Some of the basic reasons for volunteering and helping include:

• Helping others.
• Having an interest in the work or activity.
• Wanting to learn and gain experience.
• Having free time available.
• Being devoted to the cause.
• Knowing someone else who was involved.

Of course, in addition to these basic motivations, people who volunteer find other benefits, including the following ("Matter of Survival: Volunteering," Points of Light Foundation):

• Acquisition of new skills.
• Higher self-esteem.
• New contacts and networks.
• Possibility for a new job.

Volunteer work contributes to increased social interaction with the host communities. It contributes to developing knowledge about the local community; widens access to information and thus autonomy; helps build-up social networks; and may empower asylum-seekers and refugees to participate more broadly in the life of their country of asylum.

Volunteering may also contribute to improved mental health. Volunteering is a means for refugees and asylum-seekers to get to know their new environment and meet new people.

1.FUNCTIONAL VOLUNTEER MOTIVATIONS:

• Values – where the volunteer sees participation as an opportunity to meaningfully serve others;
• Career – participant views the opportunity as facilitating advancement & networking in their industry or field of work;
• Social – in which the participant receives a measure of acceptance & acknowledgment from peers;
• Understanding – the volunteer gains knowledge or insight from the experience that would be hard to come by otherwise;
• Protective Motives – being a participant ensures they’ll be in emotionally supportive settings;
• Enhancement – volunteerism promotes leadership development and their perception of power.

2. HOW TO INVOLVE WOMEN REFUGEES

Women migrant must be considered as a specific target group because of their vulnerability during exile and upon arrival in European societies. Obviously, the situation of young girls and women arriving in Europe shows great variety. Some come alone, others with their partners and children. Others again are single mothers with children. In addition, in some cases, young unaccompanied minor refugee girls arrive on European soil.

• Many of them had to face extreme violence, sometimes in their home country, most of the time on the exile route and often in the camps upon arrival in Europe.
• Depending on their situation and level of protection, young girls and women often have limited access to their social rights. In certain cases, and especially when they come with family or community members, girls are not allowed to participate in youth work activities and hence are kept back from proper social inclusion.
• On another level, young women often face more difficulties than men do in accessing the labour market. This also depends on their previous level of education and their access to information about rights.

The ideal facilitator/mentor