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Volunteering at SOS ‘a direct way to help those in need’

SINGAPORE — Once a week, she goes to the Samaritans of Singapore’s (SOS) office at Cantonment Close to spend hours on the phone with those who are having suicidal thoughts or need to confide in someone for some crisis they are in.

SINGAPORE — Once a week, she goes to the Samaritans of Singapore’s (SOS) office at Cantonment Close to spend hours on the phone with those who are having suicidal thoughts or need to confide in someone for some crisis they are in.

The 44-year-old, who wants to be known only as Stella, is one of the 220 or so volunteers with the voluntary welfare organisation.

She chose to volunteer with SOS — after switching careers five years ago — because she wanted to directly help people in real need, and the VWO offered a structured training programme to prepare her for the work, and offered flexible hours.

“Most of the people who call us have no one else to talk to. Many live alone, many are estranged from family and few have close friends,” she said.

“I realised that most of our callers find comfort in being able to express their feelings and frustrations without being judged, and having some one listening and encouraging them.”

Each year, the SOS takes in two intakes of about 20 to 25 volunteers. They must be at least 23 years old, can communicate comfortably in English, and are able to commit to volunteer duties for at least two years.

Volunteers manning the SOS hotline have to go through at least 100 hours of training held over nine to 12 months. Their training includes learning how to empathise, how to identify callers’ feelings, role-playing, as well as being trained to intervene when callers are already on the verge of committing suicide.

Volunteers’ identities are kept anonymous so callers will not worry that their calls are being answered by someone they may know. Volunteers can also avoid requests to listen to people’s problems outside volunteering hours, said SOS executive director Christine Wong.

One of the challenges Ms Stella faces as a volunteer is handling non-emergency calls. “We take all kinds of calls ... Some callers are not in crisis but refuse to end the call even after talking for a long time. It can be frustrating talking to them, and it is hard to maintain our empathetic persona while at the same time telling them that we have to end the call,” she said.

Asked how she copes with listening to callers’ problems regularly, Ms Stella said volunteers “do not necessarily become depressed when we emphatise with them”. “To keep ourselves positive, as volunteers, I feel it is important to exercise self-care. I do not do more duties than I can cope with, and if calls are really troubling, it is important to talk to a staff or other volunteers to help clear out thoughts,” she added. SIAU MING EN

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