Mariam, babysitting in Bethnal green E2

My childcare experience:​ I got selected to take part in a voluntary service funded by the European Union in exchange for accommodation -shared with other volunteers from different parts of Europe-, food and pocket money. This project was held by Youth Action (based in Blackburn, England), an organisation whose mission is to encourage young people to empower themselves, carrying workshops for little children to raise awareness in order to prevent issues in the local area, among many other tasks carried out. The volunteers organised and performed different themed weeks filled with educational activities for children aged 5 to 11 and I acquired many abilities by adopting a positive and active role and developing my problem solving skills. I worked on my creativity skills when we were coming up with ideas to create our own original games, we also received a better insight on child psychology in order to create a safe space for children to express themselves. We always allowed room for children to have fun while being pragmatic and looking out for their safety and well-being as the main priority. In addition to working with children, I was responsible both for managing the reception of the office (contacting parents about the details of the workshops) and cleaning duties in the building. Spanish volunteers who lacked English speaking skills benefited from my ongoing translation.
My skills:​ My most valuable asset is that I am a native Spanish speaker that can happily offer Spanish tutoring. I consider myself to be very creative and organised so I am certain that with my time management skills I can come up with a personalised set of ideas to spend quality
leisure time with the child. Drawing, painting, dancing, reading tales... there is an infinite amount of child-friendly activities that I genuinely enjoy. I am very proactive and most importantly, extremely patient. I get very involved in playing and I easily empathise with children. I also set boundaries and can adapt to the parenting style that is already implemented in the child's routines