Iga Gumulinska is a fundraising volunteer for Amina – the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre (MWRC)
IT’S not a secret that we live in really unstable times. The current political situation all over the world should make us all aware of our privileges, as well as how easy it is to have them completely taken away. For young people all over the world it is extremely important to be politically aware, as decisions made by politicians now will have consequences in their – our – future.
I remember being a lot younger, claiming I wasn’t interested in politics and believing I could go through the rest of my life without reading news stories and understanding their consequences. The 2016 Brexit referendum was one of the events that opened my eyes, as it would have a direct impact on my future as a European student who was about to start university in Scotland the same year.
Starting university, I knew I wanted, and needed, to get more involved. Everything that was happening, including the US presidential elections, racist attitudes related to the Brexit campaign and widespread sexism and homophobia still experienced by many people, even in supposedly forward-thinking and modern societies, kept making me angry.
Volunteering is one way of using this anger for something useful. It took me a while to find enough courage to put myself out there, and so far, volunteering with Amina MWRC has been nothing but an amazing experience and I am really looking forward to seeing what will happen next.
I really believe in what the organisation is trying to achieve. As a feminist, being involved with an organisation that not only supports women, but tries to break the stigma about Muslim communities, is really important to me.
Volunteering provides a great opportunity to get engaged in making a change in the world. Many people don’t realise how big of an impact even minor actions can have. Being a volunteer allows me to develop new skills, meet some inspiring people and gain life experience.
Through being involved in organising fundraising events in Dundee, I helped to both raise funds and awareness within the local community of the important work that Amina does. Reaching out to the community is important; the more people get involved, the bigger impact we can have in making big changes. It’s really rewarding to be a part of the process of organising and running an event and seeing the positive outcome of my hard work and definitely something more than a bullet point in my CV. The things
I’ve learned and experienced as a volunteer have had a really positive impact on my self-development as a young person finding her way around.
It is my first time as a volunteer, and the only thing I regret is not getting involved sooner. I am incredibly grateful to everyone at Amina for giving me the chance and allowing me to grow.
I volunteer because the world needs people like us – frustrated, open-minded, passionate, caring and ready to take a stand for what they believe in.
To find out more about volunteering for Amina visit mwrc.org.uk/support-us/volunteer/
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