoting SYB’s mission:
     "In terms of the past year volunteer experience SYB, both for market promotion and public class translation, I am so honoured to witness the fast  of SYB, as well as the students, . I am certain this is not the ending, but the starting point to remain the momentum to spread SYB to a wider platform forward in the coming new year! Come on! SYB!!"

       

On the behalf of the Young Bakers, I would like to thank them all for joining the SYB family and for helping the program support a new group of teenagers each year to gain the necessary skills to lead independent lives. 

Shanghai Young Bakers is always looking for new volunteers so do not hesitate to contact us to join the SYB family.
(http://www.shanghaiyoungbakers.com/connect/join)

Marine
Program Director