STAFF BLOG: Ghena

Hi I’m Ghena. I have been volunteering at SOLA for more than three years now. I’ve done lots of different activities such as play schemes with refugee families and cooked different kinds of food for FESTIVAL31 events.

I’m one of SOLA’s trustees and I’m currently helping Tony with accounting and Nicola with research. I really enjoy working with SOLA and they have given me lots of skills and experience in different sides of the charity. 

They also encourage me to do different things which is helping me to become more confident and strong as I am from another country and speak another language. It is not easy to move to a new country and start from the beginning with your children, but it makes a big difference when you find people who can support you and help you carry on without thinking you can’t do it. I found all these things in SOLA and with Adele.

I had met Adele before in one of the playschemes for Syrian refugees that Nesrin was running. At that time me and my family had been in the UK for less than a year so my English was very bad. So Adele asked me to start helping Nesrin run the playschemes, she told me I could do it and that it would be a good way to improve my English. You don’t forget these things as they help you see the positive side of life and give you a good start to life in a new country.

I am really happy to be at SOLA and to learn from Adele.