Name:
David Ryan
Volunteered in:
Japan
Placement:
Caring placement - dementia centre, 2007/08
Current Occupation:
WPP Fellowship
When and where did you go for you Lattitude placement and what did you do?
I went to Japan for 6 months from September 2007 to March 2008 and worked in a dementia centre, so I was mainly working with elderly people. There was also a general clinic for the elderly for other medical care related to things like trips and falls. So I was mostly a care assistant, but it was quite a multifaceted role.
Describe briefly your daily/weekly duties.
There was also a nursery attached to the centre for the children of the people who worked there. So I worked there one day a week, and then the other 4 days I did main care duties in the main centre. I would help out in the X-ray room and in the general recovery room, talking and playing games with the patients. I also gave English lessons to some of the doctors there.
Why did you decide to volunteer with us in the first place?
I guess the concrete answer was that I wanted to spend a year abroad, but most organisations I found were very “gap yah”. They were very expensive, they offered short-term placements, and had glossy brochures but they didn’t seem very true to the values of volunteering or genuine in the sense of offering opportunities for learning anything. Then I came across Lattitude, which seemed to tick all the boxes.
What are you doing at the minute?
I am currently doing a job that is a real dream. I work for a company called WPP and am doing their Fellowship (graduate scheme). I have been lucky and think my experience in the volunteering world has been one of the key things that made me stand out in the interview. For marketing you need an interest in people in general, and a general holistic understanding of what makes them tick, which is something that my Lattitude placement helped me to develop. The Fellowship lasts 3 years and you have 3 rotations in different disciplines and, often, different countries. I started in September of last year and am spending this year in London. Next year I will be in New York and my final year will be somewhere else, but this is still quite open. I have a friend who is in Burma so I am considering that!
What skills did you learn or develop during your placement that help you in your current work?
I think the main thing would be that idea that everyone is different - but not that different. People are motivated by similar things all over the world, and in care work you see this in a very frank and delicate way. Also, Japan was very foreign to me. Before I went I had a poor understanding of its language and culture, so I had to learn to be a selfstarter very quickly. Everything that came after – exams at uni, interviews, etc – were easier to deal with after that. I definitely increased my adaptability and understanding of the universality of human beings, as well as patience. It was a challenging and tough experience, but very meaningful.
Do you feel like your volunteering experience helped you to get you where you wanted to be?
Yes. I didn’t know at 18 what I wanted to be, and to some extent I still don’t know. Life is like a snakes and ladders board where you don’t know what’s a snake and what’s a ladder. For me my Lattitude placement provided me with the scaffolding to find my way. My volunteering experience was invaluable in a completely indirect way. And experience like that makes you stand out and is a great talking point!
What was the most important thing you learnt on your placement?
I think I would divide it into two things. Firstly I came to have a great love and respect for volunteer work and for not-for-profit activities. I have a deep, lasting respect for that. On a personal level, there was always a practical professional side to it, which only became clear later on. At the time you don’t quite realise how much your mind has been opened. The perspectives it gives you help you to approach any problems on a daily basis. So an example for me would be approaching something like branding issues in Italy. Having a breadth of awareness of different cultures helps you shape the way you approach such problems.
Do what David did. Fin out more about volunteering in japan
