Healthwatch volunteer Ahmed plays key role in North Yorkshire refugee response to coronavirus pandemic
Ahmed Al-Quzweeni began volunteering with us in Selby a year ago visiting hospitals in North Yorkshire to ensure patient voices were heard. When the pandemic began, he offered to take on translations of government guidance and Public Health instructions.
Lada Cuinu, Healthwatch North Yorkshire Volunteer Officer, said: "It can be very frustrating for people when they find themselves in new circumstances and don’t know how to work with the situation day-to-day. So it was really necessary from the point lockdown started that people were informed properly on what to do.
"Ahmed offered to translate Public Health material and social care information and delivered it locally to people with access or health issues."
Although day-to-day life has changed for us all at present, due to Covid-19, I still enjoy my duties as a volunteer at Healthwatch, supporting the NHS and my community, which I care deeply about in this time of uncertainty.
Ahmed said: “I and my family feel we are part of this community, not just refugees. Working as a volunteer with different organisations when I first arrived to the UK has meant a lot to me and I feel glad and proud I was able to do this work.
“Although day-to-day life has changed for us all at present, due to COVID-19, I still enjoy my duties as a volunteer at Healthwatch, supporting the NHS and my community, which I care deeply about in this time of uncertainty.
“I feel it allows me to do something positive during this difficult time for us all, for the community which welcomed me and my family when we first arrived to the UK.”
Lada added: “In this kind of situation, an approximate translation of government information won’t do. Ahmed completely understood the importance of the accuracy of the translations of government guidance. He used all his human ability to communicate this information personally to people via video conferencing and other methods and to keep in contact with them, coming back with any questions they had and finding information for them.
“He’s been extremely thoughtful and helpful. He’s a very bright example of how a human approach in this kind of situation is vital.”
Ahmed said: “I and my family feel we are part of this community, not just refugees. Working as a volunteer with different organisations when I first arrived to the UK has meant a lot to me and I feel glad and proud I was able to do this work.
“Although day-to-day life has changed for us all at present, due to Covid-19, I still enjoy my duties as a volunteer at Healthwatch, supporting the NHS and my community, which I care deeply about in this time of uncertainty.
“I feel it allows me to do something positive during this difficult time for us all, for the community which welcomed me and my family when we first arrived to the UK.”
Lada added: “In this kind of situation, an approximate translation of government information won’t do. Ahmed completely understood the importance of the accuracy of the translations of government guidance. He used all his human ability to communicate this information personally to people via video conferencing and other methods and to keep in contact with them, coming back with any questions they had and finding information for them.
“He’s been extremely thoughtful and helpful. He’s a very bright example of how a human approach in this kind of situation is vital.”
