Friday, January 28, 2011
Milking it, for all it's worth
I have a good friend from Rwanda. ‘George’ is one of the hardest working guys I know, can get along with anybody, has a good sense of humour, and is always willing to help others. He had an unbelievably difficult time claiming asylum in the UK. He arrived in Britain in his early 20s and it took nine years for him to receive residency. For four years of that 9 years, George was left without any support (housing or financial), so relied wholly on friends and the church.
The amazing thing is that through all this, he never once stepped outside of the law and always abided by the rules of the country. George didn’t idle his time away either – he got involved in volunteering in North Glasgow and has contributed to the community for years.
Now that George is a resident, he has to seek work like any other British person. He was really excited about this, he could not wait to get working. Unfortunately, the cards seem stacked against him. As he was not allowed to work during the nine years he was seeking asylum, this creates a gap in his CV. Though his prolific volunteering is catalogued on his résumé, employers don’t rank it as highly as actual ‘work experience’ (or simply not recognised as so many job applications are in online forms that do not allow for flexibility).
To complicate issues, George’s trade is farming. Dairy cattle to be specific. However, the Jobcentre has only attempted to put him into cleaning jobs. In the current climate, most of the cleaning jobs are part-time and thus are getting snapped up by more qualified people using it as a stop-gap while they seek other work. George has been to a number of interviews, but never gets the job and it’s starting to get him down. Also, he's not really interested in being a cleaner.
Last week, George came to me with information about a carers’ course, which the Jobcentre were encouraging him to take. I asked him if this was really something that he wanted to do. George said, “No. Not really, but it's work, which is better than no work.”
So we sat and brainstormed, trying to help George dream a bit about his 'ideal job'. To get the ball rolling, I asked about the kind of work he did in Rwanda. He started telling me about looking after the family dairy herd in Rwanda, how he milked the cows, understands husbandry... the more he talked about it, the more his passion for dairy farming became clear. I asked George, “What if we could find you a job in the Britain working on a dairy farm?” He was excited the idea, but didn't think it would be possible to find a job in this field. George had told the Jobcentre about his background in farming, but never received support to explore employment options in this area, so figured it was a dead end. This does leave me with some serious questions about the Jobcentre and what seems to be a lack of creativity or thinking outside the box in getting people into suitable employment... but that’s another discussion.
So we made a few phone calls, and as it turns out, despite the difficulties the British dairy industry is facing, there remains a need for skilled workers in this field. There is the possibility that George might get into an entry-level job in Cumbrian farm that would help him to learn the skills necessary for dairy farming in the UK and get his foot in the door of the industry. George has a lot to learn about the farming technology used in the UK, but he does have indispensable knowledge and hands on experience with cattle. He loves working with the animals, it's in his blood.
Now that George is a resident, he has to seek work like any other British person. He was really excited about this, he could not wait to get working. Unfortunately, the cards seem stacked against him. As he was not allowed to work during the nine years he was seeking asylum, this creates a gap in his CV. Though his prolific volunteering is catalogued on his résumé, employers don’t rank it as highly as actual ‘work experience’ (or simply not recognised as so many job applications are in online forms that do not allow for flexibility).
To complicate issues, George’s trade is farming. Dairy cattle to be specific. However, the Jobcentre has only attempted to put him into cleaning jobs. In the current climate, most of the cleaning jobs are part-time and thus are getting snapped up by more qualified people using it as a stop-gap while they seek other work. George has been to a number of interviews, but never gets the job and it’s starting to get him down. Also, he's not really interested in being a cleaner.
Last week, George came to me with information about a carers’ course, which the Jobcentre were encouraging him to take. I asked him if this was really something that he wanted to do. George said, “No. Not really, but it's work, which is better than no work.”
So we sat and brainstormed, trying to help George dream a bit about his 'ideal job'. To get the ball rolling, I asked about the kind of work he did in Rwanda. He started telling me about looking after the family dairy herd in Rwanda, how he milked the cows, understands husbandry... the more he talked about it, the more his passion for dairy farming became clear. I asked George, “What if we could find you a job in the Britain working on a dairy farm?” He was excited the idea, but didn't think it would be possible to find a job in this field. George had told the Jobcentre about his background in farming, but never received support to explore employment options in this area, so figured it was a dead end. This does leave me with some serious questions about the Jobcentre and what seems to be a lack of creativity or thinking outside the box in getting people into suitable employment... but that’s another discussion.
So we made a few phone calls, and as it turns out, despite the difficulties the British dairy industry is facing, there remains a need for skilled workers in this field. There is the possibility that George might get into an entry-level job in Cumbrian farm that would help him to learn the skills necessary for dairy farming in the UK and get his foot in the door of the industry. George has a lot to learn about the farming technology used in the UK, but he does have indispensable knowledge and hands on experience with cattle. He loves working with the animals, it's in his blood.
George is excited about this, but I can tell that he’s trying not getting his hopes up, having been disappointed before about potential jobs. There is also a sense in which it seems too good to be true... working with cattle again is something that he would love to do, it's a dream job. I think there’s a real possibility that he will get the job. Everybody in Glasgow will miss him so much, but Carlisle really isn’t too far away.
Keep George in your prayers: he’s travelling to the farm tomorrow, seeing the conditions, and going for an interview. He is nervous, but also excited about the opportunity.
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Praying that his interview goes well! He deserves to have a job that he truly enjoys. And with his skill set, he sounds like the ideal candidate.
