Many of our retirees feel unvalued and frustrated
Many retirees with skills and professional lived experience feel frustrated that their capabilities are unvalued. Yet they could be the perfect mentor for students who aspire to those professions.
A survey done by National Seniors Australia found that many retiree volunteers felt frustrated and unvalued when their capabilities as older people were being stereotyped and they were seen as out-of-date. Those who did find meaningful volunteer opportunities reported having positive feelings about aging and felt that their community offered a good quality of life.
Many of our migrant and refugee students have no local family contacts to turn to as role models in the careers they are passionate about. Our retirees who have lived these careers are an untapped skill resource. Their expertise and professional knowledge can be harnessed to support these students.
Why a multi-generational village
Edu-fy is a social enterprise with a mission to edify through education. We believe that nurturing should be a community activity and that teaching and learning are multi-generational. A Nigerian proverb says, "It takes a village to raise a child." In such villages elders are seen as teachers and guides. Edu-fy's ARISE (A Retiree in School Experience) program aims to re-create the nurturing village in the Parramatta community by connecting retirees with skills to offer with students who need career role-models. ARISE will facilitate regular meetings between the two groups in a safe setting of a school and create a nurturing learning environment.
You can watch a video of how the campaign will work by clicking on the play button in tne bottom right corner of the main image
Benefits of the program
The benefits of the program are:
- It gives students more opportunities to explore their interests.
- it gives retirees a sense of being valued and eliminates their feelings of frustration.
- it gives career advisors a new avenue to support their students with their aspirations.
Why me and why now
I am Asha Murphy a retiree and a casual teacher, I know what it is like as an older teacher in a school. I have seen the disconnection many students that I teach have with older members of the community and vice versa. I believe that using career needs and offers is a good initial way to connect the generations. Through the lived professional experiences that retirees offer to young people, a deeper understanding between the generations will emerge and it will make a difference to the wellbeing of whole community.
What we will do
For $5000 ARISE will commence its first pairings of four retirees and four students at a high school in Parramatta,
We will start in Parramatta. Your local community could be next.
We need this program to address the disconnection we see in our communities between the generations.
What you can do
Pledge Now!
This is an all or nothing campaign. The program cannot begin unless we reach our target.
Your contribution will only be taken when our target of $5000 has been reached before the campaign ends.
Please be part of our global village and kindly contribute to this cause.
What we can create together
Together we can create a thriving, connected community that values the skills of its senior citizens and nutures the aspirations of its young people.
Let's ARISE!
