Our volunteers
Our hospice qualified volunteers accompany and support affected families.
"I have learned that child and youth hospice work is not just about dying and death, but much more about life and experience."
Qualification as a child and youth hospice attendant
Our qualification as a volunteer child and youth hospice attendant includes a total of 17 evenings from 17 p.m. to 21 p.m., one Saturday and two weekends from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.
The qualification also includes a social internship of 40 hours. The appointments extend over a period of about half a year. The qualification takes place mainly in the beautiful rooms of the Sterneninsel instead of. The attitudes, values and content developed jointly during the qualification should strengthen the participants in perceiving the needs and strengths of children and young people with life-limiting illnesses, their siblings and the whole family, in supporting them and in recognizing their own possibilities and limits.
The children and youth hospice work is based on qualified honorary posts. Therefore, this qualification course is a basic requirement for any voluntary work in the Sterneninsel. After completing the qualification, we continue to attach particular importance to good "self-care" for all employees, in particular through regular supervision, exchange meetings and further training.
What does volunteering do in the Sterneninsel so special?
A small selection of the personal experiences of our volunteers Sterneninsel-Employees
show a polyphonic echo of our valuable hospice work:
Accompanying two healthy siblings
“I am happy to be able to support the family with my small commitment and to bring the children a little fun and variety, since their sick sister limits their opportunities to do things. During this time, I am there for you alone.”
Accompanying a girl with life-limited illness
"In the summer I met the parents of a seriously ill little "princess" who had been "at home" in the clinic for a very long time. With the consent of the parents, who said they were happy that someone could visit their little daughter regularly, we drove to the clinic. Our subsequent regular encounters were something special. As soon as I came and turned to her, she opened her eyes. She then looked particularly at my mouth and the lips that moved when speaking and singing. And she looked into my eyes. The more awake and aware she was there, the more intense. If she was fine, we really enjoyed the contact through the skin. Stroke, massage, finger games to finger rhymes and much more. A brave, brave little fighter! She died about half a year after we first met. And she will always have a place in my heart.”
Accompanying a seriously ill boy
“After qualifying as a hospice volunteer, I was introduced to a family who have a four-year-old son who was oxygen deprived at birth and needed resuscitation. As a result, he became severely disabled, which makes permanent support in all things of daily life indispensable. He conquered my heart in the first moment. A basis of trust also quickly developed with my parents, so that today I am involved in many things in the family.”
Accompaniment of a healthy brother of a sick girl
Are you also interested in the work of Sterneninsel to volunteer?
